Oracle PL/SQL Tutorial/Table/View Table Structure

Viewing the Structure of a Table

DESCRIBE command shows the structure of a table.

DESCRIBE command can be shortened to DESC (DESC[RIBE]).

SQL> -- create demo table
SQL> create table Employee(
  2    ID                 VARCHAR2(4 BYTE)         NOT NULL,
  3    First_Name         VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  4    Last_Name          VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  5    Start_Date         DATE,
  6    End_Date           DATE,
  7    Salary             Number(8,2),
  8    City               VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  9    Description        VARCHAR2(15 BYTE)
 10  )
 11  /
Table created.
SQL>
SQL> desc Employee;
 Name           Null?    Type
-------------------------------------------
 ID            NOT NULL   VARCHAR2(4)
 FIRST_NAME               VARCHAR2(10)
 LAST_NAME                VARCHAR2(10)
 START_DATE               DATE
 END_DATE                 DATE
 SALARY                   NUMBER(8,2)
 CITY                     VARCHAR2(10)
 DESCRIPTION              VARCHAR2(15)
SQL>
SQL>
SQL>
SQL> -- clean the table
SQL> drop table Employee
  2  /
Table dropped.
SQL>