Oracle Database Discussions

Hi Guys,
Didn't find any java specifc forum so thought to post it here. What I have done is created a public synonym for a table, so it resides under PUBLIC.My question is that I don't see the PUBLIC schema being listed when I do DatabaseMetaData.getSchemas(). I have even granted PUBLIC to the username and still doesn't work. I think PUBLIC is not really a SCHEMA, it is a User group. So how do I view public synonyms in the java code? Is there any other method other than getSchemas which will show PUBLIC or any other property to be set? Btw, if I do getTables(null, "PUBLIC", null, null), it works. But I would rather get the name PUBLIC from the DatabaseMetaData instead of coding the word PUBLIC explictly there.

Thanks!