to check if a table exists

[DottingTheNet]

i promise no more silly questions after this

but how do i check if a table exists??
it is my understanding that the exists can only be used in the where
clause of the query.
i just want s'thing simple like
if exists ('test')
then ---good
else
--create it
end if;
thanx in advance!!!

[Douglas Hawthorne]

"DottingTheNet" <do***********@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:11**************************@posting.google.c om...

i promise no more silly questions after this

but how do i check if a table exists??
it is my understanding that the exists can only be used in the where
clause of the query.
i just want s'thing simple like
if exists ('test')
then ---good
else
--create it
end if;
thanx in advance!!!

Check out the ALL_TABLES and USER_TABLES views in the "Database Reference"
manual.

Douglas Hawthorne

[Mark D Powell]

"Douglas Hawthorne" <do**************@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message news:<nv****************@news-server.bigpond.net.au>...

"DottingTheNet" <do***********@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:11**************************@posting.google.c om...

i promise no more silly questions after this

but how do i check if a table exists??
it is my understanding that the exists can only be used in the where
clause of the query.
i just want s'thing simple like
if exists ('test')
then ---good
else
--create it
end if;
thanx in advance!!!

Check out the ALL_TABLES and USER_TABLES views in the "Database Reference"
manual.

Douglas Hawthorne

Something like
begin
select table_name into v_variable from all_tables
where owner = v_owner and table_name = v_table_name
-- found logic here
exception
when no_Data_found then ... execute immediate create logic
end;

You can probably find a working example/stored function in the archives.

HTH -- Mark D Powell --

[sybrandb]

do***********@hotmail.com (DottingTheNet) wrote in message news:<11**************************@posting.google. com>...

i promise no more silly questions after this

but how do i check if a table exists??
it is my understanding that the exists can only be used in the where
clause of the query.
i just want s'thing simple like
if exists ('test')
then ---good
else
--create it
end if;
thanx in advance!!!

When you have proper exception handling in your code, you don't NEED
to check whether a table exists. Stop programming silly tests like
this one, and LEARN pl/sql, start UNLEARNING your bad sqlserver habits
NOW

Oracle != Sqlserver.

Sybrand Bakker
Senior Oracle DBA