Bug #10789 The ALTER syntax should support IF EXISTS like DROP
Submitted: 22 May 2005 17:11 Modified: 9 Jun 2005 16:22
Reporter: Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason - Email Updates:
Status: Verified Impact on me:
None 
Category:MySQL Server: DDL Severity:S4 (Feature request)
Version: OS:Any
Assigned to: CPU Architecture:Any

[22 May 2005 17:11] Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason - 
Description:
The DROP syntax supports the IF EXISTS argument which makes it possible to drop tables if they exist, however the ALTER syntax does not support this for its DROP COLUMN syntax. One should be able to do

mysql> ALTER TABLE tmp_table DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS tmp_column;

Which wouldn't result in error 1091 if the column didn't exist.

How to repeat:
-

Suggested fix:
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[9 Jun 2005 16:22] MySQL Verification Team 
This should be a server feature request, MA just gets the current
syntax supported by the server.
[17 Aug 2012 8:16] Christian Kujau 
Are there any plans to implement this one?
[30 Sep 2014 15:26] Chris Smith 
+1 Are there plans to implement this soon?
[3 Dec 2015 8:50] NOT_FOUND NOT_FOUND 
After waiting for more than ten years I am now pretty sure than when I die this feature won't be yet available...
[3 Jul 2019 22:58] Istvan Horvath 
So many years, still nothing?
[2 Nov 2022 9:16] Radu Nicolae Rau 
+1 Are there plans to implement this soon?