Re: Howto change column length

The short answer is to copy the info to a temp table, drop the table, recreate
the table with the correct attributes, and copy the data back from the temp
table.  HOWEVER, if you have foreign keys or triggers that reference the table,
they will become invalid through the above procedure.  So you need to make a
backup of the database with pg_dump, edit the CREATE TABLE statement in the
backup file so the column has the correct length, drop the database, and
recreate the database using the backup file.  There's an article at
http://techdocs.postgresql.org that describes the process in greater detail.

I understand that 7.3 might have support for ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN.



"DC" <danc%bspmail.com@interlock.lexmark.com> on 11/05/2001 12:21:12 PM

Please respond to "DC" <danc%bspmail.com@interlock.lexmark.com>

To:   pgsql-general%postgresql.org@interlock.lexmark.com
cc:    (bcc: Wesley Sheldahl/Lex/Lexmark)
Subject:  [GENERAL] Howto change column length


I have a column (ie name varchar(10))
and I want to alter it to varchar(20)
I've looked throught the docementation and web for examples (no luck),
can anyone help?

thx



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