Apache Hive : HPL/SQL - DESCRIBE Statement

Last updated: August 12, 2026

Apache Hive : HPL/SQL - DESCRIBE Statement

DESCRIBE statement allows you to print a metadata information for the specified database object.

Syntax:

DESCRIBE | DESC [TABLE] table_name

Example:

Describe src table in Hive:

desc src;
--
key                     string                  default
value                   string                  default

Compatibility: Oracle, IBM DB2, Hive, MySQL, MariaDB.