# List tables and other catalog objects Shape / inspect A variant of [List columns and types](https://meridian.online/operations/list-columns-and-types). List the databases, schemas, tables, views, functions or types a connection or session holds. Page: ## Status Runs as a SQL step. arcform carries it as a `sql:` step today. ## The DuckDB step list the databases, schemas, tables, views, functions and types a session holds It reads the `orders` table the proofs share. Create it first: ```sql CREATE TABLE orders AS SELECT * FROM (VALUES (1, 'Alice Ng', 'north', DATE '2026-01-03', 120.00, 'widget', 'a|b', '{"channel":"web","items":[1,2]}'), (2, 'alice ng', 'north', DATE '2026-01-05', 80.50, 'gadget', 'b', '{"channel":"shop","items":[3]}'), (3, 'Bob Okafor', 'south', DATE '2026-01-05', 300.00, 'widget', 'a|c', '{"channel":"web","items":[4,5,6]}'), (4, 'Carla Díaz', 'east', DATE '2026-01-09', NULL, 'gizmo', NULL, '{"channel":"web","items":[]}'), (5, 'Bob Okafor', 'south', DATE '2026-01-12', 45.25, 'gadget', 'c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[7]}'), (6, 'Dev Patel', 'west', DATE '2026-01-12', 510.00, 'widget', 'a', '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'), (7, 'Carla Diaz', 'east', DATE '2026-01-20', 99.99, 'gizmo', 'b|c', '{"channel":"shop","items":[10]}'), (8, 'Dev Patel', 'west', DATE '2026-02-02', 510.00, 'widget', 'a', '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'), (9, 'Eve Larsen', NULL, DATE '2026-02-03', 15.00, 'gadget', NULL, '{"channel":"web","items":[11]}'), (10, 'Alice Ng', 'north', DATE '2026-02-10', 220.00, 'gizmo', 'a|b|c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[12,13]}') ) t(order_id, customer, region, order_date, amount, product, tags, meta); ``` Then run the statement: ```sql CREATE SCHEMA staging; CREATE TABLE staging.events (id INTEGER); CREATE VIEW order_totals AS SELECT customer, sum(amount) AS total FROM orders GROUP BY customer; CREATE TYPE region_name AS ENUM ('north', 'south'); CREATE MACRO double_it(x) AS x * 2; CREATE TEMP TABLE databases AS SELECT database_name FROM duckdb_databases() WHERE NOT internal; CREATE TEMP TABLE schemas AS SELECT schema_name FROM duckdb_schemas() WHERE database_name = current_database() AND schema_name NOT IN ('information_schema', 'pg_catalog'); CREATE TEMP TABLE tables AS SELECT schema_name, table_name FROM duckdb_tables() WHERE database_name = current_database() AND NOT internal; CREATE TEMP TABLE views AS SELECT schema_name, view_name FROM duckdb_views() WHERE database_name = current_database() AND NOT internal; CREATE TEMP TABLE functions AS SELECT function_name, function_type FROM duckdb_functions() WHERE function_name = 'double_it'; CREATE TEMP TABLE types AS SELECT type_name, logical_type FROM duckdb_types() WHERE database_name = current_database() AND NOT internal; SELECT schema_name, table_name FROM tables ORDER BY ALL; SELECT schema_name, view_name FROM views ORDER BY ALL; SELECT CASE WHEN ((SELECT count(*) FROM databases WHERE database_name = current_database()) = 1 AND (SELECT list(schema_name ORDER BY schema_name) FROM schemas) = ['main', 'staging'] AND (SELECT list((schema_name, table_name) ORDER BY schema_name, table_name) FROM tables) = [('main', 'customers'), ('main', 'orders'), ('main', 'prices'), ('staging', 'events')] AND (SELECT list((schema_name, view_name)) FROM views) = [('main', 'order_totals')] AND (SELECT list((function_name, function_type)) FROM functions) = [('double_it', 'macro')] AND (SELECT list((type_name, logical_type)) FROM types) = [('region_name', 'ENUM')]) THEN 'as expected' ELSE error('the catalog did not list the three fixture tables and staging.events, the order_totals view, the double_it macro and the region_name type') END AS verdict; ``` It needs nothing installed beyond DuckDB itself. ## What other tools call it Meridian's classification; an independent blind rating agreed on 95.7% of 324 rows (variant, version 3). - Apache DataFusion: [`Basic SQL Information Schema (TABLES, VIEWS, COLUMNS)`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/features.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`SHOW CREATE TABLE `](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/features.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`SHOW FUNCTIONS`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/sql/information_schema.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`SHOW TABLES`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/features.html) (read 2026-09-27) - dbt-utils: [`get_relations_by_pattern`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dbt-labs/dbt-utils/main/README.md) (read 2026-09-27) - dbt-utils: [`get_relations_by_prefix`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dbt-labs/dbt-utils/main/README.md) (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: [`SHOW and SHOW DATABASES`](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/statements/show) (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `duckdb_coordinate_systems` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `duckdb_databases` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `duckdb_schemas` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `duckdb_sequences` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `duckdb_tables` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `duckdb_types` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `duckdb_views` (read 2026-09-27) - Apache Hop: [`Get table names`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/gettablenames.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache Hop: [`JDBC Metadata`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/jdbcmetadata.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Pentaho Data Integration: [`Get table names`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27) - Pentaho Data Integration: [`Read metadata`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27) - Talend: [`Database table and column list components (family)`](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/8.0/About) (read 2026-09-27) - VisiData: [`sheets-all`](https://github.com/saulpw/visidata/blob/7609212ec2febafa9caba7183cbebfaf49627909/visidata/indexsheet.py#L94) (read 2026-09-23) - VisiData: [`sheets-stack`](https://github.com/saulpw/visidata/blob/7609212ec2febafa9caba7183cbebfaf49627909/visidata/indexsheet.py#L93) (read 2026-09-23)