How to view DB2 Table structure

Question

How to view the table structure in DB2 database

Answer 1

The easiest way as many have mentioned already is to do a DESCRIBE TABLE

However you can also get some the same + additional information from

db2> SELECT * SYSCAT.TABLES

db2> SELECT * FROM SYSCAT.COLUMNS

I usually use SYSCAT.COLUMNS to find the related tables in the database where I already know the column name :)

Another good way if you want to get the DDL of a particular table or the whole database is to use the db2look

# db2look -d *dbname* -t *tablename* > tablestructure.out

This will generate the ".out" file for you which will contain the particular table's DDL script.

# db2look -d *dbname* -e > dbstructure.out

This will generate the entire database's DDL as a single script file, this is usually used to replicate the database, "-e" is to indicate that one wants to export DDL suitable recreate exact same setup in a new database.

Hope this can help someone looking for such answers :)