6.6.2 DESCRIBE Syntax (Get Information About Columns)

{DESCRIBE | DESC} tbl_name [col_name | wild]

DESCRIBE is a shortcut for SHOW COLUMNS FROM. See section 4.5.7.1 Retrieving information about Database, Tables, Columns, and Indexes.

DESCRIBE provides information about a table's columns. col_name may be a column name or a string containing the SQL `%' and `_' wildcard characters to obtain output only for the columns with names matching the string. There is no need to enclose the string in quotes.

If the column types are different from what you expect them to be based on a CREATE TABLE statement, note that MySQL sometimes changes column types. See section 6.5.3.1 Silent Column Specification Changes.

This statement is provided for Oracle compatibility.

The SHOW statement provides similar information. See section 4.5.7 SHOW Syntax.

User Comments

DESCRIBE TABLE may show you a field with a value of MUL
even though you defined the field as UNIQUE KEY. If you have not specified NOT NULL, the field can contain multiple values of NULL, thus the MUL. To change value of UNIQUE KEY to UNI specify NOT NULL in your CREATE TABLE statement.

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