SHOW VIEWS

Lists the views, including secure views, for which you have access privileges. The command can be used to list views for the current/specified database or schema, or across your entire account.

The output returns view metadata and properties, ordered lexicographically by database, schema, and view name. This is important to note if you wish to filter the results using the provided filters.

See also:

ALTER VIEW , CREATE VIEW , DROP VIEW , DESCRIBE VIEW

VIEWS View (Information Schema)

Syntax

SHOW [ TERSE ] VIEWS [ LIKE '<pattern>' ]
                     [ IN { ACCOUNT | DATABASE [ <db_name> ] | [ SCHEMA ] [ <schema_name> ] } ]
                     [ STARTS WITH '<name_string>' ]
                     [ LIMIT <rows> [ FROM '<name_string>' ] ]
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Parameters

TERSE

Optionally returns only a subset of the output columns:

  • created_on

  • name

  • kind

  • database_name

  • schema_name

Default: No value (all columns are included in the output)

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 ACCOUNT | [ DATABASE ] db_name | [ SCHEMA ] schema_name

Optionally specifies the scope of the command, which determines whether the command lists records only for the current/specified database or schema, or across your entire account:

The DATABASE or SCHEMA keyword is not required; you can set the scope by specifying only the database or schema name. Likewise, the database or schema name is not required if the session currently has a database in use:

  • If DATABASE or SCHEMA is specified without a name and the session does not currently have a database in use, the parameter has no effect on the output.

  • If SCHEMA is specified with a name and the session does not currently have a database in use, the schema name must be fully qualified with the database name (e.g. testdb.testschema).

Default: Depends on whether the session currently has a database in use:

  • Database: DATABASE is the default (i.e. the command returns the objects you have privileges to view in the database).

  • No database: ACCOUNT is the default (i.e. the command returns the objects you have privileges to view in your 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 return different results:

... STARTS WITH 'B' ...
... STARTS WITH 'b' ...

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

LIMIT rows [ FROM 'name_string' ]

Optionally limits the maximum number of rows returned, while also enabling “pagination” of the results. Note that the actual number of rows returned might be less than the specified limit (e.g. the number of existing objects is less than the specified limit).

The optional FROM 'name_string' subclause effectively serves as a “cursor” for the results. This enables fetching the specified number of rows following the first row whose object name matches the specified string:

  • The string must be enclosed in single quotes and is case-sensitive.

  • The string does not have to include the full object name; partial names are supported.

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

Note

Both FROM 'name_string' and STARTS WITH 'name_string' can be combined in the same statement; however, both conditions must be met or they cancel out each other and no results are returned.

In addition, objects are returned in lexicographic order by name, so FROM 'name_string' only returns rows with a higher lexicographic value than the rows returned by STARTS WITH 'name_string'.

For example:

  • ... STARTS WITH 'A' LIMIT ... FROM 'B' would return no results.

  • ... STARTS WITH 'B' LIMIT ... FROM 'A' would return no results.

  • ... STARTS WITH 'A' LIMIT ... FROM 'AB' would return results (if any rows match the input strings).

Usage Notes

  • The command does not require a running warehouse to execute.

  • The value for LIMIT rows cannot exceed 10000. If LIMIT rows is omitted, the command results in an error if the result set is larger than 10K rows.

    To view results for which more than 10K records exist, either include LIMIT rows or query the corresponding view in the Snowflake Information Schema.

  • 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.

  • By design, the command output includes secure views, but does not provide certain information about these views unless you are using the role that has ownership of the view. To view details for secure views, you must use the role that owns the view or use the VIEWS view in the Information Schema.

  • The output of this command might include objects with names like SN_TEMP_OBJECT_<n> (where <n> is a number). These are temporary objects that are created by the Snowpark library on behalf of the user.

Output

The command’s output provides column properties and metadata in the following columns:

| created_on | name | reserved | database_name | schema_name | owner | comment | text | is_secure | is_materialized | change_tracking | owner_role_type
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Column

Description

created_on

The timestamp at which the view was created.

name

The name of the view.

reserved

(Reserved for future use.)

database_name

The name of the database in which the view exists.

schema_name

The name of the schema in which the view exists.

owner

The owner of the view.

comment

Optional comment.

text

The text of the command that created the view (e.g. CREATE VIEW …).

is_secure

True if the view is a secure view; false otherwise.

is_materialized

True if the view is a materialized view; false otherwise.

change_tracking

Either: ON or OFF. ON indicates enabled and you query the change tracking data using streams or the CHANGES clause for SELECT statements. OFF indicates disabled, however you can optionally enable change tracking as needed.

owner_role_type

The type of role that owns the object, either ROLE or DATABASE_ROLE. Note that Snowflake returns NULL if you delete the object because there is no owner role for a deleted object.

Examples

Show all views whose names start with line that you have privileges to see in the mydb.public schema:

SHOW VIEWS LIKE 'line%' IN mydb.public;

+-------------------------------+---------+----------+---------------+-------------+----------+---------+-------------------------------------------------------+-----------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| created_on                    | name    | reserved | database_name | schema_name | owner    | comment | text                                                  | is_secure | is_materialized | change_tracking | owner_role_type |
+-------------------------------+---------+----------+---------------+-------------+----------+---------+-------------------------------------------------------+-----------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2019-05-24 18:41:14.247 -0700 | liners1 |          | MYDB          | PUBLIC      | SYSADMIN |         | create materialized views liners1 as select * from t; | false     | false           | on              | ROLE            |
+-------------------------------+---------+----------+---------------+-------------+----------+---------+-------------------------------------------------------+-----------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
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