ADD COLUMN¶

ADD COLUMN can be used to add columns to an existing table.

Permissions¶

The role must have the DDL permission at the database or table level.

Syntax¶

alter_table_add_column_statement ::=
    ALTER TABLE [schema_name.]table_name { ADD COLUMN column_def [, ...] }
    ;

table_name ::= identifier

schema_name ::= identifier

column_def :: = { column_name type_name [ default ] [ column_constraint ] }

column_name ::= identifier

column_constraint ::=
    { NOT NULL | NULL }

default ::=
    DEFAULT default_value

Parameters¶

Parameter	Description
`schema_name`	The schema name for the table. Defaults to `public` if not specified.
`table_name`	The table name to apply the change to.
`ADD COLUMN column_def`	A comma separated list of ADD COLUMN commands
`column_def`	A column definition. A minimal column definition includes a name identifier and a datatype. Other column constraints and default values can be added optionally.

Note

When adding a new column to an existing table, a default (or null constraint) has to be specified, even if the table is empty.
A new column added to the table can not contain an IDENTITY or be of the TEXT type.

Examples¶

Adding a simple column with default value¶

ALTER TABLE cool_animals
  ADD COLUMN number_of_eyes INT DEFAULT 2 NOT NULL;

Adding several columns in one command¶

ALTER TABLE cool_animals
  ADD COLUMN number_of_eyes INT DEFAULT 2 NOT NULL,
  ADD COLUMN date_seen DATE DEFAULT '2019-08-01';