How to list all views in SQL in PostgreSQL?

Question

How do I list all views for a database using an SQL command in PostgreSQL?

I would like something similar to output of the psql \dv command, but preferably just a list of view names. e.g.,

SELECT ...;
my_view_1
my_view_2
my_view_3

I'm running PostgreSQL v9.1.4 on Ubuntu Linux.

Answer 1

From the documentation:

 select table_name from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.views;

If you don't want the system views is your result, try this:

 select table_name from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.views WHERE table_schema = ANY (current_schemas(false))

Answer 2

You can query pg_catalog.pg_views for your desired information:

select viewname from pg_catalog.pg_views;

Refined query to get schema name also - just in case you have multiple views with the same name in different schemas - and left out those system views:

select schemaname, viewname from pg_catalog.pg_views
where schemaname NOT IN ('pg_catalog', 'information_schema')
order by schemaname, viewname;

IMHO, this way is better than query INFORMATION_SCHEMA.views for reasons stated in my comment to Phil's answer.

Answer 3

If you only need this interactively while in psql, you can also use \dv to show views, or \dm for materialized views. Or use with +, like \dm+ for example to show some additional information (mostly useful to see materialized view size).

Answer 4

Try:

SELECT  n.nspname AS table_schema,
        pg_catalog.pg_get_userbyid(c.relowner) AS table_owner,
        c.relname AS table_name
    FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
         LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON (n.oid = c.relnamespace)
    WHERE c.relkind  = 'v'
;

If you want more detail you can modify the following to suit your needs:

SELECT  n.nspname AS table_schema,
        pg_catalog.pg_get_userbyid(c.relowner) AS table_owner,
        c.relname AS table_name,
        s.n_live_tup AS row_count,
        count (a.attname) AS column_count,
        pg_catalog.obj_description(c.oid, 'pg_class') AS comments,
        CASE c.relkind
            WHEN 'v'
            THEN pg_catalog.pg_get_viewdef(c.oid, true)
            ELSE null
            END AS query
    FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
         LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON (n.oid = c.relnamespace)
         LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_attribute a ON (c.oid = a.attrelid AND a.attnum > 0 AND NOT a.attisdropped)
         LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_stat_all_tables s ON (c.oid = s.relid)
    WHERE c.relkind  = 'v'
GROUP BY n.nspname,
        c.relowner,
        c.relkind,
        c.relname,
        s.n_live_tup,
        c.oid
ORDER BY n.nspname,
        c.relname
;

Answer 5

Here's a query that will bring up your materialized views as well and show you the views' dependencies.

-- Get a list of views that have dependencies on other views
with view_oids as (
    select
        distinct(dependent_view.oid) as view_oid

    from pg_depend
    JOIN pg_rewrite ON pg_depend.objid = pg_rewrite.oid
    JOIN pg_class as dependent_view ON pg_rewrite.ev_class = dependent_view.oid
    JOIN pg_namespace dependent_ns ON dependent_ns.oid = dependent_view.relnamespace
    WHERE
    dependent_ns.nspname = 'public'
), view_dependencies as (
    select
        dependent_view.oid as dependent_oid,
        dependent_ns.nspname as dependent_schema,
        dependent_view.relname as dependent_view,
        source_table.oid as dependency_oid,
        source_ns.nspname as source_schema,
        source_table.relname as source_view
    from pg_depend
    JOIN pg_rewrite ON pg_depend.objid = pg_rewrite.oid
    JOIN pg_class as dependent_view ON pg_rewrite.ev_class = dependent_view.oid
    JOIN pg_class as source_table ON pg_depend.refobjid = source_table.oid
    JOIN view_oids on source_table.oid = view_oids.view_oid
    JOIN pg_namespace dependent_ns ON dependent_ns.oid = dependent_view.relnamespace
    JOIN pg_namespace source_ns ON source_ns.oid = source_table.relnamespace
    WHERE
        source_ns.nspname = 'public'
    group by
        dependent_view.oid,
        dependent_ns.nspname,
        dependent_view.relname,
        source_table.oid,
        source_ns.nspname,
        source_table.relname
)
select 
    view_dependencies.*
from view_dependencies
;

Answer 6

I created a view to list a catalog of views:

create or replace view show_views as 
select table_name from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.views 
WHERE table_schema = ANY (current_schemas(false));

And when I want to see all views in the database I write:

select * from show_views;

Answer 7

This can show all user-defined views in the current database:

\dv

And, this can show all user-defined views in the current database in detail:

\dv+

*There is no way to show all user-defined views in all databases at once.

In addition, this can show all user-defined and system views in the current database:

\dvS

And, this can show all user-defined and system views in the current database in detail:

\dvS+

And, you can show all user-defined and system views in the current database with information_schema.views and pg_proc as shown below:

SELECT table_name FROM information_schema.views;

SELECT viewname FROM pg_views;