<!--
doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_domain.sgml
PostgreSQL documentation
-->

<refentry id="SQL-ALTERDOMAIN">
 <indexterm zone="sql-alterdomain">
  <primary>ALTER DOMAIN</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <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>

 <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> [ NOT VALID ]
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    DROP CONSTRAINT [ IF EXISTS ] <replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint_name</replaceable> [ RESTRICT | CASCADE ]
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
     RENAME CONSTRAINT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint_name</replaceable> TO <replaceable class="PARAMETER">new_constraint_name</replaceable>
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    VALIDATE CONSTRAINT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint_name</replaceable>
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    OWNER TO { <replaceable class="PARAMETER">new_owner</replaceable> | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER }
ALTER DOMAIN <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
    RENAME TO <replaceable class="PARAMETER">new_name</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> [ NOT VALID ]</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This form adds a new constraint to a domain using the same syntax as
      <xref linkend="SQL-CREATEDOMAIN">.
      When a new constraint is added to a domain, all columns using that
      domain will be checked against the newly added constraint.  These
      checks can be suppressed by adding the new constraint using the
      <literal>NOT VALID</literal> option; the constraint can later be made
      valid using <command>ALTER DOMAIN ... VALIDATE CONSTRAINT</command>.
      Newly inserted or updated rows are always checked against all
      constraints, even those marked <literal>NOT VALID</literal>.
      <literal>NOT VALID</> is only accepted for <literal>CHECK</> constraints.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term>DROP CONSTRAINT [ IF EXISTS ]</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This form drops constraints on a domain.
      If <literal>IF EXISTS</literal> is specified and the constraint
      does not exist, no error is thrown. In this case a notice is issued instead.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term>RENAME CONSTRAINT</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This form changes the name of a constraint on a domain.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term>VALIDATE CONSTRAINT</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This form validates a constraint previously added as
      <literal>NOT VALID</>, that is, verify that all data in columns using the
      domain satisfy the specified constraint.
     </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><literal>RENAME</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This form changes the name of the domain.
     </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 or rename.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">NOT VALID</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Do not verify existing column data for constraint validity.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>


     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>CASCADE</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Automatically drop objects that depend on the constraint,
        and in turn all objects that depend on those objects
        (see <xref linkend="ddl-depend">).
       </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_name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The new name for the domain.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">new_constraint_name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The new name for the constraint.
       </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</>, <command>ALTER
   DOMAIN VALIDATE CONSTRAINT</>, and <command>ALTER DOMAIN SET NOT NULL</>
   will fail if the validated 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 rename a check constraint on a domain:
<programlisting>
ALTER DOMAIN zipcode RENAME CONSTRAINT zipchk TO zip_check;
</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</>, <literal>RENAME</literal>, <literal>SET SCHEMA</>, and
   <literal>VALIDATE CONSTRAINT</> variants, which are
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extensions.  The <literal>NOT VALID</>
   clause of the <literal>ADD CONSTRAINT</> variant is also a
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extension.
  </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>
