CODEWITHSUNDEEP
google-bigquery
Fabian Bosler
Fabian Bosler

Reputation: 2510

BigQuery insert (not append) a new column into schema

Is there a convenient way (Python, web UI, or CLI) for inserting a new column into an existing BigQuery table (that already has 100 columns or so) and update the schema accordingly?

Say I want to insert it after column 49. If I do this via a query, I will have to type every single column name, will I not?

Update: the suggested answer does not make it clear how this applies to BigQuery. Furthermore, the documentation does not seem to cover 

ALTER TABLE `tablename` ADD `column_name1` TEXT NOT NULL AFTER `column_name2`;

Syntax. A test confirmed that the AFTER identifier does not work for BigQuery.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1190

Answers (1)

Enrique Zetina
Enrique Zetina

Reputation: 835

I think that is not possible to perform this action in a simple way, I thought in some workarounds to reach this such as:

  1. Create a view after adding your column.
  2. Creating a table from a query result after adding your column.

On the other hand, I can't catch how this is useful, the only scenario I can think for this requirement is if you are using SELECT * which is not recommended when using BigQuery according with the Bigquery best practices. If is not the case share your case of use to get a better understanding of it.

Since this is not a current feature of BigQuery you can file a feature request asking for this feature.

Upvotes: 1

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