X-Original-To: pgsql-sql-postgresql.org@localhost.postgresql.org Received: from localhost (unknown [200.46.204.2]) by svr1.postgresql.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 87FE4D1D1A4 for ; Tue, 10 Feb 2004 08:29:25 +0000 (GMT) Received: from svr1.postgresql.org ([200.46.204.71]) by localhost (neptune.hub.org [200.46.204.2]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id 49684-07 for ; Tue, 10 Feb 2004 04:29:10 -0400 (AST) Received: from sss.pgh.pa.us (unknown [192.204.191.242]) by svr1.postgresql.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 49634D1C9BD for ; Tue, 10 Feb 2004 04:29:08 -0400 (AST) Received: from sss2.sss.pgh.pa.us (tgl@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by sss.pgh.pa.us (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id i1A8T9Yl010797; Tue, 10 Feb 2004 03:29:09 -0500 (EST) To: "Herbert R. Ambos" Cc: pgsql-sql@postgresql.org Subject: Re: Bug or Feature? In-reply-to: <001701c3f00e$cec10330$78fba8c0@herbert> References: <001701c3f00e$cec10330$78fba8c0@herbert> Comments: In-reply-to "Herbert R. Ambos" message dated "Tue, 10 Feb 2004 11:48:03 -0800" Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 03:29:09 -0500 Message-ID: <10796.1076401749@sss.pgh.pa.us> From: Tom Lane X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new at postgresql.org X-Archive-Number: 200402/96 X-Sequence-Number: 16787 "Herbert R. Ambos" writes: > [ drops only column of a table ] > Is this allowed in SQL? The SQL spec forbids that. We deliberately decided to ignore the spec restriction, because it creates too many unpleasant boundary cases for tools that want to manipulate table definitions. "DROP COLUMN foo" shouldn't depend on whether there are other columns besides foo. In short, yes, it's a feature. regards, tom lane