ALTER FOREIGN 
TABLE(7)					  PostgreSQL 9.2.7 Documentation				    ALTER FOREIGN TABLE(7)

NAME

       ALTER_FOREIGN_TABLE - change the definition of a foreign table

SYNOPSIS

       ALTER FOREIGN TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name
	   action [, ... ]
       ALTER FOREIGN TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name
	   RENAME [ COLUMN ] column_name TO new_column_name
       ALTER FOREIGN TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name
	   RENAME TO new_name
       ALTER FOREIGN TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name
	   SET SCHEMA new_schema

       where action is one of:

	   ADD [ COLUMN ] column_name data_type [ NULL | NOT NULL ]
	   DROP [ COLUMN ] [ IF EXISTS ] column_name [ RESTRICT | CASCADE ]
	   ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name [ SET DATA ] TYPE data_type
	   ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name { SET | DROP } NOT NULL
	   ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET STATISTICS integer
	   ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET ( attribute_option = value [, ... ] )
	   ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name RESET ( attribute_option [, ... ] )
	   ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name OPTIONS ( [ ADD | SET | DROP ] option ['value'] [, ... ])
	   OWNER TO new_owner
	   OPTIONS ( [ ADD | SET | DROP ] option ['value'] [, ... ])

DESCRIPTION

       ALTER FOREIGN TABLE changes the definition of an existing foreign table. There are several subforms:

       ADD COLUMN
	   This form adds a new column to the foreign table, using the same syntax as CREATE FOREIGN TABLE (CREATE_FOREIGN_TABLE(7)).

       DROP COLUMN [ IF EXISTS ]
	   This form drops a column from a foreign table. You will need to say CASCADE if anything outside the table depends on the column; for
	   example, views. If IF EXISTS is specified and the column does not exist, no error is thrown. In this case a notice is issued instead.

       IF EXISTS
	   Do not throw an error if the foreign table does not exist. A notice is issued in this case.

       SET DATA TYPE
	   This form changes the type of a column of a foreign table.

       SET/DROP NOT NULL
	   Mark a column as allowing, or not allowing, null values.

       SET STATISTICS
	   This form sets the per-column statistics-gathering target for subsequent ANALYZE(7) operations. See the similar form of ALTER TABLE
	   (ALTER_TABLE(7)) for more details.

       SET ( attribute_option = value [, ... ] ), RESET ( attribute_option [, ... ] )
	   This form sets or resets per-attribute options. See the similar form of ALTER TABLE (ALTER_TABLE(7)) for more details.

       OWNER
	   This form changes the owner of the foreign table to the specified user.

       RENAME
	   The RENAME forms change the name of a foreign table or the name of an individual column in a foreign table.

       SET SCHEMA
	   This form moves the foreign table into another schema.

       OPTIONS ( [ ADD | SET | DROP ] option ['value'] [, ... ] )
	   Change options for the foreign table or one of its columns.	ADD, SET, and DROP specify the action to be performed.	ADD is assumed if
	   no operation is explicitly specified. Duplicate option names are not allowed (although it's OK for a table option and a column option
	   to have the same name). Option names and values are also validated using the foreign data wrapper library.

       All the actions except RENAME and SET SCHEMA can be combined into a list of multiple alterations to apply in parallel. For example, it is
       possible to add several columns and/or alter the type of several columns in a single command.

       You must own the table to use ALTER FOREIGN TABLE. To change the schema of a foreign table, you must also have CREATE privilege on the new
       schema. 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 table's schema. (These restrictions enforce that altering the owner doesn't do anything you couldn't do by dropping and recreating
       the table. However, a superuser can alter ownership of any table anyway.) To add a column or alter a column type, you must also have USAGE
       privilege on the data type.

PARAMETERS

       name
	   The name (possibly schema-qualified) of an existing foreign table to alter.

       column_name
	   Name of a new or existing column.

       new_column_name
	   New name for an existing column.

       new_name
	   New name for the table.

       data_type
	   Data type of the new column, or new data type for an existing column.

       CASCADE
	   Automatically drop objects that depend on the dropped column (for example, views referencing the column).

       RESTRICT
	   Refuse to drop the column if there are any dependent objects. This is the default behavior.

       new_owner
	   The user name of the new owner of the table.

       new_schema
	   The name of the schema to which the table will be moved.

NOTES

       The key word COLUMN is noise and can be omitted.

       Consistency with the foreign server is not checked when a column is added or removed with ADD COLUMN or DROP COLUMN, a NOT NULL constraint
       is added, or a column type is changed with SET DATA TYPE. It is the user's responsibility to ensure that the table definition matches the
       remote side.

       Refer to CREATE FOREIGN TABLE (CREATE_FOREIGN_TABLE(7)) for a further description of valid parameters.

EXAMPLES

       To mark a column as not-null:

	   ALTER FOREIGN TABLE distributors ALTER COLUMN street SET NOT NULL;

       To change options of a foreign table:

	   ALTER FOREIGN TABLE myschema.distributors OPTIONS (ADD opt1 'value', SET opt2, 'value2', DROP opt3 'value3');

COMPATIBILITY

       The forms ADD, DROP, and SET DATA TYPE conform with the SQL standard. The other forms are PostgreSQL extensions of the SQL standard. Also,
       the ability to specify more than one manipulation in a single ALTER FOREIGN TABLE command is an extension.

       ALTER FOREIGN TABLE DROP COLUMN can be used to drop the only column of a foreign table, leaving a zero-column table. This is an extension
       of SQL, which disallows zero-column foreign tables.

PostgreSQL 9.2.7						    2014-02-17						    ALTER FOREIGN TABLE(7)