MySQL and mSQL

Name

DESC

Synopsis

DESCRIBE table[column]
DESC table[column]

Gives information about a table or column. While this statement works as advertised, its functionality is available (along with much more) in the SHOW statement. This statement is included solely for compatibility with Oracle SQL. The optional column name can contain SQL wildcards, in which case information will be displayed for all matching columns.

Example

# Describe the layout of the table 'messy'
DESCRIBE messy
# Show the information about any columns starting with 'my_' in the 'big' table.
# Remember: '_' is a wildcard, too, so it must be escaped to be used literally.
DESC big my\_%