• routines : Information about stored procedures and functions. See Section 25.2, “Using Stored Routines” . 

• schemata : Information about schemata. In MySQL, a schema is a database, so this table provides information about databases. 

• st_spatial_reference_systems : Information about available spatial reference systems for spatial data. 

• table_partition_values : Information about values used by table partitions. 

• table_partitions : Information about partitions used by tables. 

• table_stats : Information about dynamic table statistics generated when ANALYZE TABLE  is executed. 

• tables : Information about tables in databases. 

• tablespace_files : Information about files used by tablespaces. 

• tablespaces : Information about active tablespaces. 

• triggers : Information about triggers. 

• view_routine_usage : Information about dependencies between views and stored functions used by them. 

• view_table_usage : Used to track dependencies between views and their underlying tables. 

Data dictionary tables are invisible. They cannot be read with SELECT , do not appear in the output of SHOW TABLES , are not listed in the INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES  table, and so forth. However, in most cases there are corresponding INFORMATION_SCHEMA  tables that can be queried. Conceptually, the INFORMATION_SCHEMA  provides a view through which MySQL exposes data dictionary metadata. For example, you cannot select from the mysql.schemata  table directly: 

mysql> SELECT * FROM mysql.schemata; ERROR 3554 (HY000): Access to data dictionary table ’mysql.schemata’ is rejected. 

Instead, select that information from the corresponding INFORMATION_SCHEMA  table: 

mysql> SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA\G *************************** 1. row *************************** CATALOG_NAME: def SCHEMA_NAME: mysql DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME: utf8mb4 DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME: utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci SQL_PATH: NULL DEFAULT_ENCRYPTION: NO *************************** 2. row *************************** CATALOG_NAME: def SCHEMA_NAME: information_schema DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME: utf8 DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME: utf8_general_ci SQL_PATH: NULL DEFAULT_ENCRYPTION: NO ... 

There is no INFORMATION_SCHEMA  table that corresponds exactly to mysql.indexes , but INFORMATION_SCHEMA.STATISTICS  contains much of the same information. 

As of yet, there are no INFORMATION_SCHEMA  tables that correspond exactly to mysql.foreign_keys , mysql.foreign_key_column_usage . The standard SQL way to obtain foreign key information is by 

