SHOW TABLES

Complete guide to listing tables in MariaDB. Complete SHOW TABLES syntax reference with LIKE patterns, WHERE conditions, and filtering options.

Syntax

SHOW [FULL] TABLES [FROM db_name]
    [LIKE 'pattern' | WHERE expr]

Description

Current

SHOW TABLES lists the tables, sequences and views in a given database.

< 11.2.0

The LIKE clause, if present on its own, indicates which table names to match. The WHERE and LIKE clauses can be given to select rows using more general conditions, as discussed in Extended SHOW. For example, when searching for tables in the test database, the column name for use in the WHERE and LIKE clauses will be Tables_in_test

The FULL modifier is supported such that SHOW FULL TABLES displays a second output column. Values for the second column, Table_type, are BASE TABLE for a table, VIEW for a view and SEQUENCE for a sequence.

You can also get this information using:

mariadb-show db_name

See mariadb-show for more details.

If you have no privileges for a base table or view, it does not show up in the output from SHOW TABLES or mariadb-show db_name.

The information_schema.TABLES table, as well as the SHOW TABLE STATUS statement, provide extended information about tables.

Examples

SHOW TABLES;
+----------------------+
| Tables_in_test       |
+----------------------+
| animal_count         |
| animals              |
| are_the_mooses_loose |
| aria_test2           |
| t1                   |
| view1                |
+----------------------+

Showing the tables beginning with a only.

SHOW TABLES WHERE Tables_in_test LIKE 'a%';
+----------------------+
| Tables_in_test       |
+----------------------+
| animal_count         |
| animals              |
| are_the_mooses_loose |
| aria_test2           |
+----------------------+

Showing tables and table types:

SHOW FULL TABLES;
+----------------+------------+
| Tables_in_test | Table_type |
+----------------+------------+
| s1             | SEQUENCE   |
| student        | BASE TABLE |
| v1             | VIEW       |
+----------------+------------+

Showing temporary tables: <= MariaDB 11.1

CREATE TABLE t (t INT(11));
CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE t (t INT(11));
CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE te (t INT(11));

SHOW TABLES;
+----------------+
| Tables_in_test |
+----------------+
| t              |
+----------------+

From MariaDB 11.2.0:

CREATE TABLE t (t INT(11));
CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE t (t INT(11));
CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE te (t INT(11));

SHOW TABLES;
+----------------+
| Tables_in_test |
+----------------+
| te             |
| t              |
| t              |
+----------------+

See Also

• SHOW TABLE STATUS

• The information_schema.TABLES table

_{This page is licensed: GPLv2, originally from fill_help_tables.sql}