List database tables with SQLAlchemy

Question

I want to implement a function that gives information about all the tables (and their column names) that are present in a database (not only those created with SQLAlchemy).

Answer 1

start with an engine:

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
engine = create_engine("postgresql://u:p@host/database")

quick path to all table /column names, use an inspector:

from sqlalchemy import inspect
inspector = inspect(engine)

for table_name in inspector.get_table_names():
   for column in inspector.get_columns(table_name):
       print("Column: %s" % column['name'])

docs: http://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/rel_0_9/core/reflection.html?highlight=inspector#fine-grained-reflection-with-inspector

alternatively, use MetaData / Tables:

from sqlalchemy import MetaData
m = MetaData()
m.reflect(engine)
for table in m.tables.values():
    print(table.name)
    for column in table.c:
        print(column.name)

docs: http://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/rel_0_9/core/reflection.html#reflecting-all-tables-at-once