NAME

       ALTER_OPERATOR - change the definition of an operator

SYNOPSIS

       ALTER OPERATOR name ( { left_type | NONE } , right_type )
           OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_ROLE | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER }

       ALTER OPERATOR name ( { left_type | NONE } , right_type )
           SET SCHEMA new_schema

       ALTER OPERATOR name ( { left_type | NONE } , right_type )
           SET ( {  RESTRICT = { res_proc | NONE }
                  | JOIN = { join_proc | NONE }
                  | COMMUTATOR = com_op
                  | NEGATOR = neg_op
                  | HASHES
                  | MERGES
                 } [, ... ] )

DESCRIPTION

       ALTER OPERATOR changes the definition of an operator.

       You must own the operator to use ALTER OPERATOR. To alter the owner, you must be able to SET ROLE to the
       new owning role, and that role must have CREATE privilege on the operator's schema. (These restrictions
       enforce that altering the owner doesn't do anything you couldn't do by dropping and recreating the
       operator. However, a superuser can alter ownership of any operator anyway.)

PARAMETERS

       name
           The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing operator.

       left_type
           The data type of the operator's left operand; write NONE if the operator has no left operand.

       right_type
           The data type of the operator's right operand.

       new_owner
           The new owner of the operator.

       new_schema
           The new schema for the operator.

       res_proc
           The restriction selectivity estimator function for this operator; write NONE to remove existing
           selectivity estimator.

       join_proc
           The join selectivity estimator function for this operator; write NONE to remove existing selectivity
           estimator.

       com_op
           The commutator of this operator. Can only be changed if the operator does not have an existing
           commutator.

       neg_op
           The negator of this operator. Can only be changed if the operator does not have an existing negator.

       HASHES
           Indicates this operator can support a hash join. Can only be enabled and not disabled.

       MERGES
           Indicates this operator can support a merge join. Can only be enabled and not disabled.

NOTES

       Refer to Section 36.14 and Section 36.15 for further information.

       Since commutators come in pairs that are commutators of each other, ALTER OPERATOR SET COMMUTATOR will
       also set the commutator of the com_op to be the target operator. Likewise, ALTER OPERATOR SET NEGATOR
       will also set the negator of the neg_op to be the target operator. Therefore, you must own the commutator
       or negator operator as well as the target operator.

EXAMPLES

       Change the owner of a custom operator a @@ b for type text:

           ALTER OPERATOR @@ (text, text) OWNER TO joe;

       Change the restriction and join selectivity estimator functions of a custom operator a && b for type
       int[]:

           ALTER OPERATOR && (int[], int[]) SET (RESTRICT = _int_contsel, JOIN = _int_contjoinsel);

       Mark the && operator as being its own commutator:

           ALTER OPERATOR && (int[], int[]) SET (COMMUTATOR = &&);

COMPATIBILITY

       There is no ALTER OPERATOR statement in the SQL standard.

SEE ALSO

       CREATE OPERATOR (CREATE_OPERATOR(7)), DROP OPERATOR (DROP_OPERATOR(7))

PostgreSQL 17.6                                       2025                                     ALTER OPERATOR(7)