reference/sql/ALTER-OPERATOR.html.md.erb

---
title: ALTER OPERATOR
---

Changes the definition of an operator.

## <a id="synop"></a>Synopsis

```pre
ALTER OPERATOR <name> ( {<lefttype> | NONE} , {<righttype> | NONE} ) 
   OWNER TO <newowner>        
```

## <a id="desc"></a>Description

`ALTER OPERATOR` changes the definition of an operator. The only currently available functionality is to change the owner of the operator. 

You must own the operator to use `ALTER OPERATOR`. To alter the owner, you must also be a direct or indirect member of the new owning role, and that role must have `CREATE` privilege on the operator’s schema. (These restrictions enforce that altering the owner does not do anything you could not do by dropping and recreating the operator. However, a superuser can alter ownership of any operator anyway.)

## <a id="alteroperator__section4"></a>Parameters

<dt> \<name\>   </dt>
<dd>The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing operator.</dd>

<dt> \<lefttype\>   </dt>
<dd>The data type of the operator's left operand; write `NONE` if the operator has no left operand.</dd>

<dt> \<righttype\>   </dt>
<dd>The data type of the operator's right operand; write `NONE` if the operator has no right operand.</dd>

<dt> \<newowner\>   </dt>
<dd>The new owner of the operator.</dd>

## <a id="example"></a>Example

Change the owner of a custom operator `a @@ b` for type `text`:

```pre
ALTER OPERATOR @@ (text, text) OWNER TO joe;
```

## <a id="compat"></a>Compatibility

There is no `ALTER OPERATOR` statement in the SQL standard.

## <a id="see"></a>See Also

[CREATE OPERATOR](CREATE-OPERATOR.html), [DROP OPERATOR](DROP-OPERATOR.html)