DESCRIBE Statements
- Run a DESCRIBE statement
- Syntax

DESCRIBE Statements

DESCRIBE statements are used to describe the schema of a table or a view, or the metadata of a catalog, or the specified job in the Flink cluster.

Run a DESCRIBE statement

Java

DESCRIBE statements can be executed with the executeSql() method of the TableEnvironment. The executeSql() method returns objects for a successful DESCRIBE operation, otherwise will throw an exception.

The following examples show how to run a DESCRIBE statement in TableEnvironment.

Scala

The following examples show how to run a DESCRIBE statement in TableEnvironment.

Python

DESCRIBE statements can be executed with the execute_sql() method of the TableEnvironment. The execute_sql() method returns objects for a successful DESCRIBE operation, otherwise will throw an exception.

The following examples show how to run a DESCRIBE statement in TableEnvironment.

SQL CLI

DESCRIBE statements can be executed in SQL CLI.

The following examples show how to run a DESCRIBE statement in SQL CLI.

Java

TableEnvironment tableEnv = TableEnvironment.create(...);
// register a table named "Orders"
tableEnv.executeSql(
        "CREATE TABLE Orders (" +
        " `user` BIGINT NOT NULl comment 'this is primary key'," +
        " product VARCHAR(32)," +
        " amount INT," +
        " ts TIMESTAMP(3) comment 'notice: watermark'," +
        " ptime AS PROCTIME() comment 'this is a computed column'," +
        " PRIMARY KEY(`user`) NOT ENFORCED," +
        " WATERMARK FOR ts AS ts - INTERVAL '1' SECONDS" +
        ") with (...)");
// print the schema
tableEnv.executeSql("DESCRIBE Orders").print();
// print the schema
tableEnv.executeSql("DESC Orders").print();
// register a catalog named "cat2"
tableEnv.executeSql("CREATE CATALOG cat2 WITH ('type'='generic_in_memory', 'default-database'='db')");
// print the metadata
tableEnv.executeSql("DESCRIBE CATALOG cat2").print();
// print the complete metadata
tableEnv.executeSql("DESC CATALOG EXTENDED cat2").print();

Scala

val tableEnv = TableEnvironment.create(...)
// register a table named "Orders"
 tableEnv.executeSql(
        "CREATE TABLE Orders (" +
        " `user` BIGINT NOT NULl comment 'this is primary key'," +
        " product VARCHAR(32)," +
        " amount INT," +
        " ts TIMESTAMP(3) comment 'notice: watermark'," +
        " ptime AS PROCTIME() comment 'this is a computed column'," +
        " PRIMARY KEY(`user`) NOT ENFORCED," +
        " WATERMARK FOR ts AS ts - INTERVAL '1' SECONDS" +
        ") with (...)")
// print the schema
tableEnv.executeSql("DESCRIBE Orders").print()
// print the schema
tableEnv.executeSql("DESC Orders").print()
// register a catalog named "cat2"
tableEnv.executeSql("CREATE CATALOG cat2 WITH ('type'='generic_in_memory', 'default-database'='db')")
// print the metadata
tableEnv.executeSql("DESCRIBE CATALOG cat2").print()
// print the complete metadata
tableEnv.executeSql("DESC CATALOG EXTENDED cat2").print()

Python

table_env = TableEnvironment.create(...)
# register a table named "Orders"
table_env.execute_sql( \
        "CREATE TABLE Orders (" 
        " `user` BIGINT NOT NULl comment 'this is primary key'," 
        " product VARCHAR(32),"
        " amount INT,"
        " ts TIMESTAMP(3) comment 'notice: watermark',"
        " ptime AS PROCTIME() comment 'this is a computed column',"
        " PRIMARY KEY(`user`) NOT ENFORCED,"
        " WATERMARK FOR ts AS ts - INTERVAL '1' SECONDS"
        ") with (...)");
# print the schema
table_env.execute_sql("DESCRIBE Orders").print()
# print the schema
table_env.execute_sql("DESC Orders").print()
# register a catalog named "cat2"
table_env.execute_sql("CREATE CATALOG cat2 WITH ('type'='generic_in_memory', 'default-database'='db')")
# print the metadata
table_env.execute_sql("DESCRIBE CATALOG cat2").print()
# print the complete metadata
table_env.execute_sql("DESC CATALOG EXTENDED cat2").print()

SQL CLI

Flink SQL> CREATE TABLE Orders (
>  `user` BIGINT NOT NULl comment 'this is primary key',
>  product VARCHAR(32),
>  amount INT,
>  ts TIMESTAMP(3) comment 'notice: watermark',
>  ptime AS PROCTIME() comment 'this is a computed column',
>  PRIMARY KEY(`user`) NOT ENFORCED,
>  WATERMARK FOR ts AS ts - INTERVAL '1' SECONDS
> ) with (
>  ...
> );
[INFO] Table has been created.
Flink SQL> DESCRIBE Orders;
Flink SQL> DESC Orders;
Flink SQL> CREATE CATALOG cat2 WITH ('type'='generic_in_memory', 'default-database'='db');
[INFO] Execute statement succeeded.
Flink SQL> DESCRIBE CATALOG cat2;
Flink SQL> DESC CATALOG EXTENDED cat2;
Flink SQL> DESCRIBE JOB '228d70913eab60dda85c5e7f78b5782c';
Flink SQL> DESC JOB '228d70913eab60dda85c5e7f78b5782c';

The result of the above example is:

Java

# DESCRIBE TABLE Orders
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
|    name |                        type |  null |       key |        extras |                  watermark |                   comment |
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
|    user |                      BIGINT | FALSE | PRI(user) |               |                            |       this is primary key |
| product |                 VARCHAR(32) |  TRUE |           |               |                            |                           |
|  amount |                         INT |  TRUE |           |               |                            |                           |
|      ts |      TIMESTAMP(3) *ROWTIME* |  TRUE |           |               | `ts` - INTERVAL '1' SECOND |         notice: watermark |
|   ptime | TIMESTAMP_LTZ(3) *PROCTIME* | FALSE |           | AS PROCTIME() |                            | this is a computed column |
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
5 rows in set
# DESCRIBE CATALOG cat2
+-----------+-------------------+
| info name |        info value |
+-----------+-------------------+
|      name |              cat2 |
|      type | generic_in_memory |
|   comment |                   |
+-----------+-------------------+
3 rows in set
# DESCRIBE CATALOG EXTENDED cat2
+-------------------------+-------------------+
|               info name |        info value |
+-------------------------+-------------------+
|                    name |              cat2 |
|                    type | generic_in_memory |
|                 comment |                   |
| option:default-database |                db |
+-------------------------+-------------------+
4 rows in set

Scala

# DESCRIBE TABLE Orders
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
|    name |                        type |  null |       key |        extras |                  watermark |                   comment |
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
|    user |                      BIGINT | FALSE | PRI(user) |               |                            |       this is primary key |
| product |                 VARCHAR(32) |  TRUE |           |               |                            |                           |
|  amount |                         INT |  TRUE |           |               |                            |                           |
|      ts |      TIMESTAMP(3) *ROWTIME* |  TRUE |           |               | `ts` - INTERVAL '1' SECOND |         notice: watermark |
|   ptime | TIMESTAMP_LTZ(3) *PROCTIME* | FALSE |           | AS PROCTIME() |                            | this is a computed column |
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
5 rows in set
# DESCRIBE CATALOG cat2
+-----------+-------------------+
| info name |        info value |
+-----------+-------------------+
|      name |              cat2 |
|      type | generic_in_memory |
|   comment |                   |
+-----------+-------------------+
3 rows in set
# DESCRIBE CATALOG EXTENDED cat2
+-------------------------+-------------------+
|               info name |        info value |
+-------------------------+-------------------+
|                    name |              cat2 |
|                    type | generic_in_memory |
|                 comment |                   |
| option:default-database |                db |
+-------------------------+-------------------+
4 rows in set

Python

# DESCRIBE TABLE Orders
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
|    name |                        type |  null |       key |        extras |                  watermark |                   comment |
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
|    user |                      BIGINT | FALSE | PRI(user) |               |                            |       this is primary key |
| product |                 VARCHAR(32) |  TRUE |           |               |                            |                           |
|  amount |                         INT |  TRUE |           |               |                            |                           |
|      ts |      TIMESTAMP(3) *ROWTIME* |  TRUE |           |               | `ts` - INTERVAL '1' SECOND |         notice: watermark |
|   ptime | TIMESTAMP_LTZ(3) *PROCTIME* | FALSE |           | AS PROCTIME() |                            | this is a computed column |
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
5 rows in set
# DESCRIBE CATALOG cat2
+-----------+-------------------+
| info name |        info value |
+-----------+-------------------+
|      name |              cat2 |
|      type | generic_in_memory |
|   comment |                   |
+-----------+-------------------+
3 rows in set
# DESCRIBE CATALOG EXTENDED cat2
+-------------------------+-------------------+
|               info name |        info value |
+-------------------------+-------------------+
|                    name |              cat2 |
|                    type | generic_in_memory |
|                 comment |                   |
| option:default-database |                db |
+-------------------------+-------------------+
4 rows in set

SQL CLI

# DESCRIBE TABLE Orders
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
|    name |                        type |  null |       key |        extras |                  watermark |                   comment |
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
|    user |                      BIGINT | FALSE | PRI(user) |               |                            |       this is primary key |
| product |                 VARCHAR(32) |  TRUE |           |               |                            |                           |
|  amount |                         INT |  TRUE |           |               |                            |                           |
|      ts |      TIMESTAMP(3) *ROWTIME* |  TRUE |           |               | `ts` - INTERVAL '1' SECOND |         notice: watermark |
|   ptime | TIMESTAMP_LTZ(3) *PROCTIME* | FALSE |           | AS PROCTIME() |                            | this is a computed column |
+---------+-----------------------------+-------+-----------+---------------+----------------------------+---------------------------+
5 rows in set
# DESCRIBE CATALOG cat2
+-----------+-------------------+
| info name |        info value |
+-----------+-------------------+
|      name |              cat2 |
|      type | generic_in_memory |
|   comment |                   |
+-----------+-------------------+
3 rows in set
# DESCRIBE CATALOG EXTENDED cat2
+-------------------------+-------------------+
|               info name |        info value |
+-------------------------+-------------------+
|                    name |              cat2 |
|                    type | generic_in_memory |
|                 comment |                   |
| option:default-database |                db |
+-------------------------+-------------------+
4 rows in set
# DESCRIBE JOB '228d70913eab60dda85c5e7f78b5782c'
+----------------------------------+----------+---------+-------------------------+
|                           job id | job name |  status |              start time |
+----------------------------------+----------+---------+-------------------------+
| 228d70913eab60dda85c5e7f78b5782c |    myjob | RUNNING | 2023-02-11T05:03:51.523 |
+----------------------------------+----------+---------+-------------------------+
1 row in set

Syntax

DESCRIBE TABLE

{ DESCRIBE | DESC } [catalog_name.][db_name.]table_name

DESCRIBE CATALOG

{ DESCRIBE | DESC } CATALOG [EXTENDED] catalog_name

DESCRIBE JOB

{ DESCRIBE | DESC } JOB '<job_id>'

Attention DESCRIBE JOB statements only work in SQL CLI or SQL Gateway.