ALTER

ALTER can be used to modify any table settings or data within the table:

• Add/Drop/Modify a column
• Rename a table

Syntax

ALTER TABLE [db.]table
   [ADD COLUMN name type [options]
    | DROP COLUMN name
    | MODIFY COLUMN name type
    | MODIFY COLUMN name SET FULLTEXT [WITH <options>]
    | MODIFY COLUMN name UNSET FULLTEXT
    | RENAME name
    | SET <option_name>=<option_value> [, ...]
    | UNSET <option_name>[, ...]
   ]

Examples

Add column

Adds a new column to the table:

ALTER TABLE monitor ADD COLUMN load_15 double;

Definition of column is the same as in CREATE.

We can set the new column's location. In first position for example:

ALTER TABLE monitor ADD COLUMN load_15 double FIRST;

After an existing column:

ALTER TABLE monitor ADD COLUMN load_15 double AFTER memory;

Adds a new column as a tag(primary key) with a default value:

ALTER TABLE monitor ADD COLUMN app STRING DEFAULT 'shop' PRIMARY KEY;

Remove column

Removes a column from the table:

ALTER TABLE monitor DROP COLUMN load_15;

The removed column can't be retrieved immediately by all subsequent queries.

Modify column type

Modify the date type of a column

ALTER TABLE monitor MODIFY COLUMN load_15 STRING;

The modified column cannot be a tag (primary key) or time index, and it must be nullable to ensure that the data can be safely converted (returns NULL on cast failures).

Alter table options

ALTER TABLE statements can also be used to change the options of tables.

Currently following options are supported:

• ttl: the retention time of data in table.
• compaction.twcs.time_window: the time window parameter of TWCS compaction strategy.
• compaction.twcs.max_output_file_size: the maximum allowed output file size of TWCS compaction strategy.
• compaction.twcs.max_active_window_runs: the maximum allowed sorted runs in the active window of TWCS compaction strategy.
• compaction.twcs.max_inactive_window_runs: the maximum allowed sorted runs in the inactive windows of TWCS compaction strategy.
• compaction.twcs.max_active_window_files: the maximum allowed number of files in the active window of TWCS compaction strategy.
• compaction.twcs.max_inactive_window_files: the maximum allowed number of files in the inactive windows of TWCS compaction strategy.

ALTER TABLE monitor SET 'ttl'='1d';

ALTER TABLE monitor SET 'compaction.twcs.time_window'='2h';

ALTER TABLE monitor SET 'compaction.twcs.max_output_file_size'='500MB';

ALTER TABLE monitor SET 'compaction.twcs.max_inactive_window_files'='2';

ALTER TABLE monitor SET 'compaction.twcs.max_active_window_files'='2';

ALTER TABLE monitor SET 'compaction.twcs.max_active_window_runs'='6';

ALTER TABLE monitor SET 'compaction.twcs.max_inactive_window_runs'='6';

Unset options:

ALTER TABLE monitor UNSET 'ttl';

Modify column fulltext index options

Enable fulltext index on a column:

ALTER TABLE monitor MODIFY COLUMN load_15 SET FULLTEXT WITH (analyzer = 'Chinese', case_sensitive = 'false');

You can specify the following options using FULLTEXT WITH when enabling fulltext options:

• analyzer: Sets the language analyzer for the full-text index. Supported values are English and Chinese. Default is English.
• case_sensitive: Determines whether the full-text index is case-sensitive. Supported values are true and false. Default is false.

If WITH <options> is not specified, FULLTEXT will use the default values.

Disable fulltext index on a column

ALTER TABLE monitor MODIFY COLUMN load_15 UNSET FULLTEXT;

The column must be a string type to alter the fulltext index.

If the fulltext index has never been enabled, you can enable it and specify the analyzer and case_sensitive options. When the fulltext index is already enabled on a column, you can disable it but cannot modify the options.

Rename table

Renames the table:

ALTER TABLE monitor RENAME monitor_new;

This command only renames the table; it doesn't modify the data within the table.