Chapter 51. System Catalogs
Table of Contents
- 51.1. Overview
-
51.2.
pg_aggregate -
51.3.
pg_am -
51.4.
pg_amop -
51.5.
pg_amproc -
51.6.
pg_attrdef -
51.7.
pg_attribute -
51.8.
pg_authid -
51.9.
pg_auth_members -
51.10.
pg_cast -
51.11.
pg_class -
51.12.
pg_collation -
51.13.
pg_constraint -
51.14.
pg_conversion -
51.15.
pg_database -
51.16.
pg_db_role_setting -
51.17.
pg_default_acl -
51.18.
pg_depend -
51.19.
pg_description -
51.20.
pg_enum -
51.21.
pg_event_trigger -
51.22.
pg_extension -
51.23.
pg_foreign_data_wrapper -
51.24.
pg_foreign_server -
51.25.
pg_foreign_table -
51.26.
pg_index -
51.27.
pg_inherits -
51.28.
pg_init_privs -
51.29.
pg_language -
51.30.
pg_largeobject -
51.31.
pg_largeobject_metadata -
51.32.
pg_namespace -
51.33.
pg_opclass -
51.34.
pg_operator -
51.35.
pg_opfamily -
51.36.
pg_parameter_acl -
51.37.
pg_partitioned_table -
51.38.
pg_policy -
51.39.
pg_proc -
51.40.
pg_publication -
51.41.
pg_publication_namespace -
51.42.
pg_publication_rel -
51.43.
pg_range -
51.44.
pg_replication_origin -
51.45.
pg_rewrite -
51.46.
pg_seclabel -
51.47.
pg_sequence -
51.48.
pg_shdepend -
51.49.
pg_shdescription -
51.50.
pg_shseclabel -
51.51.
pg_statistic -
51.52.
pg_statistic_ext -
51.53.
pg_statistic_ext_data -
51.54.
pg_subscription -
51.55.
pg_subscription_rel -
51.56.
pg_tablespace -
51.57.
pg_transform -
51.58.
pg_trigger -
51.59.
pg_ts_config -
51.60.
pg_ts_config_map -
51.61.
pg_ts_dict -
51.62.
pg_ts_parser -
51.63.
pg_ts_template -
51.64.
pg_type -
51.65.
pg_user_mapping
The system catalogs are the place where a relational database
management system stores schema metadata, such as information about
tables and columns, and internal bookkeeping information.
PostgreSQL
's system catalogs are regular
tables. You can drop and recreate the tables, add columns, insert
and update values, and severely mess up your system that way.
Normally, one should not change the system catalogs by hand, there
are normally SQL commands to do that. (For example,
CREATE
DATABASE
inserts a row into the
pg_database
catalog - and actually
creates the database on disk.) There are some exceptions for
particularly esoteric operations, but many of those have been made
available as SQL commands over time, and so the need for direct manipulation
of the system catalogs is ever decreasing.