Launch the mysql command-line client and connect to our MariaDB database.

Create a test database and switch to that database using the following command:

CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS test;
USE test;

Create a table with virtual columns using the following command:

CREATE TABLE virt_cols (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  surname VARCHAR(64),
  givenname VARCHAR(64),
  uid INT AS (id + 1000) VIRTUAL,
  username VARCHAR(6) AS 
    (LOWER(CONCAT(LEFT(givenname,1),(LEFT(surname,5))))) PERSISTENT);

Examine the structure of the table using the following command:

DESCRIBE virt_cols;

The DESCRIBE command displays the structure of the table as shown in the following screenshot:

Show a CREATE TABLE command that will recreate the exact table (including the virtual columns):

SHOW CREATE TABLE virt_cols\G

The preceding command displays the following...