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$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_domain.sgml,v 1.25.2.1 2010/07/29 19:34:37 petere Exp $
PostgreSQL documentation
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<refentry id="SQL-ALTERDOMAIN">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>ALTER DOMAIN</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>ALTER DOMAIN</refname>
  <refpurpose>
   change the definition of a domain
  </refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm zone="sql-alterdomain">
  <primary>ALTER DOMAIN</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    { SET DEFAULT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">expression</replaceable> | DROP DEFAULT }
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    { SET | DROP } NOT NULL
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    ADD <replaceable class="PARAMETER">domain_constraint</replaceable>
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    DROP CONSTRAINT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint_name</replaceable> [ RESTRICT | CASCADE ]
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    OWNER TO <replaceable class="PARAMETER">new_owner</replaceable> 
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    SET SCHEMA <replaceable class="PARAMETER">new_schema</replaceable> 
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <command>ALTER DOMAIN</command> changes the definition of an existing domain.
   There are several sub-forms:
  </para>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term>SET/DROP DEFAULT</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      These forms set or remove the default value for a domain. Note
      that defaults only apply to subsequent <command>INSERT</command>
      commands; they do not affect rows already in a table using the domain.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term>SET/DROP NOT NULL</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      These forms change whether a domain is marked to allow NULL
      values or to reject NULL values.  You can only <literal>SET NOT NULL</>
      when the columns using the domain contain no null values.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term>ADD <replaceable class="PARAMETER">domain_constraint</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This form adds a new constraint to a domain using the same syntax as
      <xref linkend="SQL-CREATEDOMAIN">.
      This will only succeed if all columns using the domain satisfy the
      new constraint.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term>DROP CONSTRAINT</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This form drops constraints on a domain.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term>OWNER</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This form changes the owner of the domain to the specified user.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term>SET SCHEMA</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This form changes the schema of the domain.  Any constraints
      associated with the domain are moved into the new schema as well.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>

  <para>
   You must own the domain to use <command>ALTER DOMAIN</>.
   To change the schema of a domain, you must also have
   <literal>CREATE</literal> 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 <literal>CREATE</literal> 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.)
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Parameters</title>

   <para>
    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The name (possibly schema-qualified) of an existing domain to
        alter.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">domain_constraint</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        New domain constraint for the domain.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint_name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Name of an existing constraint to drop.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>CASCADE</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Automatically drop objects that depend on the constraint.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>RESTRICT</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Refuse to drop the constraint if there are any dependent
        objects. This is the default behavior.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">new_owner</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The user name of the new owner of the domain.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">new_schema</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The new schema for the domain.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
   </para>
  </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   Currently, <command>ALTER DOMAIN ADD CONSTRAINT</> and
   <command>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.
  </para>

 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Examples</title>

  <para>
   To add a <literal>NOT NULL</literal> constraint to a domain:
<programlisting>
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode SET NOT NULL;
</programlisting>
   To remove a <literal>NOT NULL</literal> constraint from a domain:
<programlisting>
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode DROP NOT NULL;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   To add a check constraint to a domain:
<programlisting>
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode ADD CONSTRAINT zipchk CHECK (char_length(VALUE) = 5);
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   To remove a check constraint from a domain:
<programlisting>
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode DROP CONSTRAINT zipchk;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   To move the domain into a different schema:
<programlisting>
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode SET SCHEMA customers;
</programlisting>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="SQL-ALTERDOMAIN-compatibility">
  <title>Compatibility</title>
    
  <para>
   <command>ALTER DOMAIN</command> conforms to the <acronym>SQL</acronym>
   standard,
   except for the <literal>OWNER</> and <literal>SET SCHEMA</> variants,
   which are <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extensions.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="SQL-ALTERDOMAIN-see-also">
  <title>See Also</title>

  <simplelist type="inline">
   <member><xref linkend="sql-createdomain"></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-dropdomain"></member>
  </simplelist>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>
