SHOW DATABASES Equivalent in SQL Server – sp_databases

There are several ways to show a list of databases in SQL Server. Probably the easiest way is to use the sp_databases stored procedure.

The sp_databases stored procedure is a kind of SQL Server equivalent to the SHOW DATABASES command that can be used with DBMSs such as MySQL and MariaDB. OK, maybe they aren’t strictly equivalents, but based on their ease of use, they could be viewed as such from a user’s perspective.

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Get the Size of a Database in MariaDB

In MariaDB, we can query the information_schema.tables table to check the size of a database.

This table returns information about the tables and views in each database on the server. We can group the results and return the aggregate amounts for each database.

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How to Create a Table Only if it Doesn’t Exist in PostgreSQL

In PostgreSQL, you can use the IF NOT EXISTS clause of the CREATE TABLE statement to check whether or not a table of the same name already exists in the database before creating it.

The table will only be created if no other table exists with the same name. If a table already exists with that name, a “notice” will be issued instead of an error.

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Find a String within a String in SQL

Most of the major DBMSs provide us with a way to find a string within a string using SQL. By this, I mean use a SQL query to find the position of a substring within a string.

There are several SQL functions that allow us to do this, including INSTR(), LOCATE(), POSITION(), and CHARINDEX(). The function you use will depend on your DBMS, and possibly whether or not you need to specify a starting position.

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