We wish to increase the size of decimal columns on some tables from (11,2) to (16,2) and change some varchar columns from varchar(20) to varchar(40). Am I correct in believing that the only way to do this in DB2 7.2 is to unload the table, recreate the table, and load the table?

this feature is not available in V7
yes : unload/drop/create/load is the way to go

Well, that is somewhat primitive for a database. I realized they fixed it in v 8.0, but I am still somewhat surprised.

V7 has been "out-of-support" for 2 years. V8 has been available for about 4 years.

But actually, V8 does not allow you to change a decimal column from (11,2) to (16,2), but you can increase the length of a VARCHAR.

In 8.2 there is a stored procedure used by the GUI interface in the Control Center (or anyone who wants to invoke the procedure manually) that will export the data, drop the table, recreate the table with the new difinitions, and reload the data.

I believe that DB2 Version 9 (now available) does allow you to change the decimal column definitions on the fly.

In 8.2 there is a stored procedure used by the GUI interface in the Control Center (or anyone who wants to invoke the procedure manually) that will export the data, drop the table, recreate the table with the new difinitions, and reload the data.


the procedure is sysproc.altobj
lack of details in info center makes it difficult to use (at least for me )

I guess it may be a consious decision not to document it ;-(

Search for altobj in the db2 forum and you should find reference to a newsgroup posting ...