Describe
DESCRIBE is a database command or statement that returns structural and metadata information about a database object or query result.
DuckDB in Action
DESCRIBE is a SQL statement that reports the structure and metadata of a relation or query result.
- How it is used
- Uses schema inspection to establish a data source’s shape before counts, distributions, filters, aggregations, or larger analytical queries.
- How deep it goes
- Explains metadata inspection across relations and files, while deferring detailed statistics and analytical query construction to subsequent operations.
- Examples
- Uses readings, constructed VALUES tuples, and a compressed Stack Overflow Tags CSV to demonstrate metadata inspection and follow-up analysis.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate/understand input shape, choose available columns, and build informed DuckDB queries over tables, query results, or files.
ScyllaDB in Action
The DESCRIBE command is a Cassandra-compatible database shell command that displays the schema definition and configuration of a database object.
- How it is used
- Uses cqlsh to inspect a table before writing data.
- How deep it goes
- Explains table-level schema output and settings, but does not detail command options beyond supplying a table.
- Examples
- Shows DESCRIBE authors producing the reviews.authors CREATE TABLE definition.
- What you can do after
- Operate cqlsh to inspect fields, primary keys, and settings before constructing writes.
Related concepts
- CREATE TABLE statementproduces · A CREATE TABLE statement is a data-definition command that creates a table and specifies its columns, types, keys, constraints, and other schema properties.
- schemauses · A data schema is a formal specification of the structure, fields, types, relationships, and constraints of data.
- metadataproduces · Metadata is information that describes, identifies, or provides context about other data, resources, or artifacts.
- atomic typeuses · An atomic type is a type whose supported accesses and operations are indivisible with respect to concurrent execution and provide defined synchronization semantics.
- partitioning keyuses · A partitioning key is a value or attribute used to determine which partition stores or receives a record or data item.
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