Chapter 31. The INFORMATION_SCHEMA Database

Chapter 31. The INFORMATION_SCHEMA Database

The INFORMATION_SCHEMA database provides access to database metadata. This chapter discusses why you might choose to use (or not use) INFORMATION_SCHEMA in comparison to SHOW statements, which also provide metadata. The chapter covers the following exam topics:

• Syntax for accessing INFORMATION_SCHEMA

• Using INFORMATION_SCHEMA compared to using SHOW statements

• Limitations of INFORMATION_SCHEMA

Chapter 20, "Obtaining Database Metadata," in the Developer section of this study guide contains additional discussion of metadata access methods. That chapter serves as background for the material here.