Redshift Spectrum 是否允许您在外部表上添加列

Question

I cant find anything in the Redshift Documentation on Altering an external table. Just notes on adding a partition.

I would need to do something like this

Alter table spectrum.some_table
Add column notes character varying;

Does anyone have experience with this before I potentially embarrass myself with a PR?

Many thanks

Answer 1

No. 'Alter table XXX add column ...' is only valid for an internal table. Since Spectrum is based on files stored in S3 these files would also need to change their contents to support the new table definition. The external table definition and the construction of the files are linked so it is not clear as to why you would want to add a column to an external table other than saving on statements (alter vs drop & create). The may be a way to achieve your greater objective (that I don't see) if you state what that is.