Index: src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HTableDescriptor.java =================================================================== --- src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HTableDescriptor.java (revision 758534) +++ src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HTableDescriptor.java (working copy) @@ -25,8 +25,10 @@ import java.util.Collection; import java.util.Collections; import java.util.HashMap; +import java.util.HashSet; import java.util.Iterator; import java.util.Map; +import java.util.Set; import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path; import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.tableindexed.IndexSpecification; @@ -645,6 +647,17 @@ public Collection getFamilies() { return Collections.unmodifiableCollection(this.families.values()); } + + /** + * @return Immutable sorted set of the keys of the families. + */ + public Set getFamiliesKeys() { + Set keys = new HashSet(); + for (HColumnDescriptor hcd: this.families.values()) { + keys.add(hcd.getName()); + } + return Collections.unmodifiableSet(keys); + } @TOJSON(fieldName = "columns") public HColumnDescriptor[] getColumnFamilies() {