Amazon Redshift will no longer support the use of Python UDFs after June 30, 2026.
We will start enforcing it in phases. For more information on the details of Python end of life
and migration options, see the
blog post
SVV_EXTERNAL_TABLES
Use SVV_EXTERNAL_TABLES to view details for external tables; for more information, see CREATE EXTERNAL SCHEMA. Use SVV_EXTERNAL_TABLES also for cross-database queries to view metadata on all tables on unconnected databases that users have access to.
SVV_EXTERNAL_TABLES is visible to all users. Superusers can see all rows; regular users can see only their own data. For more information, see Visibility of data in system tables and views.
For more information about best practices when querying system tables and views, see Querying System Tables.
Note
Use the SHOW TABLES command for table discovery. SHOW TABLES works consistently across local, datashare, and external catalog contexts and is updated as new features are released. For more information, see Best practices for discovering metadata.
Table columns
| Column name | Data type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| redshift_database_name | text | The name of the local Amazon Redshift database. |
| schemaname | text | The name of the Amazon Redshift external schema for the external table. |
| tablename | text | The name of the external table. |
| tabletype | text | The type of table. Values include TABLE, VIEW,
MATERIALIZED VIEW, EXTERNAL TABLE, or an empty string that represents
no information. Iceberg materialized views created with USING ICEBERG
appear with tabletype = 'EXTERNAL TABLE'. Iceberg
materialized views are enumerated only for external schemas; those
accessed through the awsdatacatalog or Amazon S3 Tables catalogs
are not enumerated by SVV_EXTERNAL_TABLES. To discover those, use the
SHOW TABLES command. |
| location | text | The location of the table. |
| input_format | text | The input format |
| output_format | text | The output format. |
| serialization_lib | text | The serialization library. |
| serde_parameters | text | SerDe parameters. |
| compressed | integer | A value that indicates whether the table is
compressed; 1 indicates compressed,
0 indicates not compressed. |
| parameters | text | Table properties. |
Example
The following example shows details svv_external_tables with a predicate on the external schema used by a federated query.
select schemaname, tablename from svv_external_tables where schemaname = 'apg_tpch'; schemaname | tablename ------------+----------- apg_tpch | customer apg_tpch | lineitem apg_tpch | nation apg_tpch | orders apg_tpch | part apg_tpch | partsupp apg_tpch | region apg_tpch | supplier (8 rows)
The following example lists Iceberg materialized views in external schemas, which
appear with tabletype = 'EXTERNAL TABLE':
SELECT schemaname, tablename, location FROM svv_external_tables WHERE tabletype = 'EXTERNAL TABLE';