In addition to its own system tables, SQL Anywhere provides a set of system views that mimic relevant parts of the Adaptive Server Enterprise system tables.

For a list and individual descriptions, including descriptions of the system catalogs of the two products, see Views for Transact-SQL compatibility.

The SQL Anywhere system tables rest entirely within each database, while the Adaptive Server Enterprise system tables rest partly inside each database and partly in the master database. The SQL Anywhere architecture does not include a master database.

In Adaptive Server Enterprise, the database owner (user dbo) owns the system tables. In SQL Anywhere, the system owner (user SYS) owns the system tables. The user dbo owns the Adaptive Server Enterprise-compatible system views provided by SQL Anywhere.