Oracle Rename Column

Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to rename a column in Oracle using the ALTER TABLE RENAME COLUMN statement.

Introduction to the ALTER TABLE RENAME COLUMN statement #

To change the name of a column to a new one, you use the ALTER TABLE ... RENAME COLUMN statement:

ALTER TABLE table_name RENAME COLUMN column1 TO new_column;Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

In this syntax:

• First, specify the table name to which the column you want to rename belongs.
• Second, provide the column you want to change (column1) after the RENAME COLUMN keywords.
• Third, specify the new name for the column you want to change after the TO keyword.

Renaming column example #

First, create a new table called sales_performances:

CREATE TABLE sales_performances( id NUMBER GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY, sales_year NUMBER NOT NULL, amount NUMBER(19,2) NOT NULL );Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

Second, change the amount column to sales_amount:

ALTER TABLE sales_performances RENAME COLUMN amount TO sales_amount;Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

Third, verify the changes by showing the structure of the sales_performances table:

DESC sales_performances;Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

Output:

Name Null? Type ------------ -------- ------------  ID NOT NULL NUMBER SALES_YEAR NOT NULL NUMBER SALES_AMOUNT NOT NULL NUMBER(19,2)Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

The output indicates that the statement has changed the amount column to sales_amount column successfully.

Summary #

• Use the ALTER TABLE RENAME COLUMN statement to rename a column.

Quiz #