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/ Meta Queries
Information Schema
The views in the information_schema are SQL-standard views that describe the catalog entries of the database. These views can be filtered to obtain information about a specific column or table.
DuckDB's implementation is based on PostgreSQL's information schema.
| Column |
Description |
Type |
Example |
character_set_catalog |
Currently not implemented – always NULL. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
character_set_schema |
Currently not implemented – always NULL. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
character_set_name |
Name of the character set, currently implemented as showing the name of the database encoding. |
VARCHAR |
'UTF8' |
character_repertoire |
Character repertoire, showing UCS if the encoding is UTF8, else just the encoding name. |
VARCHAR |
'UCS' |
form_of_use |
Character encoding form, same as the database encoding. |
VARCHAR |
'UTF8' |
default_collate_catalog |
Name of the database containing the default collation (always the current database). |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
default_collate_schema |
Name of the schema containing the default collation. |
VARCHAR |
'pg_catalog' |
default_collate_name |
Name of the default collation. |
VARCHAR |
'ucs_basic' |
The view that describes the catalog information for columns is information_schema.columns. It lists the column present in the database and has the following layout:
| Column |
Description |
Type |
Example |
table_catalog |
Name of the database containing the table (always the current database). |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
table_schema |
Name of the schema containing the table. |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
table_name |
Name of the table. |
VARCHAR |
'widgets' |
column_name |
Name of the column. |
VARCHAR |
'price' |
ordinal_position |
Ordinal position of the column within the table (count starts at 1). |
INTEGER |
5 |
column_default |
Default expression of the column. |
VARCHAR |
1.99 |
is_nullable |
YES if the column is possibly nullable, NO if it is known not nullable. |
VARCHAR |
'YES' |
data_type |
Data type of the column. |
VARCHAR |
'DECIMAL(18, 2)' |
character_maximum_length |
If data_type identifies a character or bit string type, the declared maximum length; NULL for all other data types or if no maximum length was declared. |
INTEGER |
255 |
character_octet_length |
If data_type identifies a character type, the maximum possible length in octets (bytes) of a datum; NULL for all other data types. The maximum octet length depends on the declared character maximum length (see above) and the character encoding. |
INTEGER |
1073741824 |
numeric_precision |
If data_type identifies a numeric type, this column contains the (declared or implicit) precision of the type for this column. The precision indicates the number of significant digits. For all other data types, this column is NULL. |
INTEGER |
18 |
numeric_scale |
If data_type identifies a numeric type, this column contains the (declared or implicit) scale of the type for this column. The precision indicates the number of significant digits. For all other data types, this column is NULL. |
INTEGER |
2 |
datetime_precision |
If data_type identifies a date, time, timestamp, or interval type, this column contains the (declared or implicit) fractional seconds precision of the type for this column, that is, the number of decimal digits maintained following the decimal point in the seconds value. No fractional seconds are currently supported in DuckDB. For all other data types, this column is NULL. |
INTEGER |
0 |
This view describes all columns in the current database that are used by some constraint. For a check constraint, this view identifies the columns that are used in the check expression. For a not-null constraint, this view identifies the column that the constraint is defined on. For a foreign key constraint, this view identifies the columns that the foreign key references. For a unique or primary key constraint, this view identifies the constrained columns.
| Column |
Description |
Type |
Example |
table_catalog |
Name of the database that contains the table that contains the column that is used by some constraint (always the current database) |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
table_schema |
Name of the schema that contains the table that contains the column that is used by some constraint |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
table_name |
Name of the table that contains the column that is used by some constraint |
VARCHAR |
'widgets' |
column_name |
Name of the column that is used by some constraint |
VARCHAR |
'price' |
constraint_catalog |
Name of the database that contains the constraint (always the current database) |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
constraint_schema |
Name of the schema that contains the constraint |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
constraint_name |
Name of the constraint |
VARCHAR |
'exam_id_students_id_fkey' |
| Column |
Description |
Type |
Example |
constraint_catalog |
Name of the database that contains the constraint (always the current database). |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
constraint_schema |
Name of the schema that contains the constraint. |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
constraint_name |
Name of the constraint. |
VARCHAR |
'exams_exam_id_fkey' |
table_catalog |
Name of the database that contains the table that contains the column that is restricted by this constraint (always the current database). |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
table_schema |
Name of the schema that contains the table that contains the column that is restricted by this constraint. |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
table_name |
Name of the table that contains the column that is restricted by this constraint. |
VARCHAR |
'exams' |
column_name |
Name of the column that is restricted by this constraint. |
VARCHAR |
'exam_id' |
ordinal_position |
Ordinal position of the column within the constraint key (count starts at 1). |
INTEGER |
1 |
position_in_unique_constraint |
For a foreign-key constraint, ordinal position of the referenced column within its unique constraint (count starts at 1); otherwise NULL. |
INTEGER |
1 |
| Column |
Description |
Type |
Example |
constraint_catalog |
Name of the database containing the constraint (always the current database). |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
constraint_schema |
Name of the schema containing the constraint. |
VARCHAR |
main |
constraint_name |
Name of the constraint. |
VARCHAR |
exam_id_students_id_fkey |
unique_constraint_catalog |
Name of the database that contains the unique or primary key constraint that the foreign key constraint references. |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
unique_constraint_schema |
Name of the schema that contains the unique or primary key constraint that the foreign key constraint references. |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
unique_constraint_name |
Name of the unique or primary key constraint that the foreign key constraint references. |
VARCHAR |
'students_id_pkey' |
match_option |
Match option of the foreign key constraint. Always NONE. |
VARCHAR |
NONE |
update_rule |
Update rule of the foreign key constraint. Always NO ACTION. |
VARCHAR |
NO ACTION |
delete_rule |
Delete rule of the foreign key constraint. Always NO ACTION. |
VARCHAR |
NO ACTION |
The top level catalog view is information_schema.schemata. It lists the catalogs and the schemas present in the database and has the following layout:
| Column |
Description |
Type |
Example |
catalog_name |
Name of the database that the schema is contained in. |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
schema_name |
Name of the schema. |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
schema_owner |
Name of the owner of the schema. Not yet implemented. |
VARCHAR |
'duckdb' |
default_character_set_catalog |
Applies to a feature not available in DuckDB. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
default_character_set_schema |
Applies to a feature not available in DuckDB. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
default_character_set_name |
Applies to a feature not available in DuckDB. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
sql_path |
The file system location of the database. Currently unimplemented. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
The view that describes the catalog information for tables and views is information_schema.tables. It lists the tables present in the database and has the following layout:
| Column |
Description |
Type |
Example |
table_catalog |
The catalog the table or view belongs to. |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
table_schema |
The schema the table or view belongs to. |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
table_name |
The name of the table or view. |
VARCHAR |
'widgets' |
table_type |
The type of table. One of: BASE TABLE, LOCAL TEMPORARY, VIEW. |
VARCHAR |
'BASE TABLE' |
self_referencing_column_name |
Applies to a feature not available in DuckDB. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
reference_generation |
Applies to a feature not available in DuckDB. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
user_defined_type_catalog |
If the table is a typed table, the name of the database that contains the underlying data type (always the current database), else NULL. Currently unimplemented. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
user_defined_type_schema |
If the table is a typed table, the name of the schema that contains the underlying data type, else NULL. Currently unimplemented. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
user_defined_type_name |
If the table is a typed table, the name of the underlying data type, else NULL. Currently unimplemented. |
VARCHAR |
NULL |
is_insertable_into |
YES if the table is insertable into, NO if not (Base tables are always insertable into, views not necessarily.) |
VARCHAR |
'YES' |
is_typed |
YES if the table is a typed table, NO if not. |
VARCHAR |
'NO' |
commit_action |
Not yet implemented. |
VARCHAR |
'NO' |
| Column |
Description |
Type |
Example |
constraint_catalog |
Name of the database that contains the constraint (always the current database). |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
constraint_schema |
Name of the schema that contains the constraint. |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
constraint_name |
Name of the constraint. |
VARCHAR |
'exams_exam_id_fkey' |
table_catalog |
Name of the database that contains the table (always the current database). |
VARCHAR |
'my_db' |
table_schema |
Name of the schema that contains the table. |
VARCHAR |
'main' |
table_name |
Name of the table. |
VARCHAR |
'exams' |
constraint_type |
Type of the constraint: CHECK, FOREIGN KEY, PRIMARY KEY, or UNIQUE. |
VARCHAR |
'FOREIGN KEY' |
is_deferrable |
YES if the constraint is deferrable, NO if not. |
VARCHAR |
'NO' |
initially_deferred |
YES if the constraint is deferrable and initially deferred, NO if not. |
VARCHAR |
'NO' |
enforced |
Always YES. |
VARCHAR |
'YES' |
nulls_distinct |
If the constraint is a unique constraint, then YES if the constraint treats NULLs as distinct or NO if it treats NULLs as not distinct, otherwise NULL for other types of constraints. |
VARCHAR |
'YES' |
Several functions are also provided to see details about the catalogs and schemas that are configured in the database.
| Function |
Description |
Example |
Result |
current_catalog() |
Return the name of the currently active catalog. Default is memory. |
current_catalog() |
'memory' |
current_schema() |
Return the name of the currently active schema. Default is main. |
current_schema() |
'main' |
current_schemas(boolean) |
Return list of schemas. Pass a parameter of true to include implicit schemas. |
current_schemas(true) |
['temp', 'main', 'pg_catalog'] |
