Create comments for views in mysql

Question

I see that the views have a comment field just like the regular tables, but is by default populated with the \"VIEW\" value.

[TABLE_CATALOG] => 
[TABLE_S         


        

Answer 1

You can home brew comments on views by creating a table in your schema to store the comment on each view. Then join information_schema.tables to the new table.

-- A view does not show the table-level comments of the underlying table.
-- nor can a view have view-level comments

CREATE TABLE `zztable` (
-- A SQL statement comment. Not stored with the table. Just documents the create table code
  `zz_id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT COMMENT 'unique primary key. auto increment',
  `zz_descr` varchar(255) NOT NULL COMMENT 'descriptive name. must be unique if not null',
  PRIMARY KEY (`zz_id`),
  UNIQUE KEY `zz_descr_UNIQUE` (`zz_descr`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COMMENT='a table demonstrating table, column, and view comments. ';

-- select the table from information_schema
SELECT table_type, table_name, table_rows, table_comment
FROM information_schema.tables ta
WHERE ta.table_name LIKE 'zztable%'
ORDER BY ta.table_type, ta.table_name;

-- create a view over the commented table
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW zztable_vw
AS
SELECT zz_id, zz_descr
FROM zztable;

-- now run the information_schema queries again to see the new view in the results
-- MySQL does not allow view-level comments. 

-- create a new table to contain the view-level comments
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `schema_view` (
  `schema_view_id` INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT COMMENT 'unique primary key. auto increment. ',
  `schema_view_name` VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL COMMENT 'view name matches information_schema.tables.table_name for VIEW',
  `schema_view_comment` VARCHAR(2048) NULL DEFAULT NULL COMMENT 'the descriptive purpose of the view. ',
  PRIMARY KEY (`schema_view_id`))
ENGINE = InnoDB
COMMENT = 'contains comments for views since MySQL does not store view-level comments. Use this in a join on schema_view_name to information_schema.tables.table_name';

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX `schema_view_name_UNIQUE` ON `schema_view` (`schema_view_name` ASC);

-- insert a view comment
SELECT * FROM schema_view;

INSERT INTO schema_view
(schema_view_name, schema_view_comment)
VALUES ('zztable_vw' , 'a demonstration of documenting view metadata with comments');
COMMIT;

-- modify the query to join to the new schema_view table
-- select the view from information_schema joined to the new table
SELECT ta.table_type, ta.table_name, ta.table_rows, 
    -- show different comments based on table_type
    CASE 
        WHEN ta.table_type = 'BASE TABLE' THEN ta.table_comment
        WHEN ta.table_type = 'VIEW' THEN sv.schema_view_comment
        ELSE NULL
    END AS schema_comment,
    ta.table_comment, 
    sv.schema_view_comment
FROM information_schema.tables ta
-- Show view comments if it exists.
LEFT OUTER JOIN schema_view sv
  ON ta.table_name = sv.schema_view_name
WHERE ta.table_name LIKE 'zztable%'
ORDER BY ta.table_type, ta.table_name;

-- simplify future queries by creating a view
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW `schema_table_vw`
AS
SELECT ta.table_type, ta.table_name, ta.table_rows, 
    -- show different comments based on type
    CASE 
        WHEN ta.table_type = 'BASE TABLE' THEN ta.table_comment
        WHEN ta.table_type = 'VIEW' THEN sv.schema_view_comment
        ELSE NULL
    END AS schema_comment
FROM information_schema.tables ta
-- Show view comments if it exists.
LEFT OUTER JOIN schema_view sv
  ON ta.table_name = sv.schema_view_name
WHERE ta.table_schema = 'my_schema'
ORDER BY ta.table_type, ta.table_name;

-- view-level and table-level comments now show in schema_comment

  

    
table_type
    
table_name
    
table_rows
    
schema_comment
    
table_comment
    
schema_view_comment
  
  

    
BASE TABLE
    
zztable
    
0
    
a table demonstrating table, column, and view comments.
    
a table demonstrating table, column, and view comments.
    
NULL
  
  

    
VIEW
    
zztable_vw
    
NULL
    
a demonstration of documenting view metadata with comments
    
VIEW
    
a demonstration of documenting view metadata with comments