ALTER TYPE

Modifies an existing user-defined type (UDT) by adding fields or renaming an existing field.

Limitations

You cannot modify UDTs that are used in primary keys or indexed columns.
You cannot change the field type for any UDT.

If you need to change the field type, you must create a new UDT with the correct type, add the new type to your table definitions, and then reinsert all of the data to the new column. Then, you can drop the old UDT.

Synopsis

ALTER TYPE <field_name>
  ( ADD <field_name> <cql_datatype>
  | RENAME <field_name> TO <new_field_name> [ AND <field_name> TO <new_field_name> ...] ) ;

Legend
Syntax conventions	Description
UPPERCASE	Literal keyword.
Lowercase	Not literal.
`< >`	Variable value. Replace with a user-defined value.
`[]`	Optional. Square brackets (`[]`) surround optional command arguments. Do not type the square brackets.
`( )`	Group. Parentheses ( `( )` ) identify a group to choose from. Do not type the parentheses.
`\|`	Or. A vertical bar (`\|`) separates alternative elements. Type any one of the elements. Do not type the vertical bar.
`...`	Repeatable. An ellipsis ( `...` ) indicates that you can repeat the syntax element as often as required.
`'<Literal string>'`	Single quotation (`'`) marks must surround literal strings in CQL statements. Use single quotation marks to preserve upper case.
`{ <key> : <value> }`	Map collection. Braces (`{ }`) enclose map collections or key value pairs. A colon separates the key and the value.
`<<datatype1>,<datatype2>>`	Set, list, map, or tuple. Angle brackets ( `< >` ) enclose data types in a set, list, map, or tuple. Separate the data types with a comma.
`<cql_statement>;`	End CQL statement. A semicolon (`;`) terminates all CQL statements.
`[--]`	Separate the command line options from the command arguments with two hyphens ( `--` ). This syntax is useful when arguments might be mistaken for command line options.
`' <<schema\> ... </schema\>> '`	Search CQL only: Single quotation marks (`'`) surround an entire XML schema declaration.
`@<xml_entity>='<xml_entity_type>'`	Search CQL only: Identify the entity and literal value to overwrite the XML element in the schema and solrConfig files.

Options

ADD (<field_name> <cql_datatype>): Add field by entering a field name followed by the data type; the values for existing row is set to null. To add multiple fields, use a separate ALTER TYPE command for each field.
RENAME <field_name> TO <new_field_name>: Enter the old name and new name of the field.
AND: Use between clauses to make multiple changes.

Examples

After you run ALTER TYPE, use DESCRIBE TYPE to verify the changes.

Add a field

To add a new field to a UDT, use ALTER TYPE and the ADD keyword.

For existing rows with this UDT, the field value is null.

ALTER TYPE cycling.fullname
ADD middlename text;

Change a field name

To change the name of a field in a UDT, use ALTER TYPE with the RENAME … TO … syntax. To rename multiple fields, use AND to chain the RENAME … TO … clauses.

Rename the fields in the cycling.fullname UDT:

ALTER TYPE cycling.fullname
RENAME middlename TO middle
  AND lastname TO last
  AND firstname TO first;

ALTER TYPE

Limitations

Synopsis

Options

Examples

Was this helpful?

Give Feedback