addColumn

The addColumn Change Type adds a new column to an existing table.

Uses

You can typically use the addColumn Change Type when you want to add a new column and deploy it to the table in your database.

Running the `addColumn` Change Type

To create a column for your table, follow these steps:

Step 1: Add the addColumn Change Type to your changeset with the needed attributes as it is shown in the examples.

Step 2: Deploy your changeset by running the update command.

liquibase update

Now, you should see a new column.

Available attributes

Name	Description	Required for	Supports
`catalogName`	The name of the catalog		all
`schemaName`	The name of the schema		all
`tableName`	The name of the table to add the column	all	all

Nested properties

Name Description Required for Supports Multiple allowed

Name	Description	Required for	Supports	Multiple allowed
`column`	The column constraint and foreign key information. Setting the `defaultValue` attribute specifies a default value for the column. Setting the `value` attribute sets all rows existing to the specified value without modifying the column default. For more information, see column. Note: YAML and JSON changelogs using the `column` tag must nest it within a `columns` tag.	all	all	yes

column

The column constraint and foreign key information.

Setting the defaultValue attribute specifies a default value for the column. Setting the value attribute sets all rows existing to the specified value without modifying the column default. For more information, see column.

Note: YAML and JSON changelogs using the column tag must nest it within a columns tag.

all

yes

XML example

<changeSet author="liquibase-docs" id="addColumn-example"> 
	<addColumn catalogName="cat"  
			schemaName= "public"
			tableName="person" >
		<column name="address" 
			position="2"  
			type="varchar(255)"/>  
		<column afterColumn="id" 
			name="name"  
			type="varchar(50)" >  
			<constraints nullable="false" />  
		</column>  
	</addColumn>  
</changeSet>

YAML example

databaseChangeLog:
  - changeSet:
      id: addColumn-example
      author: liquibase-docs
      changes:
        - addColumn:
            tableName: person
            columns:
            - column:
                name: middlename
                type: varchar(50)

JSON example

{
  "changeSet":{
  "id":"addColumn-example",
  "author":"liquibase-docs",
  "changes":[
     {
       "addColumn":{
         "catalogName":"cat",
         "columns":[
            {
              "column":{
                 "name":"address",
                 "position":2,
                 "type":"varchar(255)"
        	   } 
            },
            {
              "column":{
                 "afterColumn":"id",
                 "constraints":{
                    "nullable":false
        		 },
                 "name":"name",
                 "type":"varchar(50)"
               }
             }
           ],
           "schemaName":"public",
           "tableName":"person"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }

SQL example

ALTER TABLE cat.person ADD address VARCHAR(255) NULL,  
ADD name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL AFTER `id`;

Database support