DESCRIBE DATABASE¶

Describes the database. For example, shows the schemas in the database.

DESCRIBE can be abbreviated to DESC.

Tip

You can also use the Snowflake REST APIs to perform this operation. For information, see Fetch a database (REST endpoint reference).

DATABASES view (Information Schema)

Syntax¶

DESC[RIBE] DATABASE <database_name>

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Parameters¶

database_name: Specifies the identifier of the database to describe.

Usage notes¶

To post-process the output of this command, you can use the RESULT_SCAN function, which treats the output as a table that can be queried.

Examples¶

This demonstrates the DESCRIBE DATABASE command:

CREATE DATABASE desc_demo;

CREATE SCHEMA sample_schema_1;

CREATE SCHEMA sample_schema_2;

DESCRIBE DATABASE desc_demo;

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+-------------------------------+--------------------+--------+
| created_on                    | name               | kind   |
|-------------------------------+--------------------+--------|
| 2022-06-23 00:00:00.000 -0700 | INFORMATION_SCHEMA | SCHEMA |
| 2022-06-23 00:00:00.000 -0700 | PUBLIC             | SCHEMA |
| 2022-06-23 01:00:00.000 -0700 | SAMPLE_SCHEMA_1    | SCHEMA |
| 2022-06-23 02:00:00.000 -0700 | SAMPLE_SCHEMA_2    | SCHEMA |
+-------------------------------+--------------------+--------+