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	Name of the catalog		all
schemaName	Name of the schema		all
tableName	Name of the table to add the column to	all	all

Nested properties

Name	Description	Required for	Supports	Multiple allowed
columns	Column constraint and foreign key information. Setting the defaultValue attribute will specify a default value for the column. Setting the value attribute will set all rows existing to the specified value without modifying the column default. See the column tag documentation for more information.	all	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

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

Database	Notes	Auto rollback
DB2/LUW	Supported	Yes
DB2/z	Supported	Yes
Derby	Supported	Yes
Firebird	Supported	Yes
H2	Supported	Yes
HyperSQL	Supported	Yes
INGRES	Supported	Yes
Informix	Supported	Yes
MariaDB	Supported	Yes
MySQL	Supported	Yes
Oracle	Supported	Yes
PostgreSQL	Supported	Yes
SQL Server	Supported	Yes
SQLite	Supported	Yes
Sybase	Supported	Yes
Sybase Anywhere	Supported	Yes