3

Managing Objects
with Data Dictionary Views

Copyright © 2009, 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

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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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 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 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

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 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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 Quiz

The dictionary views that are based on the dictionary tables

contain information such as:
1. Definitions of all the schema objects in the database
2. Default values for the columns
3. Integrity constraint information
4. Oracle usernames and passwords
5. Privileges and roles that each user has been granted

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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

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 Practice 3: Overview

This practice covers the following topics:

• Querying the dictionary views for table and column
information
• Querying the dictionary views for constraint information
• Querying the dictionary views for view information
• Querying the dictionary views for sequence information
• Querying the dictionary views for synonym information
• Querying the dictionary views for index information
• Adding a comment to a table and querying the dictionary
views for comment information

3 - 29 Copyright © 2009, Oracle. All rights reserved.