To ensure that your data contains all of the required columns and restrictions, you must be familiar with the database schema. If a schema diagram is not available, there are numerous ways to find out what tables or views might be needed for writing queries. One way is to look at some of the data dictionary tables.
To view all of the data dictionary table names, issue the following SELECT statement:
SELECT table_name
FROM dictionary
ORDER BY table_name;
Some of the tables of interest should be all_tables, all_columns, all_views and all_constraints.
To view the column names of these tables, issue 'DESC table_name'. DESC stands for DESCribe and 'table_name' is the name of the table in question, such as 'all_tables'. Therefore, 'DESC all_tables' will return all of the columns and their data types for the table 'all_tables'.
With the help of the data dictionary tables, it is possible to determine what tables, views, and constraints are in effect for the application in question.
To view all of the data dictionary table names, issue the following SELECT statement:
SELECT table_name
FROM dictionary
ORDER BY table_name;
Some of the tables of interest should be all_tables, all_columns, all_views and all_constraints.
To view the column names of these tables, issue 'DESC table_name'. DESC stands for DESCribe and 'table_name' is the name of the table in question, such as 'all_tables'. Therefore, 'DESC all_tables' will return all of the columns and their data types for the table 'all_tables'.
With the help of the data dictionary tables, it is possible to determine what tables, views, and constraints are in effect for the application in question.