Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL
- Last updated: Sun Jan 16 21:40:18 EST 2005
+ Last updated: Sun Jan 16 22:01:06 EST 2005
Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (pgman@candle.pha.pa.us)
ALTER TABLE new_table RENAME TO old_table;
COMMIT;
- To change the data type of a column, do this:
+ Changing the data type of a column can be done easily in 8.0 and later
+ with ALTER TABLE ALTER COLUMN TYPE.
+
+ In earlier releases, do this:
BEGIN;
ALTER TABLE tab ADD COLUMN new_col new_data_type;
UPDATE tab SET new_col = CAST(old_col AS new_data_type);
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<H1>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL</H1>
- <P>Last updated: Sun Jan 16 21:40:18 EST 2005</P>
+ <P>Last updated: Sun Jan 16 22:01:06 EST 2005</P>
<P>Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (<A href=
"mailto:pgman@candle.pha.pa.us">pgman@candle.pha.pa.us</A>)<BR>
<H4><A name="4.4">4.4</A>) How do you remove a column from a
table, or change its data type?</H4>
- <P><SMALL>DROP COLUMN</SMALL> functionality was added in release 7.3 with
- <SMALL>ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN</SMALL>. In earlier versions,
+ <P><SMALL>DROP COLUMN</SMALL> functionality was added in release 7.3
+ with <SMALL>ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN</SMALL>. In earlier versions,
you can do this:</P>
<PRE>
BEGIN;
COMMIT;
</PRE>
- <P>To change the data type of a column, do this:</P>
+ <P>Changing the data type of a column can be done easily in 8.0
+ and later with <SMALL>ALTER TABLE ALTER COLUMN TYPE</SMALL>.
+
+ <P>In earlier releases, do this:</P>
<PRE>
BEGIN;
ALTER TABLE tab ADD COLUMN new_col <i>new_data_type</i>;