Name
SET DESCRIBE
Synopsis
The DESCRIBE setting controls the depth to which an object such as an object type or object table is described.
Syntax
SET DESCRIBE [DEPTH {levels
| ALL}] [LINENUM {ON | OFF}] [INDENT {ON | OFF}]
Parameters
- DEPTH {levels | ALL}
Specifies the depth to which to recursively describe an object. The default is to describe only the top level of columns, attributes, or parameters.
- LINENUM {ON | OFF}
Adds or removes line numbers from the object's description. The default is LINENUM OFF.
- INDENT {ON | OFF}
Indents nested descriptions. The default is INDENT ON.
Examples
Suppose you had the following type and table:
CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE employee_type AS ( employee_name VARCHAR2(40), employee_hire_date DATE, employee_salary NUMBER(9,2)); / CREATE TABLE employees AS ( employee_id NUMBER, employee_data employee_type);
If you describe the table, DESCRIBE's default behavior is to list the datatype for each column in the table, but not to expand any object types:
DESCRIBE employees
Name Null? Type
----------------------------------------- -------- ---------------
EMPLOYEE_ID NUMBER
EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE_TYPE
If you want to know what EMPLOYEE_TYPE looks like, you must issue a second DESCRIBE command:
DESCRIBE employee_type
Name Null? Type
----------------------------------------- -------- ---------------
EMPLOYEE_NAME VARCHAR2(40)
EMPLOYEE_HIRE_DATE DATE
EMPLOYEE_SALARY NUMBER(9,2)
The SET DESCRIBE command gives you the option of getting all this information with only one DESCRIBE command. ...
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