Home » SQL Server » SQL – ALTER Table Statement

SQL – ALTER Table Statement

ALTER Table Statement SQL SERVER

The ALTER TABLE statement is used to add, modify or drop columns in an existing table.

1. Add Column in an existing table:

Using ALTER TABLE statement you can add a new column in existing table.

  • Add Single column:
Syntax: 
ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD column_name datatype;

Example:
Alter Table Data
Add Address varchar(100);
  • Add multiple columns:
Syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD column_1 datatype,
    column_2 datatype,
    ...
    column_n datatype;

Example:
ALTER TABLE Data
ADD firstName varchar(100),
    LastName varchar(100),
    Town varchar(50);




2. Modify column in an existing table:

You can use the ALTER TABLE statement in SQL Server to modify a column in a table.

Syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
ALTER COLUMN column_name datatype;

Example: 
ALTER TABLE Data
ALTER COLUMN Town varchar(100);

Earlier Town datatype was varchar(50), now it is varchar(100)

3. Drop column:

It is used to Drop a column in a table.

Syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP COLUMN column_name;

Example:
ALTER TABLE Data
DROP COLUMN Town;

Note: Some database systems do not allow deleting a column from table.

Your valuable feedback, question, or comments about this post are always welcome or you can leave us message on our contact form , we will revert to you asap.

Recommended SQL Server Post:

SQL REPLICATE() function

SQL Server Configuration Functions

Query Optimization Technique

SQL Commands

Identity functions in SQL Server

SQL Keys



Leave a Reply