How do postgres get column names for a specific table?

Question

I'm looking for a precise piece of information in a database which I have no knowledge about. The database is on a separate machine, but I can log into it, and launch a psql command line, with administrator rights.

It's a third-party product, and they are slow to answer questions. I know the data is inside that database, so I want to do a little bit of reverse-engineering.

Given a table name, is it possible to get a list of the names of the columns in that table?

For example, in SQL Server, it's possible to dump a table into a reusable CREATE statement, which textually lists all the columns the table is composed of.

Caroline Brown · Accepted Answer

To postgres get column names, in addition to the command line d+ you already found, you could also use the Information Schema to look up the column data, using information_schema.columns:

SELECT *

  FROM information_schema.columns
 WHERE table_schema = 'your_schema'
   AND table_name   = 'your_table'

;Note: As per the example above, make sure the values are enclosed within quotes.

How do postgres get column names for a specific table?

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