# New to InfluxDB need help to find data from name:\_

**URL:** <https://community.influxdata.com/t/new-to-influxdb-need-help-to-find-data-from-name/7190>\
**Category:** Systems\
**Created:** [October 26, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/new-to-influxdb-need-help-to-find-data-from-name/7190 "2018-10-26T20:20:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rbendik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@rbendik](https://community.influxdata.com/u/rbendik)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/new-to-influxdb-need-help-to-find-data-from-name/7190/1 "2018-10-26T20:20:46Z")

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hi all,

i dont have too much experience with influxdb. All the instances i have looked seem to have:

```
> show field keys
name: _
fieldKey fieldType
-------- ---------
f64 float

```

thats the only command that seems to do anything. I know i have data in there as i have grafana graphs populating from my prometheus/influx.

my question is how can i search for what series are present via command line?

running ./influxdb gets me to interface. I can run **show databases** and see my db

```
> show databases
name: databases
name
----
prod_influxdb

```

the **show series** command works but , but gives me pages and pages of output spitting out tons of hoard to read output. im sure this puts a massibe strain on the server as well. all data is in [] brackets and have start with **\_,\__name_**.

i know there is consistent series(?) keys(?) in there, how can i view a list of just those for example cpu\_load, mem\_load, disk\_load (pretending the exist in my db)?

all the documentation I read starts with putting in data first then retrieving it. I need to get at the data safely (not generate a lot of load on the server) parsing for limited data set.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![katy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/community.influxdata.com/katy/32/855_2.png) [@katy](https://community.influxdata.com/u/katy)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/new-to-influxdb-need-help-to-find-data-from-name/7190/2 "2018-10-30T17:18:50Z")

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Do you get any results when you try `show measurements`?

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**Author:** ![rbendik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@rbendik](https://community.influxdata.com/u/rbendik)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/new-to-influxdb-need-help-to-find-data-from-name/7190/3 "2018-11-01T06:27:24Z")

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Hi Katy,

_show measurements_ does not return anything.

```
> use prod_influxdb
Using database prod_influxdb
> show measurements
name: measurements
name
----
_

```

actually i do see the

> \_

again.

the **show series** command returns a huge amount of these:

`...["_, __name__ =myapp_databases_querytime_dev_ms,myapp_db_component=connectionpools,myapp_environment=prod,myapp_schema=webapp__ios_custom_serviceA,myapp_schema_short=dbname_serviceA,myapp_service=webapp--ios,job=myapp,monitor=prod-monitor,service_env=prod"],["_,__name __=myapp_databases_querytime_dev_ms,myapp_db_component=connectionpools,myapp_environment=prod,myapp_schema=webapp__ ios_main,myapp_schema_short=main,myapp_service=webapp--ios,job=myapp,monitor=prod-monitor,service_env=prod"],["_, __name__ =myapp_databases_querytime_dev_ms,myapp_db_component=connectionpools,myapp_environment=prod,myapp_schema=webapp__ios_main,myapp_schema_short=main,myapp_service=webapp--ios,job=myapp,monitor=prod-monitor,service_env=prod"],["_,__name __=myapp_databases_querytime_dev_ms,myapp_db_component=connectionpools,myapp_environment=prod,myapp_schema=webapp__ ios_custom_fios,myapp_schema_short=dbname_fios,myapp_service=webapp--ios,job=myapp,monitor=prod-monitor,service_env=prod"],["_, __name__ =myapp_databases_querytime_dev_ms,myapp_db_component=connectionpools,myapp_environment=prod,myapp_schema=webapp__ios_custom_fuss,myapp_schema_short=dbname_fuss,myapp_service=webapp--ios,job=myapp,monitor=prod-monitor,service_env=prod"]...`

is there a way to print out all the keys and or values from the above? some way to describe how data is arranged in the db.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![davidgs](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/community.influxdata.com/davidgs/32/6936_2.png) [@davidgs](https://community.influxdata.com/u/davidgs)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/new-to-influxdb-need-help-to-find-data-from-name/7190/4 "2018-11-01T18:21:49Z")

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Hi @rbendik,

I tend to go the easy route. 🙂 Install Chronograf and point it to the InfluxDB instance in question. Then you can use the Data Explorer tab of Chronograf to inspect all the databases, measurements, tag and field values from a web browser.

HTH,  
dg