Databricks-DA-Assoc Managing Data Practice Question
You are a data analyst working in Databricks SQL. Your workspace has Unity Catalog enabled. You need to inspect the metadata of a table named `customers` in the `sales` schema of the `retail` catalog, but you do not want to return any rows of data. Which SQL statement should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that any command containing the table name will return metadata, when each metadata command returns a different shape of information.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
DESCRIBE TABLE retail.sales.customers;
In Databricks SQL with Unity Catalog, DESCRIBE TABLE is the standard command to retrieve column names, types, and comments for a table, and it accepts the three-part namespace catalog.schema.table. The other commands either list table names, run a data query, or return a CREATE statement, none of which match the requirement to inspect column metadata without returning rows.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
DESCRIBE TABLE retail.sales.customers;
Why this is correct
DESCRIBE TABLE (or DESC TABLE) returns the column names, data types, and comments for the specified table without scanning or returning any data rows. It works with the fully qualified three-part Unity Catalog namespace catalog.schema.table, so it correctly targets retail.sales.customers and satisfies the requirement to inspect metadata only.
- ✗
SELECT * FROM retail.sales.customers LIMIT 0;
Why it's wrong here
SELECT * with LIMIT 0 returns an empty result set with the column headers, but it still requires the query engine to resolve and plan against the table, and it does not produce the structured metadata output that DESCRIBE provides. It also is a data query rather than a metadata command, which is not the intended tool.
- ✗
SHOW CREATE TABLE retail.sales.customers;
Why it's wrong here
SHOW CREATE TABLE returns the DDL statement used to create the table, including column definitions and table properties. While it does expose schema information, it is a different command than DESCRIBE and returns the full CREATE statement rather than the tabular column listing. The scenario asks for metadata inspection in the standard column-list form.
- ✗
SHOW TABLES IN retail.sales;
Why it's wrong here
SHOW TABLES lists the names of tables that exist in the sales schema of the retail catalog. It does not return the column definitions or data types of the customers table. While it is valid metadata inspection, it answers a different question (which tables exist) and therefore does not give the column-level details requested.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Databricks exam blueprint
This Databricks-DA-Assoc practice question is part of Courseiva's free Databricks certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the Databricks-DA-Assoc exam.