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Calculating number of columns

How do I calculate the number of columns in a table without using the "DESCRIBE tablename"?

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For this one, you can use one of the catalog views, ALL_TAB_COLUMNS. Each row in this view represents a column of a table or view to which you have rights. To illustrate, we'll create a dummy table, and then select a count from the ALL_TAB_COLUMNS view. 
 
create table "ATE"."DUMMY_TABLE"
( dummycol1 numeric(10),
  dummycol2 varchar(4),
  dummycol3 date
);

select count(*) 
  from all_tab_columns 
  where owner = 'ATE' 
    and table_name = 'DUMMY_TABLE';

Here is the result of the query. 

  COUNT(*)
----------
         3

This was first published in November 2003

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