Command guide

beginner metadata MySQL MariaDB SQL Server PostgreSQL SQLite

List Tables

Inspect the current database or schema to see which tables exist.

5/5 supported engines validation-green 1 example 2 scenarios

Docker-validated Not currently validation-green

Example 1

List a small set of created tables

This is a good example of a concept page with engine-specific SQL rather than one universal statement.

MySQL MariaDB

Engine-specific syntax

Source table data

Setup

CREATE TABLE alpha (id INT);

CREATE TABLE beta (id INT);

Validated query

SQL

SELECT
  table_name AS table_name
FROM
  information_schema.tables
WHERE
  table_schema = DATABASE ()
  AND table_name IN ('alpha', 'beta')
ORDER BY
  table_name;

Expected result

table_name
alpha
beta

SQL Server

Engine-specific syntax

Source table data

Setup

CREATE TABLE alpha (id INT);

CREATE TABLE beta (id INT);

Validated query

SQL

SELECT
  TABLE_NAME
FROM
  INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE
  TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
  AND TABLE_NAME IN ('alpha', 'beta')
ORDER BY
  TABLE_NAME;

Expected result

TABLE_NAME
alpha
beta

PostgreSQL

Engine-specific syntax

Source table data

Setup

CREATE TABLE alpha (id INT);

CREATE TABLE beta (id INT);

Validated query

SQL

SELECT
  table_name
FROM
  information_schema.tables
WHERE
  table_schema = 'public'
  AND table_name IN ('alpha', 'beta')
ORDER BY
  table_name;

Expected result

table_name
alpha
beta

SQLite

Engine-specific syntax

Source table data

Setup

CREATE TABLE alpha (id INT);

CREATE TABLE beta (id INT);

Validated query

SQL

SELECT
  name
FROM
  sqlite_master
WHERE
  type = 'table'
ORDER BY
  name;

Expected result

name
alpha
beta

The row values are equivalent, but the query shape and generated column labels differ by engine.

Useful when

Where this command helps.

exploring an unfamiliar database
confirming that setup scripts created the expected tables

Explanation

What the command is doing.

Table-listing queries are useful for orientation and metadata discovery, but they are one of the first places where engine-specific syntax becomes visible.

List Tables

List a small set of created tables

Where this command helps.

What the command is doing.

Keep moving through nearby tasks.