Re: alter table is taking a long time

Hi Sam,

Typo in my haste on initial mail. attlen should actually be
atttypmod.

> > update pg_attribute set attlen = 4 + <newlength>
> > where attname = 'yourcolumnname'
update pg_attribute set ATTTYPMOD = 4 + <newlength>
where attname = 'yourcolumnname' and <additional where statements>

> It will also update *every* column with that name.  Something involving
> the "attrelid" would be much safer.  I'd use something like:
>
>   update pg_attribute set attlen = 4 + <newlength>
>   where attrelid = regclass 'your table name'
>     and attname  = 'yourcolumnname';

Yes I agree, that was why I initially said to do a couple of selects
before doint the update to ensure only the applicable columns get
updated.
>> Just first do some select statements to ensure you only
>> update what you really want to.

Regards,

Johan Nel
Pretoria, South Africa.