Accessing Oracle Table Column Names

Unlike some database systems, Oracle doesn't offer a single, direct command to retrieve column names. Instead, you must query the USER_TAB_COLUMNS system table.

Querying USER_TAB_COLUMNS:

To obtain the column names for a table (let's call it 'MYTABLE'), use this SQL query:

SELECT table_name, column_name, data_type, data_length
FROM USER_TAB_COLUMNS
WHERE table_name = 'MYTABLE';

This query filters the USER_TAB_COLUMNS table, returning only rows where table_name matches 'MYTABLE'.

Returned Data:

The query's output will be a table with the following columns:

• table_name: The name of the table.
• column_name: The name of each column in the table.
• data_type: The data type of each column (e.g., VARCHAR2, NUMBER, DATE).
• data_length: The length or precision of the column's data type.

Applications:

This information is valuable for various tasks, including:

• Dynamic SQL generation: Programmatically construct SQL queries based on the retrieved column names.
• Report creation: Build reports and summaries that include column names and data types.
• Data management: Efficiently manage and extract data across multiple tables.