SQL - Show Tables (Listing Tables)

There are several instances when you need to retrieve a list of tables from your database. This could be done for testing purposes, to identify any existing tables before adding or removing any, or for any other reason. This tutorial will discuss how we can list down all the table in MySQL, SQL Server and Oracle using simple SQL commands.

MySQL - Listing Tables

You can use SQLSHOW TABLESstatements in MySQL to list down all the tables available in a selected database.

Syntax

Following is the syntax to list all the tables in SQL in MySQL −

SQL CODE

SHOW TABLES;

Example

Following is an example which will list down all the tables from atestDBdatabase.

SQL CODE

USE testDB;

SHOW TABLES;

This will display the following output depending on the number of tables available in your database.

Tables_in_testDBCALENDARCUSTOMERSCOMPANIESSALARY

SQL Server - Listing Tables

SQL Serverdoes notprovide SHOW TABLE command in an SQL Server. Instead, we can use the “SELECT” statement to retrieve information about tables in a database. We have three different commands to use with the SELECT statement to list all the tables in a database −

sys.tables
information_schema.tables
sysobjects

The SYS.TABLES View

Following is the syntax to list down all the tables in SQL using theSYS.TABLESview −

SQL CODE

SELECT * FROM SYS.TABLES;

Following is the output of the above query −

nameobject_idprincipal_idschema_idCUSTOMER4195065NULL1ORDERS68195293NULL1COMPANIES100195407NULL1SALARY2107154552NULL1

The INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES View

Following is the syntax to list down all the tables in SQL using theINFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLESview −

SQL CODE

SELECT table_name, table_type FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES;

Following is the output of the above query −

table_nametable_typeCUSTOMERBASE TABLEORDERSBASE TABLECOMPANIESBASE TABLESALARYBASE TABLE

The SYSOBJECTS View

You can useSYSOBJECTSview to retrieve the information of all the objects created in SQL Server database, including stored procedures, views, system tables and user-defined tables. Following is the basic syntax of using sysobjects view −

SQL CODE

SELECT name, id, xtype FROM sysobjects WHERE xtype = 'U';

Click here to see the different value of xtypeValueMeaningAFAggregate function (CLR)CCHECK constraintDDefault or DEFAULT constraintFFOREIGN KEY constraintLLogFNScalar functionFSAssembly (CLR) scalar-functionFTAssembly (CLR) table-valued functionIFIn-lined table-functionITInternal tablePStored procedurePCAssembly (CLR) stored-procedurePKPRIMARY KEY constraint (type is K)RFReplication filter stored procedureSSystem tableSNSynonymSQService queueTAAssembly (CLR) DML triggerTFTable functionTRSQL DML TriggerTTTable typeUUser tableUQUNIQUE constraint (type is K)VViewXExtended stored procedure

This will produce following result −

nameidxtypeCUSTOMER4195065UORDERS68195293UCOMPANIES100195407USALARY2107154552U

Oracle - Listing Tables

There are following three SQL SELECT statements which you can use to list down the tables available in Oracle.

Listing ALL Tables

Following is the SQL SELECT statement which will list down all the available tables in an Oracle Database.

SQL CODE

SELECT owner, table_name FROM ALL_TABLES

Listing DBA Tables

Following is the SQL SELECT statement which will list down all the DBA related tables in an Oracle Database.

SQL CODE

SELECT owner, table_name FROM DBA_TABLES

Listing USER Tables

Following is the SQL SELECT statement which will list down all the USER created tables in an Oracle Database.

SQL CODE

SELECT owner, table_name FROM USER_TABLES

Listing ALL Views

Following is the SQL SELECT statement which will list down all the views available in an Oracle Database.

SQL CODE

SELECT view_name FROM ALL_VIEWS;