SHOW TYPES¶

Syntax¶

SHOW TYPES [ LIKE '<pattern>' ]
               [ IN
                    {
                      ACCOUNT                                         |

                      DATABASE                                        |
                      DATABASE <database_name>                        |

                      SCHEMA                                          |
                      SCHEMA <schema_name>                            |
                      <schema_name>

                      APPLICATION <application_name>                  |
                      APPLICATION PACKAGE <application_package_name>  |
                    }
               ]
           [ STARTS WITH '<name_string>' ]

Parameters¶

LIKE 'pattern'

Optionally filters the command output by object name. The filter uses case-insensitive pattern matching, with support for SQL wildcard characters (% and _).

For example, the following patterns return the same results:

... LIKE '%testing%' ...

... LIKE '%TESTING%' ...

. Default: No value (no filtering is applied to the output).

[ IN ... ]

Optionally specifies the scope of the command. Specify one of the following parameters:

ACCOUNT

Returns records for the entire account.

DATABASE, . DATABASE db_name

Returns records for the current database in use or for a specified database (db_name).

If you specify DATABASE without db_name and no database is in use, the keyword has no effect on the output.

Note

Using SHOW commands without an IN clause in a database context can result in fewer than expected results.

Objects with the same name are only displayed once if no IN clause is used. For example, if you have table t1 in schema1 and table t1 in schema2, and they are both in scope of the database context you’ve specified (that is, the database you’ve selected is the parent of schema1 and schema2), then SHOW TABLES only displays one of the t1 tables.

SCHEMA, . SCHEMA schema_name

Returns records for the current schema in use or a specified schema (schema_name).

SCHEMA is optional if a database is in use or if you specify the fully qualified schema_name (for example, db.schema).

If no database is in use, specifying SCHEMA has no effect on the output.

APPLICATION application_name, . APPLICATION PACKAGE application_package_name

Returns records for the named Snowflake Native App or application package.

If you omit IN ..., the scope of the command depends on whether the session currently has a database in use:

• If a database is currently in use, the command returns the objects you have privileges to view in the database. This has the same effect as specifying IN DATABASE.

• If no database is currently in use, the command returns the objects you have privileges to view in your account. This has the same effect as specifying IN ACCOUNT.

STARTS WITH 'name_string'

Optionally filters the command output based on the characters that appear at the beginning of the object name. The string must be enclosed in single quotes and is case sensitive.

For example, the following strings return different results:

... STARTS WITH 'B' ...

... STARTS WITH 'b' ...

. Default: No value (no filtering is applied to the output)

Output¶

The command output provides user-defined type properties and metadata in the following columns:

Access control requirements¶

A role used to execute this operation must have the following privileges at a minimum:

Operating on an object in a schema requires at least one privilege on the parent database and at least one privilege on the parent schema.

For instructions on creating a custom role with a specified set of privileges, see Creating custom roles.

For general information about roles and privilege grants for performing SQL actions on securable objects, see Overview of Access Control.

Usage notes¶

• The command doesn’t require a running warehouse to execute.

• The command only returns objects for which the current user’s current role has been granted at least one access privilege.

• The MANAGE GRANTS access privilege implicitly allows its holder to see every object in the account. By default, only the account administrator (users with the ACCOUNTADMIN role) and security administrator (users with the SECURITYADMIN role) have the MANAGE GRANTS privilege.

• To post-process the output of this command, you can use the pipe operator (->>) or the RESULT_SCAN function. Both constructs treat the output as a result set that you can query.

  For example, you can use the pipe operator or RESULT_SCAN function to select specific columns from the SHOW command output or filter the rows.

  When you refer to the output columns, use double-quoted identifiers for the column names. For example, to select the output column type, specify SELECT "type".

  You must use double-quoted identifiers because the output column names for SHOW commands are in lowercase. The double quotes ensure that the column names in the SELECT list or WHERE clause match the column names in the SHOW command output that was scanned.

• The command returns a maximum of ten thousand records for the specified object type, as dictated by the access privileges for the role used to execute the command. Any records above the ten thousand records limit aren’t returned, even with a filter applied.

  To view results for which more than ten thousand records exist, query the corresponding view (if one exists) in the Snowflake Information Schema.

• Executing the command for schema-level objects only returns an object if the current role also has at least one privilege on the parent database and schema.

Examples¶

Use the SHOW TYPES command to list details about the age user-defined type:

SHOW TYPES LIKE 'age';

+------+-------------+-------------------------------+---------------+----------------+--------------+---------+
| name | type        | created_on                    | database_name | schema_name    | owner        | comment |
|------+-------------+-------------------------------+---------------+----------------+--------------+---------|
| AGE  | NUMBER(3,0) | 2025-10-28 09:09:43.279 -0700 | MY_DB         | MY_SCHEMA      | MY_ROLE      | NULL    |
+------+-------------+-------------------------------+---------------+----------------+--------------+---------+