Sqlite Drop Column

Q: How can I drop a column in sqlite-databases?

A: It is not possible to drop columns within sqlite using the syntax ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN [1]. However, there is a workaround for this issue [2]:

BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE t1_backup(a,b);
INSERT INTO t1_backup SELECT a,b FROM t1;
DROP TABLE t1;
CREATE TABLE t1(a,b);
INSERT INTO t1 SELECT a,b FROM t1_backup;
DROP TABLE t1_backup;
COMMIT;

It's obvious that this is a little bit complex. But if you use sqlitebrowser [3] this can be done with a few mouse-clicks (look under -->modify table for a button "remove field".

• [1] http://www.sqlite.org/omitted.html
• [2] http://www.sqlite.org/faq.html#q13
• [3] http://sqlitebrowser.sourceforge.net/