Understand federated table name qualifiers
Athena uses the following terms to refer to hierarchies of data objects:
-
Data source – a group of databases
-
Database – a group of tables
-
Table – data organized as a group of rows or columns
Sometimes these objects are also referred to with alternate but equivalent names such as the following:
-
A data source is sometimes referred to as a catalog.
-
A database is sometimes referred to as a schema.
The following example query in the Athena console uses the awsdatacatalog
data
source, the default
database, and the some_table
table.
![Hierarchy of data objects in the Athena query editor.](/images/athena/latest/ug/images/tables-qualifiers-1.png)
Terms in federated data sources
When you query federated data sources, note that the underlying data source might not use the same terminology as Athena. Keep this distinction in mind when you write your federated queries. The following sections describe how data object terms in Athena correspond to those in federated data sources.
Amazon Redshift
An Amazon Redshift database is a group of Redshift schemas that contains a group of Redshift tables.
Athena | Redshift |
---|---|
Redshift data source | A Redshift connector Lambda function configured to point to a
Redshift database . |
data_source.database.table |
database.schema.table |
Example query
SELECT * FROM
Athena_Redshift_connector_data_source
.Redshift_schema_name
.Redshift_table_name
For more information about this connector, see Amazon Athena Redshift connector.
Cloudera Hive
An Cloudera Hive server or cluster is a group of Cloudera Hive databases that contains a group of Cloudera Hive tables.
Athena | Hive |
---|---|
Cloudera Hive data source | Cloudera Hive connector Lambda function configured to point to a
Cloudera Hive server . |
data_source.database.table |
server.database.table |
Example query
SELECT * FROM
Athena_Cloudera_Hive_connector_data_source
.Cloudera_Hive_database_name
.Cloudera_Hive_table_name
For more information about this connector, see Amazon Athena Cloudera Hive connector.
Cloudera Impala
An Impala server or cluster is a group of Impala databases that contains a group of Impala tables.
Athena | Impala |
---|---|
Impala data source | Impala connector Lambda function configured to point to an Impala
server . |
data_source.database.table |
server.database.table |
Example query
SELECT * FROM
Athena_Impala_connector_data_source
.Impala_database_name
.Impala_table_name
For more information about this connector, see Amazon Athena Cloudera Impala connector.
MySQL
A MySQL server is a group of MySQL databases that contains a group of MySQL tables.
Athena | MySQL |
---|---|
MySQL data source | MySQL connector Lambda function configured to point to a MySQL
server . |
data_source.database.table |
server.database.table |
Example query
SELECT * FROM
Athena_MySQL_connector_data source
.MySQL_database_name
.MySQL_table_name
For more information about this connector, see Amazon Athena MySQL connector.
Oracle
An Oracle server (or database) is a group of Oracle schemas that contains a group of Oracle tables.
Athena | Oracle |
---|---|
Oracle data source | Oracle connector Lambda function configured to point to an Oracle
server . |
data_source.database.table |
server.schema.table |
Example query
SELECT * FROM
Athena_Oracle_connector_data_source
.Oracle_schema_name
.Oracle_table_name
For more information about this connector, see Amazon Athena Oracle connector.
Postgres
A Postgres server (or cluster) is a group of Postgres databases. A Postgres database is a group of Postgres schemas that contains a group of Postgres tables.
Athena | Postgres |
---|---|
Postgres data source | Postgres connector Lambda function configured to point to a
Postgres server and database . |
data_source.database.table |
server.database.schema.table |
Example query
SELECT * FROM
Athena_Postgres_connector_data_source
.Postgres_schema_name
.Postgres_table_name
For more information about this connector, see Amazon Athena PostgreSQL connector.