Renaming a MySQL column

Stinger51

I know there's a way to do this from the MySQL Monitor. But I can't find it anywhere on-line.

I just want to change a column name from "abc" to "xyz." What is the syntax?

Also, if this field is defined as a primary key, will this affect anything else in the table.

Thanks in advance.

YappyDog

You should be able to use an alter table command

http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/ALTER_TABLE.html

I can't try this right now, but I think this should work....

Alter table myTableName change abc xyz;

Stinger51

I tried :

alter table "mytable" change "fieldname" "fieldname_1";

I also tried :

alter table "mytable" change "fieldname" to "fieldname_1";

Should be simple, but the simplest things are never explained by the manual. :rolleyes:

That's why programmers should never be allowed to do any technical writing. 🆒

YappyDog

Did you try your first version

alter table "mytable" change "fieldname" "fieldname_1";

without all the double quotes?

Stinger51

I was finally able to get MySQL-Front to do this for me via an SQL command. (It kept refusing to do this until I rebooted the computer.)

The syntax it used, with the exact table and column name was :

ALTER TABLE 'agency_contacts' CHANGE 'RecNum' 'CTRecNum' int (3);

I had 'RecNum' defined as the primary key for the table as an autonum. But I also had other "RecNums" defined in other tables, and was trying to make the DB less confusing, hence the name change.

Again, thanks for your help.