Conceptual model of the mysql information_schema
Posted by Paul Verreth Mon, 05 Feb 2007 15:00:00 GMT
In MySQL (>= 5.0) there exists a metadata database, INFORMATION_SCHEMA, in wich is stored information about all other databases, their tables, columntypes, accessprivileges, etc.
In addition to the show commands, the select ... from information_schema.... offers the possibility of nearly unlimited output variations in querying the metadata.
INFORMATION_SCHEMA is a special kind of database, there is no database directory of that name, and some tables are in fact views, and it is also read-only. But you can connect to it with the use statement.
Roland Bouman created an interesting diagram of the INFORMATION_SCHEMA database;
