SQL Alter Table to Add a Column, does it do anything "scary"?

Posted by Pselus on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Pselus
Published on 2010-06-10T22:08:42Z Indexed on 2010/06/10 22:12 UTC
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I need to add a column to an existing table in my live sql database. I know how to use the ALTER command, but what I want to know is the effect this has on the table.

For example,, if using SQL Management Studio, it claims that adding a column will "drop and recreate" the table.

Will the ALTER table command do that as well?

This table is CONSTANTLY accessed and VERY important so I want to make VERY sure of this before going forward.

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