PostgreSQL “DESCRIBE TABLE”

Question

How do you perform the equivalent of Oracle's DESCRIBE TABLE in PostgreSQL (using the psql command)?

Answer 1

If you want to obtain it from query instead of psql, you can query the catalog schema. Here's a complex query that does that:

SELECT  
    f.attnum AS number,  
    f.attname AS name,  
    f.attnum,  
    f.attnotnull AS notnull,  
    pg_catalog.format_type(f.atttypid,f.atttypmod) AS type,  
    CASE  
        WHEN p.contype = 'p' THEN 't'  
        ELSE 'f'  
    END AS primarykey,  
    CASE  
        WHEN p.contype = 'u' THEN 't'  
        ELSE 'f'
    END AS uniquekey,
    CASE
        WHEN p.contype = 'f' THEN g.relname
    END AS foreignkey,
    CASE
        WHEN p.contype = 'f' THEN p.confkey
    END AS foreignkey_fieldnum,
    CASE
        WHEN p.contype = 'f' THEN g.relname
    END AS foreignkey,
    CASE
        WHEN p.contype = 'f' THEN p.conkey
    END AS foreignkey_connnum,
    CASE
        WHEN f.atthasdef = 't' THEN d.adsrc
    END AS default
FROM pg_attribute f  
    JOIN pg_class c ON c.oid = f.attrelid  
    JOIN pg_type t ON t.oid = f.atttypid  
    LEFT JOIN pg_attrdef d ON d.adrelid = c.oid AND d.adnum = f.attnum  
    LEFT JOIN pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace  
    LEFT JOIN pg_constraint p ON p.conrelid = c.oid AND f.attnum = ANY (p.conkey)  
    LEFT JOIN pg_class AS g ON p.confrelid = g.oid  
WHERE c.relkind = 'r'::char  
    AND n.nspname = '%s'  -- Replace with Schema name  
    AND c.relname = '%s'  -- Replace with table name  
    AND f.attnum > 0 ORDER BY number
;

It's pretty complex but it does show you the power and flexibility of the PostgreSQL system catalog and should get you on your way to pg_catalog mastery ;-). Be sure to change out the %s's in the query. The first is Schema and the second is the table name.

Answer 2

In MySQL , DESCRIBE table_name

---

In PostgreSQL , \d table_name

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Or , you can use this long command:

SELECT
        a.attname AS Field,
        t.typname || '(' || a.atttypmod || ')' AS Type,
        CASE WHEN a.attnotnull = 't' THEN 'YES' ELSE 'NO' END AS Null,
        CASE WHEN r.contype = 'p' THEN 'PRI' ELSE '' END AS Key,
        (SELECT substring(pg_catalog.pg_get_expr(d.adbin, d.adrelid), '\'(.*)\'')
                FROM
                        pg_catalog.pg_attrdef d
                WHERE
                        d.adrelid = a.attrelid
                        AND d.adnum = a.attnum
                        AND a.atthasdef) AS Default,
        '' as Extras
FROM
        pg_class c 
        JOIN pg_attribute a ON a.attrelid = c.oid
        JOIN pg_type t ON a.atttypid = t.oid
        LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_constraint r ON c.oid = r.conrelid 
                AND r.conname = a.attname
WHERE
        c.relname = 'tablename'
        AND a.attnum > 0

ORDER BY a.attnum

Answer 3

The best way to describe a table such as a column, type, modifiers of columns, etc.

\d+ tablename or \d tablename

Answer 4

Use this command 

\d table name

like 

\d queuerecords

             Table "public.queuerecords"
  Column   |            Type             | Modifiers
-----------+-----------------------------+-----------
 id        | uuid                        | not null
 endtime   | timestamp without time zone |
 payload   | text                        |
 queueid   | text                        |
 starttime | timestamp without time zone |
 status    | text                        |

Answer 5

I worked out the following script for get table schema.

'CREATE TABLE ' || 'yourschema.yourtable' || E'\n(\n' ||
array_to_string(
array_agg(
'    ' || column_expr
)
, E',\n'
) || E'\n);\n'
from
(
SELECT '    ' || column_name || ' ' || data_type || 
coalesce('(' || character_maximum_length || ')', '') || 
case when is_nullable = 'YES' then ' NULL' else ' NOT NULL' end as column_expr
FROM information_schema.columns
WHERE table_schema || '.' || table_name = 'yourschema.yourtable'
ORDER BY ordinal_position
) column_list;

Answer 6

/dt is the commad which lists you all the tables present in a database. using
/d command and /d+ we can get the details of a table. The sysntax will be like
* /d table_name (or) \d+ table_name