<!--
$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_opclass.sgml,v 1.11 2010/04/03 07:22:57 petere Exp $
PostgreSQL documentation
-->

<refentry id="SQL-ALTEROPCLASS">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>ALTER OPERATOR CLASS</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>ALTER OPERATOR CLASS</refname>
  <refpurpose>change the definition of an operator class</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>  
  
 <indexterm zone="sql-alteropclass">
  <primary>ALTER OPERATOR CLASS</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
ALTER OPERATOR CLASS <replaceable>name</replaceable> USING <replaceable class="parameter">index_method</replaceable> RENAME TO <replaceable>new_name</replaceable>
ALTER OPERATOR CLASS <replaceable>name</replaceable> USING <replaceable class="parameter">index_method</replaceable> OWNER TO <replaceable>new_owner</replaceable>
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>
  
 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <command>ALTER OPERATOR CLASS</command> changes the definition of
   an operator class.
  </para>

  <para>
   You must own the operator class to use <command>ALTER OPERATOR CLASS</>.
   To alter the owner, you must also be a direct or indirect member of the new
   owning role, and that role must have <literal>CREATE</literal> privilege on
   the operator class's schema.  (These restrictions enforce that altering the
   owner doesn't do anything you couldn't do by dropping and recreating the
   operator class.  However, a superuser can alter ownership of any operator
   class anyway.)
  </para>
 </refsect1>
  
 <refsect1>
  <title>Parameters</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing operator
      class.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">index_method</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The name of the index method this operator class is for.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">new_name</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The new name of the operator class.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable class="parameter">new_owner</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The new owner of the operator class.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
 </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Compatibility</title>

  <para>
   There is no <command>ALTER OPERATOR CLASS</command> statement in
   the SQL standard.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>See Also</title>

  <simplelist type="inline">
   <member><xref linkend="sql-createopclass"></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-dropopclass"></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-alteropfamily"></member>
  </simplelist>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>
