ALTER_VIEW - change the definition of a view

ALTERVIEW is a PostgreSQL extension of the SQL standard.

ALTERVIEW changes various auxiliary properties of a view. (If you want to modify the view's defining query, use CREATEORREPLACEVIEW.) You must own the view to use ALTERVIEW. To change a view'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 view's schema. (These restrictions enforce that altering the owner doesn't do anything you couldn't do by dropping and recreating the view. However, a superuser can alter ownership of any view anyway.)

To rename the view foo to bar: ALTER VIEW foo RENAME TO bar; To attach a default column value to an updatable view: CREATE TABLE base_table (id int, ts timestamptz); CREATE VIEW a_view AS SELECT * FROM base_table; ALTER VIEW a_view ALTER COLUMN ts SET DEFAULT now(); INSERT INTO base_table(id) VALUES(1); -- ts will receive a NULL INSERT INTO a_view(id) VALUES(2); -- ts will receive the current time

ALTER_VIEW - change the definition of a view

For historical reasons, ALTERTABLE can be used with views too; but the only variants of ALTERTABLE that are allowed with views are equivalent to the ones shown above.

name The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing view. column_name Name of an existing column. new_column_name New name for an existing column. IF EXISTS Do not throw an error if the view does not exist. A notice is issued in this case. SET/DROP DEFAULT These forms set or remove the default value for a column. A view column's default value is substituted into any INSERT or UPDATE command whose target is the view, before applying any rules or triggers for the view. The view's default will therefore take precedence over any default values from underlying relations. new_owner The user name of the new owner of the view. new_name The new name for the view. new_schema The new schema for the view. SET ( view_option_name [= view_option_value] [, ... ] ) RESET ( view_option_name [, ... ] ) Sets or resets a view option. Currently supported options are: check_option (enum) Changes the check option of the view. The value must be local or cascaded. security_barrier (boolean) Changes the security-barrier property of the view. The value must be a Boolean value, such as true or false. security_invoker (boolean) Changes the security-invoker property of the view. The value must be a Boolean value, such as true or false.

CREATE VIEW (CREATE_VIEW(7)), DROP VIEW (DROP_VIEW(7)) PostgreSQL 17.5 2025 ALTERVIEW(7)

ALTER VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] name ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name SET DEFAULT expression ALTER VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] name ALTER [ COLUMN ] column_name DROP DEFAULT ALTER VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] name OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_ROLE | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER } ALTER VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] name RENAME [ COLUMN ] column_name TO new_column_name ALTER VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] name RENAME TO new_name ALTER VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] name SET SCHEMA new_schema ALTER VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] name SET ( view_option_name [= view_option_value] [, ... ] ) ALTER VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] name RESET ( view_option_name [, ... ] )