ALTER SEQUENCE
ALTER SEQUENCE
7
SQL - Language Statements
ALTER SEQUENCE
change the definition of a sequence generator
ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name
[ AS data_type ]
[ INCREMENT [ BY ] increment ]
[ MINVALUE minvalue | NO MINVALUE ] [ MAXVALUE maxvalue | NO MAXVALUE ]
[ START [ WITH ] start ]
[ RESTART [ [ WITH ] restart ] ]
[ CACHE cache ] [ [ NO ] CYCLE ]
[ OWNED BY { table_name.column_name | NONE } ]
ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name SET { LOGGED | UNLOGGED }
ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_ROLE | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER }
ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name RENAME TO new_name
ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name SET SCHEMA new_schema
Description
ALTER SEQUENCE changes the parameters of an existing
sequence generator. Any parameters not specifically set in the
ALTER SEQUENCE command retain their prior settings.
You must own the sequence to use ALTER SEQUENCE.
To change a sequence's schema, you must also have CREATE
privilege on the new schema.
To alter the owner, you must be able to SET ROLE to the
new owning role, and that role must have CREATE
privilege on the sequence's schema.
(These restrictions enforce that altering the owner
doesn't do anything you couldn't do by dropping and recreating the sequence.
However, a superuser can alter ownership of any sequence anyway.)
Parameters
name
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of a sequence to be altered.
IF EXISTS
Do not throw an error if the sequence does not exist. A notice is issued
in this case.
data_type
The optional
clause AS data_type
changes the data type of the sequence. Valid types are
smallint, integer,
and bigint.
Changing the data type automatically changes the minimum and maximum
values of the sequence if and only if the previous minimum and maximum
values were the minimum or maximum value of the old data type (in
other words, if the sequence had been created using NO
MINVALUE or NO MAXVALUE, implicitly or
explicitly). Otherwise, the minimum and maximum values are preserved,
unless new values are given as part of the same command. If the
minimum and maximum values do not fit into the new data type, an error
will be generated.
increment
The clause INCREMENT BY increment is
optional. A positive value will make an ascending sequence, a
negative one a descending sequence. If unspecified, the old
increment value will be maintained.
minvalue
NO MINVALUE
The optional clause MINVALUE minvalue determines
the minimum value a sequence can generate. If NO
MINVALUE is specified, the defaults of 1 and
the minimum value of the data type for ascending and descending sequences,
respectively, will be used. If neither option is specified,
the current minimum value will be maintained.
maxvalue
NO MAXVALUE
The optional clause MAXVALUE maxvalue determines
the maximum value for the sequence. If NO
MAXVALUE is specified, the defaults of
the maximum value of the data type and -1 for ascending and descending
sequences, respectively, will be used. If neither option is
specified, the current maximum value will be maintained.
start
The optional clause START WITH start changes the
recorded start value of the sequence. This has no effect on the
current sequence value; it simply sets the value
that future ALTER SEQUENCE RESTART commands will use.
restart
The optional clause RESTART [ WITH restart ] changes the
current value of the sequence. This is similar to calling the
setval function with is_called =
false: the specified value will be returned by the
next call of nextval.
Writing RESTART with no restart value is equivalent to supplying
the start value that was recorded by CREATE SEQUENCE
or last set by ALTER SEQUENCE START WITH.
In contrast to a setval call,
a RESTART operation on a sequence is transactional
and blocks concurrent transactions from obtaining numbers from the
same sequence. If that's not the desired mode of
operation, setval should be used.
cache
The clause CACHE cache enables
sequence numbers to be preallocated and stored in memory for
faster access. The minimum value is 1 (only one value can be
generated at a time, i.e., no cache). If unspecified, the old
cache value will be maintained.
CYCLE
The optional CYCLE key word can be used to enable
the sequence to wrap around when the
maxvalue or
minvalue has been
reached by
an ascending or descending sequence respectively. If the limit is
reached, the next number generated will be the
minvalue or
maxvalue,
respectively.
NO CYCLE
If the optional NO CYCLE key word is
specified, any calls to nextval after the
sequence has reached its maximum value will return an error.
If neither CYCLE or NO
CYCLE are specified, the old cycle behavior will be
maintained.
SET { LOGGED | UNLOGGED }
This form changes the sequence from unlogged to logged or vice-versa
(see ). It cannot be applied to a
temporary sequence.
OWNED BY table_name.column_name
OWNED BY NONE
The OWNED BY option causes the sequence to be
associated with a specific table column, such that if that column
(or its whole table) is dropped, the sequence will be automatically
dropped as well. If specified, this association replaces any
previously specified association for the sequence. The specified
table must have the same owner and be in the same schema as the
sequence.
Specifying OWNED BY NONE removes any existing
association, making the sequence free-standing
.
new_owner
The user name of the new owner of the sequence.
new_name
The new name for the sequence.
new_schema
The new schema for the sequence.
Notes
ALTER SEQUENCE will not immediately affect
nextval results in backends,
other than the current one, that have preallocated (cached) sequence
values. They will use up all cached values prior to noticing the changed
sequence generation parameters. The current backend will be affected
immediately.
ALTER SEQUENCE does not affect the currval
status for the sequence. (Before PostgreSQL
8.3, it sometimes did.)
ALTER SEQUENCE blocks
concurrent nextval, currval,
lastval, and setval calls.
For historical reasons, ALTER TABLE can be used with
sequences too; but the only variants of ALTER TABLE
that are allowed with sequences are equivalent to the forms shown above.
Examples
Restart a sequence called serial, at 105:
ALTER SEQUENCE serial RESTART WITH 105;
Compatibility
ALTER SEQUENCE conforms to the SQL
standard, except for the AS, START WITH,
OWNED BY, OWNER TO, RENAME TO, and
SET SCHEMA clauses, which are
PostgreSQL extensions.
See Also