layout: global title: ALTER TABLE displayTitle: ALTER TABLE license: | Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
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ALTER TABLE
statement changes the schema or properties of a table.
ALTER TABLE RENAME TO
statement changes the table name of an existing table in the database. The table rename command cannot be used to move a table between databases, only to rename a table within the same database.
If the table is cached, the commands clear cached data of the table. The cache will be lazily filled when the next time the table is accessed. Additionally:
ALTER TABLE table_identifier RENAME TO table_identifier ALTER TABLE table_identifier partition_spec RENAME TO partition_spec
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
partition_spec
Partition to be renamed. Note that one can use a typed literal (e.g., date‘2019-01-02’) in the partition spec.
Syntax: PARTITION ( partition_col_name = partition_col_val [ , ... ] )
ALTER TABLE ADD COLUMNS
statement adds mentioned columns to an existing table.
ALTER TABLE table_identifier ADD COLUMNS ( col_spec [ , ... ] )
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
COLUMNS ( col_spec )
Specifies the columns to be added.
ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMNS
statement drops mentioned columns from an existing table. Note that this statement is only supported with v2 tables.
ALTER TABLE table_identifier DROP { COLUMN | COLUMNS } [ ( ] col_name [ , ... ] [ ) ]
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
col_name
Specifies the name of the column.
ALTER TABLE RENAME COLUMN
statement changes the column name of an existing table. Note that this statement is only supported with v2 tables.
ALTER TABLE table_identifier RENAME COLUMN col_name TO col_name
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
col_name
Specifies the name of the column.
ALTER TABLE ALTER COLUMN
or ALTER TABLE CHANGE COLUMN
statement changes column's definition.
ALTER TABLE table_identifier { ALTER | CHANGE } [ COLUMN ] col_name alterColumnAction
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
col_name
Specifies the name of the column.
alterColumnAction
Change column's definition.
ALTER TABLE REPLACE COLUMNS
statement removes all existing columns and adds the new set of columns. Note that this statement is only supported with v2 tables.
ALTER TABLE table_identifier [ partition_spec ] REPLACE COLUMNS [ ( ] qualified_col_type_with_position_list [ ) ]
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
partition_spec
Partition to be replaced. Note that one can use a typed literal (e.g., date‘2019-01-02’) in the partition spec.
Syntax: PARTITION ( partition_col_name = partition_col_val [ , ... ] )
qualified_col_type_with_position_list
The list of the column(s) to be added
Syntax: col_name col_type [ col_comment ] [ col_position ] [ , ... ]
ALTER TABLE ADD
statement adds partition to the partitioned table.
If the table is cached, the command clears cached data of the table and all its dependents that refer to it. The cache will be lazily filled when the next time the table or the dependents are accessed.
ALTER TABLE table_identifier ADD [IF NOT EXISTS] ( partition_spec [ partition_spec ... ] )
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
partition_spec
Partition to be added. Note that one can use a typed literal (e.g., date‘2019-01-02’) in the partition spec.
Syntax: PARTITION ( partition_col_name = partition_col_val [ , ... ] )
ALTER TABLE DROP
statement drops the partition of the table.
If the table is cached, the command clears cached data of the table and all its dependents that refer to it. The cache will be lazily filled when the next time the table or the dependents are accessed.
ALTER TABLE table_identifier DROP [ IF EXISTS ] partition_spec [PURGE]
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
partition_spec
Partition to be dropped. Note that one can use a typed literal (e.g., date‘2019-01-02’) in the partition spec.
Syntax: PARTITION ( partition_col_name = partition_col_val [ , ... ] )
ALTER TABLE SET
command is used for setting the table properties. If a particular property was already set, this overrides the old value with the new one.
ALTER TABLE UNSET
is used to drop the table property.
-- Set Table Properties ALTER TABLE table_identifier SET TBLPROPERTIES ( key1 = val1, key2 = val2, ... ) -- Unset Table Properties ALTER TABLE table_identifier UNSET TBLPROPERTIES [ IF EXISTS ] ( key1, key2, ... )
ALTER TABLE SET
command is used for setting the SERDE or SERDE properties in Hive tables. If a particular property was already set, this overrides the old value with the new one.
-- Set SERDE Properties ALTER TABLE table_identifier [ partition_spec ] SET SERDEPROPERTIES ( key1 = val1, key2 = val2, ... ) ALTER TABLE table_identifier [ partition_spec ] SET SERDE serde_class_name [ WITH SERDEPROPERTIES ( key1 = val1, key2 = val2, ... ) ]
ALTER TABLE SET
command can also be used for changing the file location and file format for existing tables.
If the table is cached, the ALTER TABLE .. SET LOCATION
command clears cached data of the table and all its dependents that refer to it. The cache will be lazily filled when the next time the table or the dependents are accessed.
-- Changing File Format ALTER TABLE table_identifier [ partition_spec ] SET FILEFORMAT file_format -- Changing File Location ALTER TABLE table_identifier [ partition_spec ] SET LOCATION 'new_location'
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
partition_spec
Specifies the partition on which the property has to be set. Note that one can use a typed literal (e.g., date‘2019-01-02’) in the partition spec.
Syntax: PARTITION ( partition_col_name = partition_col_val [ , ... ] )
SERDEPROPERTIES ( key1 = val1, key2 = val2, ... )
Specifies the SERDE properties to be set.
ALTER TABLE RECOVER PARTITIONS
statement recovers all the partitions in the directory of a table and updates the Hive metastore. Another way to recover partitions is to use MSCK REPAIR TABLE
.
ALTER TABLE table_identifier RECOVER PARTITIONS
table_identifier
Specifies a table name, which may be optionally qualified with a database name.
Syntax: [ database_name. ] table_name
-- RENAME table DESC student; +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | col_name|data_type|comment| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | name| string| NULL| | rollno| int| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type|comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ ALTER TABLE Student RENAME TO StudentInfo; -- After Renaming the table DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | col_name|data_type|comment| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | name| string| NULL| | rollno| int| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type|comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ -- RENAME partition SHOW PARTITIONS StudentInfo; +---------+ |partition| +---------+ | age=10| | age=11| | age=12| +---------+ ALTER TABLE default.StudentInfo PARTITION (age='10') RENAME TO PARTITION (age='15'); -- After renaming Partition SHOW PARTITIONS StudentInfo; +---------+ |partition| +---------+ | age=11| | age=12| | age=15| +---------+ -- Add new columns to a table DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | col_name|data_type|comment| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | name| string| NULL| | rollno| int| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type|comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ ALTER TABLE StudentInfo ADD columns (LastName string, DOB timestamp); -- After Adding New columns to the table DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | col_name|data_type|comment| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | name| string| NULL| | rollno| int| NULL| | LastName| string| NULL| | DOB|timestamp| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type|comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ -- Drop columns of a table DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | col_name|data_type|comment| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | name| string| NULL| | rollno| int| NULL| | LastName| string| NULL| | DOB|timestamp| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type|comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ ALTER TABLE StudentInfo DROP columns (LastName, DOB); -- After dropping columns of the table DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | col_name|data_type|comment| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | name| string| NULL| | rollno| int| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type|comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ -- Rename a column of a table DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | col_name|data_type|comment| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | name| string| NULL| | rollno| int| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type|comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ ALTER TABLE StudentInfo RENAME COLUMN name TO FirstName; -- After renaming a column of the table DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | col_name|data_type|comment| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | FirstName| string| NULL| | rollno| int| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type|comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ -- ALTER OR CHANGE COLUMNS DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | col_name|data_type|comment| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ | FirstName| string| NULL| | rollno| int| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type|comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-------+ ALTER TABLE StudentInfo ALTER COLUMN FirstName COMMENT "new comment"; -- After ALTER or CHANGE COLUMNS DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-----------+ | col_name|data_type| comment| +-----------------------+---------+-----------+ | FirstName| string|new comment| | rollno| int| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type| comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-----------+ -- REPLACE COLUMNS DESC StudentInfo; +-----------------------+---------+-----------+ | col_name|data_type| comment| +-----------------------+---------+-----------+ | FirstName| string|new comment| | rollno| int| NULL| | age| int| NULL| |# Partition Information| | | | # col_name|data_type| comment| | age| int| NULL| +-----------------------+---------+-----------+ ALTER TABLE StudentInfo REPLACE COLUMNS (name string, ID int COMMENT 'new comment'); -- After replacing COLUMNS DESC StudentInfo; +-----=---------+---------+-----------+ | col_name|data_type| comment| +---------------+---------+-----------+ | name| string| NULL| | ID| int|new comment| | # Partitioning| | | |Not partitioned| | | +---------------+---------+-----------+ -- Add a new partition to a table SHOW PARTITIONS StudentInfo; +---------+ |partition| +---------+ | age=11| | age=12| | age=15| +---------+ ALTER TABLE StudentInfo ADD IF NOT EXISTS PARTITION (age=18); -- After adding a new partition to the table SHOW PARTITIONS StudentInfo; +---------+ |partition| +---------+ | age=11| | age=12| | age=15| | age=18| +---------+ -- Drop a partition from the table SHOW PARTITIONS StudentInfo; +---------+ |partition| +---------+ | age=11| | age=12| | age=15| | age=18| +---------+ ALTER TABLE StudentInfo DROP IF EXISTS PARTITION (age=18); -- After dropping the partition of the table SHOW PARTITIONS StudentInfo; +---------+ |partition| +---------+ | age=11| | age=12| | age=15| +---------+ -- Adding multiple partitions to the table SHOW PARTITIONS StudentInfo; +---------+ |partition| +---------+ | age=11| | age=12| | age=15| +---------+ ALTER TABLE StudentInfo ADD IF NOT EXISTS PARTITION (age=18) PARTITION (age=20); -- After adding multiple partitions to the table SHOW PARTITIONS StudentInfo; +---------+ |partition| +---------+ | age=11| | age=12| | age=15| | age=18| | age=20| +---------+ -- Change the fileformat ALTER TABLE loc_orc SET fileformat orc; ALTER TABLE p1 partition (month=2, day=2) SET fileformat parquet; -- Change the file Location ALTER TABLE dbx.tab1 PARTITION (a='1', b='2') SET LOCATION '/path/to/part/ways' -- SET SERDE/ SERDE Properties ALTER TABLE test_tab SET SERDE 'org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.columnar.LazyBinaryColumnarSerDe'; ALTER TABLE dbx.tab1 SET SERDE 'org.apache.hadoop' WITH SERDEPROPERTIES ('k' = 'v', 'kay' = 'vee') -- SET TABLE PROPERTIES ALTER TABLE dbx.tab1 SET TBLPROPERTIES ('winner' = 'loser'); -- SET TABLE COMMENT Using SET PROPERTIES ALTER TABLE dbx.tab1 SET TBLPROPERTIES ('comment' = 'A table comment.'); -- Alter TABLE COMMENT Using SET PROPERTIES ALTER TABLE dbx.tab1 SET TBLPROPERTIES ('comment' = 'This is a new comment.'); -- DROP TABLE PROPERTIES ALTER TABLE dbx.tab1 UNSET TBLPROPERTIES ('winner'); -- RECOVER PARTITIONS ALTER TABLE dbx.tab1 RECOVER PARTITIONS;