Managing Objects

with Data Dictionary Views

Copyright © 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to do the

following:
• Use the data dictionary views to research data on your
objects
• Query various data dictionary views

3-2 Copyright © 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Lesson Agenda

• Introduction to data dictionary

• Querying the dictionary views for the following:
– Table information
– Column information
– Constraint information
• Querying the dictionary views for the following:
– View information
– Sequence information
– Synonym information
– Index information
• Adding a comment to a table and querying the dictionary
views for comment information

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 Data Dictionary

Oracle server

Tables containing Data dictionary

business data: views:
EMPLOYEES DICTIONARY
DEPARTMENTS USER_OBJECTS
LOCATIONS USER_TABLES
JOB_HISTORY USER_TAB_COLUMNS
... ...

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 Data Dictionary Structure

Oracle server

Consists of:
– Base tables
– User-accessible views

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 Data Dictionary Structure

View naming convention:

View Prefix Purpose

USER User’s view (what is in your schema; what you
own)
ALL Expanded user’s view (what you can access)
DBA Database administrator’s view (what is in
everyone’s schemas)
V$ Performance-related data

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 How to Use the Dictionary Views

Start with DICTIONARY. It contains the names and descriptions

of the dictionary tables and views.
DESCRIBE DICTIONARY

SELECT *
FROM dictionary
WHERE table_name = 'USER_OBJECTS';

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 USER_OBJECTS and ALL_OBJECTS Views

USER_OBJECTS:
• Query USER_OBJECTS to see all the objects that you own
• Is a useful way to obtain a listing of all object names and
types in your schema, plus the following information:
– Date created
– Date of last modification
– Status (valid or invalid)
ALL_OBJECTS:
• Query ALL_OBJECTS to see all objects to which you have
access

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 USER_OBJECTS View

SELECT object_name, object_type, created, status

FROM user_objects
ORDER BY object_type;

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 Lesson Agenda

• Introduction to data dictionary

• Querying the dictionary views for the following:
– Table information
– Column information
– Constraint information
• Querying the dictionary views for the following:
– View information
– Sequence information
– Synonym information
– Index information
• Adding a comment to a table and querying the dictionary
views for comment information

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 Table Information

USER_TABLES:
DESCRIBE user_tables

…
SELECT table_name
FROM user_tables;

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 Column Information

USER_TAB_COLUMNS:
DESCRIBE user_tab_columns

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 Column Information

SELECT column_name, data_type, data_length,

data_precision, data_scale, nullable
FROM user_tab_columns
WHERE table_name = 'EMPLOYEES';

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 Constraint Information

• USER_CONSTRAINTS describes the constraint definitions on

your tables.
• USER_CONS_COLUMNS describes columns that are owned
by you and that are specified in constraints.
DESCRIBE user_constraints

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 USER_CONSTRAINTS: Example

SELECT constraint_name, constraint_type,

search_condition, r_constraint_name,
delete_rule, status
FROM user_constraints
WHERE table_name = 'EMPLOYEES';

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 Querying USER_CONS_COLUMNS

DESCRIBE user_cons_columns

SELECT constraint_name, column_name

FROM user_cons_columns
WHERE table_name = 'EMPLOYEES';

…
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 Lesson Agenda

• Introduction to data dictionary

• Querying the dictionary views for the following:
– Table information
– Column information
– Constraint information
• Querying the dictionary views for the following:
– View information
– Sequence information
– Synonym information
– Index information
• Adding a comment to a table and querying the dictionary
views for comment information

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 View Information

1 DESCRIBE user_views

2 SELECT DISTINCT view_name FROM user_views;

3 SELECT text FROM user_views

WHERE view_name = 'EMP_DETAILS_VIEW';

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 Sequence Information

DESCRIBE user_sequences

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 Confirming Sequences

• Verify your sequence values in the USER_SEQUENCES data

dictionary table.
SELECT sequence_name, min_value, max_value,
increment_by, last_number
FROM user_sequences;

• The LAST_NUMBER column displays the next available

sequence number if NOCACHE is specified.

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 Index Information

• USER_INDEXES provides information about your indexes.

• USER_IND_COLUMNS describes columns comprising your
indexes and columns of indexes on your tables.

DESCRIBE user_indexes

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 USER_INDEXES: Examples

a SELECT index_name, table_name,uniqueness

FROM user_indexes
WHERE table_name = 'EMPLOYEES';

b SELECT INDEX_NAME, TABLE_NAME

FROM USER_INDEXES
WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'EMP_LIB';

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 Querying USER_IND_COLUMNS

DESCRIBE user_ind_columns

SELECT INDEX_NAME, COLUMN_NAME,TABLE_NAME

FROM user_ind_columns
WHERE INDEX_NAME = 'LNAME_IDX';

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 Synonym Information

DESCRIBE user_synonyms

SELECT *
FROM user_synonyms;

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 Lesson Agenda

• Introduction to data dictionary

• Querying the dictionary views for the following:
– Table information
– Column information
– Constraint information
• Querying the dictionary views for the following:
– View information
– Sequence information
– Synonym information
– Index information
• Adding a comment to a table and querying the dictionary
views for comment information

3 - 25 Copyright © 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Adding Comments to a Table

• You can add comments to a table or column by using the

COMMENT statement:

COMMENT ON TABLE employees

IS 'Employee Information';

COMMENT ON COLUMN employees.first_name

IS 'First name of the employee';

• Comments can be viewed through the data dictionary views:

– ALL_COL_COMMENTS
– USER_COL_COMMENTS
– ALL_TAB_COMMENTS
– USER_TAB_COMMENTS

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 Summary

In this lesson, you should have learned how to find information

about your objects through the following dictionary views:
• DICTIONARY
• USER_OBJECTS
• USER_TABLES
• USER_TAB_COLUMNS
• USER_CONSTRAINTS
• USER_CONS_COLUMNS
• USER_VIEWS
• USER_SEQUENCES
• USER_INDEXES
• USER_SYNONYMS

3 - 27 Copyright © 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved.