How can I find which tables reference a given table in Oracle SQL Developer?

Rudd Zwolinski picture Rudd Zwolinski · Jul 17, 2009 · Viewed 322.4k times · Source

In Oracle SQL Developer, if I'm viewing the information on a table, I can view the constraints, which let me see the foreign keys (and thus which tables are referenced by this table), and I can view the dependencies to see what packages and such reference the table. But I'm not sure how to find which tables reference the table.

For example, say I'm looking at the emp table. There is another table emp_dept which captures which employees work in which departments, which references the emp table through emp_id, the primary key of the emp table. Is there a way (through some UI element in the program, not through SQL) to find that the emp_dept table references the emp table, without me having to know that the emp_dept table exists?

Answer

FerranB picture FerranB · Jul 17, 2009

No. There is no such option available from Oracle SQL Developer.

You have to execute a query by hand or use other tool (For instance PLSQL Developer has such option). The following SQL is that one used by PLSQL Developer:

select table_name, constraint_name, status, owner
from all_constraints
where r_owner = :r_owner
and constraint_type = 'R'
and r_constraint_name in
 (
   select constraint_name from all_constraints
   where constraint_type in ('P', 'U')
   and table_name = :r_table_name
   and owner = :r_owner
 )
order by table_name, constraint_name

Where r_owner is the schema, and r_table_name is the table for which you are looking for references. The names are case sensitive


Be careful because on the reports tab of Oracle SQL Developer there is the option "All tables / Dependencies" this is from ALL_DEPENDENCIES which refers to "dependencies between procedures, packages, functions, package bodies, and triggers accessible to the current user, including dependencies on views created without any database links.". Then, this report have no value for your question.