13.7.5.5 SHOW COLUMNS Statement

SHOW [FULL] {COLUMNS | FIELDS}
    {FROM | IN} tbl_name
    [{FROM | IN} db_name]
    [LIKE 'pattern' | WHERE expr]

SHOW COLUMNS displays information about the columns in a given table. It also works for views. SHOW COLUMNS displays information only for those columns for which you have some privilege.

mysql> SHOW COLUMNS FROM City;
+-------------+----------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| Field       | Type     | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
+-------------+----------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| ID          | int(11)  | NO   | PRI | NULL    | auto_increment |
| Name        | char(35) | NO   |     |         |                |
| CountryCode | char(3)  | NO   | MUL |         |                |
| District    | char(20) | NO   |     |         |                |
| Population  | int(11)  | NO   |     | 0       |                |
+-------------+----------+------+-----+---------+----------------+

An alternative to tbl_name FROM db_name syntax is db_name.tbl_name. These two statements are equivalent:

SHOW COLUMNS FROM mytable FROM mydb;
SHOW COLUMNS FROM mydb.mytable;

The optional FULL keyword causes the output to include the column collation and comments, as well as the privileges you have for each column.

The LIKE clause, if present, indicates which column names to match. The WHERE clause can be given to select rows using more general conditions, as discussed in Section 24.8, “Extensions to SHOW Statements”.

The data types may differ from what you expect them to be based on a CREATE TABLE statement because MySQL sometimes changes data types when you create or alter a table. The conditions under which this occurs are described in Section 13.1.18.6, “Silent Column Specification Changes”.

SHOW COLUMNS displays the following values for each table column:

Field

The column name.
Type

The column data type.
Collation

The collation for nonbinary string columns, or NULL for other columns. This value is displayed only if you use the FULL keyword.
Null

The column nullability. The value is YES if NULL values can be stored in the column, NO if not.
Key

Whether the column is indexed:
- If Key is empty, the column either is not indexed or is indexed only as a secondary column in a multiple-column, nonunique index.
- If Key is PRI, the column is a PRIMARY KEY or is one of the columns in a multiple-column PRIMARY KEY.
- If Key is UNI, the column is the first column of a UNIQUE index. (A UNIQUE index permits multiple NULL values, but you can tell whether the column permits NULL by checking the Null field.)
- If Key is MUL, the column is the first column of a nonunique index in which multiple occurrences of a given value are permitted within the column.
If more than one of the Key values applies to a given column of a table, Key displays the one with the highest priority, in the order PRI, UNI, MUL.

A UNIQUE index may be displayed as PRI if it cannot contain NULL values and there is no PRIMARY KEY in the table. A UNIQUE index may display as MUL if several columns form a composite UNIQUE index; although the combination of the columns is unique, each column can still hold multiple occurrences of a given value.
Default

The default value for the column. This is NULL if the column has an explicit default of NULL, or if the column definition includes no DEFAULT clause.
Extra

Any additional information that is available about a given column. The value is nonempty in these cases:
- auto_increment for columns that have the AUTO_INCREMENT attribute.
- on update CURRENT_TIMESTAMP for TIMESTAMP or DATETIME columns that have the ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP attribute.
- VIRTUAL GENERATED or STORED GENERATED for generated columns.
Privileges

The privileges you have for the column. This value is displayed only if you use the FULL keyword.
Comment

Any comment included in the column definition. This value is displayed only if you use the FULL keyword.

Table column information is also available from the INFORMATION_SCHEMA COLUMNS table. See Section 24.3.5, “The INFORMATION_SCHEMA COLUMNS Table”.

You can list a table's columns with the mysqlshow db_name tbl_name command.

The DESCRIBE statement provides information similar to SHOW COLUMNS. See Section 13.8.1, “DESCRIBE Statement”.

The SHOW CREATE TABLE, SHOW TABLE STATUS, and SHOW INDEX statements also provide information about tables. See Section 13.7.5, “SHOW Statements”.