NAME
ALTER DOMAIN - change the definition of a domain
SYNOPSIS
ALTER DOMAIN name
{ SET DEFAULT expression | DROP DEFAULT }
ALTER DOMAIN name
{ SET | DROP } NOT NULL
ALTER DOMAIN name
ADD domain_constraint
ALTER DOMAIN name
DROP CONSTRAINT constraint_name [ RESTRICT | CASCADE ]
ALTER DOMAIN name
OWNER TO new_owner
ALTER DOMAIN name
SET SCHEMA new_schema
DESCRIPTION
ALTER DOMAIN changes the definition of an existing domain. There are
several sub-forms:
SET/DROP DEFAULT
These forms set or remove the default value for a domain. Note
that defaults only apply to subsequent INSERT commands; they do
not affect rows already in a table using the domain.
SET/DROP NOT NULL
These forms change whether a domain is marked to allow NULL
values or to reject NULL values. You can only SET NOT NULL when
the columns using the domain contain no null values.
ADD domain_constraint
This form adds a new constraint to a domain using the same
syntax as CREATE DOMAIN [create_domain(7)]. This will only
succeed if all columns using the domain satisfy the new
constraint.
DROP CONSTRAINT
This form drops constraints on a domain.
OWNER This form changes the owner of the domain to the specified user.
SET SCHEMA
This form changes the schema of the domain. Any constraints
associated with the domain are moved into the new schema as
well.
You must own the domain to use ALTER DOMAIN. To change the schema of a
domain, 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
domain’s schema. (These restrictions enforce that altering the owner
doesn’t do anything you couldn’t do by dropping and recreating the
domain. However, a superuser can alter ownership of any domain
anyway.)
PARAMETERS
name The name (possibly schema-qualified) of an existing domain to
alter.
domain_constraint
New domain constraint for the domain.
constraint_name
Name of an existing constraint to drop.
CASCADE
Automatically drop objects that depend on the constraint.
RESTRICT
Refuse to drop the constraint if there are any dependent
objects. This is the default behavior.
new_owner
The user name of the new owner of the domain.
new_schema
The new schema for the domain.
NOTES
Currently, ALTER DOMAIN ADD CONSTRAINT and ALTER DOMAIN SET NOT NULL
will fail if the named domain or any derived domain is used within a
composite-type column of any table in the database. They should
eventually be improved to be able to verify the new constraint for such
nested columns.
EXAMPLES
To add a NOT NULL constraint to a domain:
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode SET NOT NULL;
To remove a NOT NULL constraint from a domain:
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode DROP NOT NULL;
To add a check constraint to a domain:
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode ADD CONSTRAINT zipchk CHECK (char_length(VALUE) = 5);
To remove a check constraint from a domain:
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode DROP CONSTRAINT zipchk;
To move the domain into a different schema:
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode SET SCHEMA customers;
COMPATIBILITY
ALTER DOMAIN conforms to the SQL standard, except for the OWNER and SET
SCHEMA variants, which are PostgreSQL extensions.
SEE ALSO
CREATE DOMAIN [create_domain(7)], DROP DOMAIN [drop_domain(7)]