Hi group,
I have an existing table with data loaded. Now I
wanted to create a column with SERIAL data type and
want to make that coulmn values as PRIMARY key.

I did the following:
friends=> alter table friend add column fr_id serial;
NOTICE: ALTER TABLE will create implicit sequence
"friend_fr_id_seq" for "serial" column "friend.fr_id"
ERROR: adding columns with defaults is not
implemented
HINT: Add the column, then use ALTER TABLE SET
DEFAULT.

Can any one suggest what is wrong here.

Thanks
Kumar




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Kumar S <ps_postgres (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> writes:
Just what it says: adding columns with defaults is not implemented.
(It is implemented in 8.0, but that won't help you today.) You can
do it by hand:

create sequence friend_fr_id_seq;
alter table friend add column fr_id int;
update friend set fr_id = nextval('friend_fr_id_seq');
alter table friend alter column fr_id set default nextval('friend_fr_id_seq');

This isn't an exact substitute since the sequence will appear as
a standalone object and not be hidden behind the "serial" column,
but it's functionally equivalent.

regards, tom lane

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Thank you very much Mr. Lane.
It worked.
Would you mind explaining the code that you sent.
I would appreciate and curious to learn in fact the
meaning of the pg/pl sql statements.
thank you.
Kumar.


--- Tom Lane <tgl (AT) sss (DOT) pgh.pa.us> wrote:




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