From 921f4a15c10f9791d6d57de7a4e714ef2d3a5fa9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Fujii Masao Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2026 12:57:52 +0900 Subject: [PATCH] doc: Clarify that COLUMN is optional in ALTER TABLE ... ADD/DROP COLUMN. In ALTER TABLE ... ADD/DROP COLUMN, the COLUMN keyword is optional. However, part of the documentation could be read as if COLUMN were required, which may mislead users about the command syntax. This commit updates the ALTER TABLE documentation to clearly state that COLUMN is optional for ADD and DROP. Also this commit adds regression tests covering ALTER TABLE ... ADD/DROP without the COLUMN keyword. Backpatch to all supported versions. Author: Chao Li Reviewed-by: Robert Treat Reviewed-by: Fujii Masao Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/CAEoWx2n6ShLMOnjOtf63TjjgGbgiTVT5OMsSOFmbjGb6Xue1Bw@mail.gmail.com Backpatch-through: 14 --- doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml | 4 ++-- src/test/regress/expected/alter_table.out | 10 ++++++++++ src/test/regress/sql/alter_table.sql | 8 ++++++++ 3 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml index 2953639a0a8..4a2f46d2396 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_table.sgml @@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - ADD COLUMN [ IF NOT EXISTS ] + ADD [ COLUMN ] [ IF NOT EXISTS ] This form adds a new column to the table, using the same syntax as @@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REM - DROP COLUMN [ IF EXISTS ] + DROP [ COLUMN ] [ IF EXISTS ] This form drops a column from a table. Indexes and diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/alter_table.out b/src/test/regress/expected/alter_table.out index 5cdf64e829b..7fdcdc1c6c0 100644 --- a/src/test/regress/expected/alter_table.out +++ b/src/test/regress/expected/alter_table.out @@ -3737,6 +3737,16 @@ Referenced by: ALTER TABLE test_add_column ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS c5 SERIAL CHECK (c5 > 10); NOTICE: column "c5" of relation "test_add_column" already exists, skipping +ALTER TABLE test_add_column + ADD c6 integer; -- omit COLUMN +ALTER TABLE test_add_column + ADD IF NOT EXISTS c6 integer; +NOTICE: column "c6" of relation "test_add_column" already exists, skipping +ALTER TABLE test_add_column + DROP c6; -- omit COLUMN +ALTER TABLE test_add_column + DROP IF EXISTS c6; +NOTICE: column "c6" of relation "test_add_column" does not exist, skipping \d test_add_column* Table "public.test_add_column" Column | Type | Collation | Nullable | Default diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/alter_table.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/alter_table.sql index a4c7dfadece..6454369c7df 100644 --- a/src/test/regress/sql/alter_table.sql +++ b/src/test/regress/sql/alter_table.sql @@ -2308,6 +2308,14 @@ ALTER TABLE test_add_column \d test_add_column ALTER TABLE test_add_column ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS c5 SERIAL CHECK (c5 > 10); +ALTER TABLE test_add_column + ADD c6 integer; -- omit COLUMN +ALTER TABLE test_add_column + ADD IF NOT EXISTS c6 integer; +ALTER TABLE test_add_column + DROP c6; -- omit COLUMN +ALTER TABLE test_add_column + DROP IF EXISTS c6; \d test_add_column* DROP TABLE test_add_column; \d test_add_column*