From ac2dea06882535671165e38aaa384171396fbe88 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Chao Li (Evan)" Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2025 15:18:22 +0800 Subject: [PATCH v1] doc: clarify and complete ALTER TABLE syntax in reference MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit The ALTER TABLE syntax synopsis and command descriptions were incomplete and inconsistent with the actual grammar. Update the syntax summary to list missing ALTER TABLE variants, including column-level sequence operations, rename actions, schema changes, and partition management commands. Adjust individual command descriptions to consistently show the full ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name … forms, matching the grammar and improving readability. This is a documentation-only change; no behavior is altered. Author: Chao Li --- doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml | 41 ++++++++++++++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml index 9abd8037f28..c329cb201de 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml @@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ ALTER TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name ADD GENERATED { ALWAYS | BY DEFAULT } AS IDENTITY [ ( sequence_options ) ] ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name { SET GENERATED { ALWAYS | BY DEFAULT } | SET sequence_option | RESTART [ [ WITH ] restart ] } [...] ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name DROP IDENTITY [ IF EXISTS ] + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET sequence_option + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name RESTART ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET STATISTICS { integer | DEFAULT } ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET ( attribute_option = value [, ... ] ) ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name RESET ( attribute_option [, ... ] ) @@ -94,6 +96,15 @@ ALTER TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name NOT OF OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_ROLE | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER } REPLICA IDENTITY { DEFAULT | USING INDEX index_name | FULL | NOTHING } + RENAME TO new_table_name + RENAME COLUMN old_column_name TO new_column_name + RENAME CONSTRAINT old_constraint_name TO new_constraint_name + RENAME INDEX old_index_name TO new_index_name + SET SCHEMA new_schema_name + ATTACH PARTITION partition_name { FOR VALUES partition_bound_spec | DEFAULT } + DETACH PARTITION partition_name [ CONCURRENTLY | FINALIZE ] + MERGE PARTITIONS (partition_name1, partition_name2 [, ...]) INTO partition_name + SPLIT PARTITION partition_name INTO ( PARTITION partition_name1 { FOR VALUES partition_bound_spec | DEFAULT }, PARTITION partition_name2 { FOR VALUES partition_bound_spec | DEFAULT } [, ...]) and partition_bound_spec is: @@ -163,7 +174,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - ADD COLUMN [ IF NOT EXISTS ] + ADD [ COLUMN ] [ IF NOT EXISTS ] This form adds a new column to the table, using the same syntax as @@ -175,7 +186,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - DROP COLUMN [ IF EXISTS ] + DROP [ COLUMN ] [ IF EXISTS ] This form drops a column from a table. Indexes and @@ -194,7 +205,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - SET DATA TYPE + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name [ SET DATA ] TYPE This form changes the type of a column of a table. Indexes and @@ -223,7 +234,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - SET/DROP DEFAULT + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name { SET | DROP } DEFAULT These forms set or remove the default value for a column (where @@ -236,7 +247,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - SET/DROP NOT NULL + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name { SET | DROP } NOT NULL These forms change whether a column is marked to allow null @@ -272,7 +283,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - SET EXPRESSION AS + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET EXPRESSION AS This form replaces the expression of a generated column. Existing data @@ -292,7 +303,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - DROP EXPRESSION [ IF EXISTS ] + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name DROP EXPRESSION [ IF EXISTS ] This form turns a stored generated column into a normal base column. @@ -314,9 +325,9 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - ADD GENERATED { ALWAYS | BY DEFAULT } AS IDENTITY - SET GENERATED { ALWAYS | BY DEFAULT } - DROP IDENTITY [ IF EXISTS ] + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name ADD GENERATED { ALWAYS | BY DEFAULT } AS IDENTITY + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET GENERATED { ALWAYS | BY DEFAULT } + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name DROP IDENTITY [ IF EXISTS ] These forms change whether a column is an identity column or change the @@ -350,7 +361,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - SET STATISTICS + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET STATISTICS This form @@ -373,8 +384,8 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - SET ( attribute_option = value [, ... ] ) - RESET ( attribute_option [, ... ] ) + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET ( attribute_option = value [, ... ] ) + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name RESET ( attribute_option [, ... ] ) This form sets or resets per-attribute options. Currently, the only @@ -408,7 +419,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - SET STORAGE { PLAIN | EXTERNAL | EXTENDED | MAIN | DEFAULT } + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET STORAGE { PLAIN | EXTERNAL | EXTENDED | MAIN | DEFAULT } TOAST per-column storage settings @@ -442,7 +453,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - SET COMPRESSION compression_method + ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET COMPRESSION compression_method -- 2.39.5 (Apple Git-154)