Topic group Related topics

It’s easy to change the structure of a table, even if the table contains row data.

If the table is empty, you can make any valid changes you want to the table structure except change the table type. If the table contains rows, however, you need to be more careful about the changes you make—and you should make a backup copy of the table before attempting to change its structure.

When you change the structure of a table, the Table designer makes a backup copy of the old table, creates a new table with the revised design, and attempts to copy all the data from the backup table to the new table. However, each time you change the structure of this table, the backup copy that the Table designer created is overwritten. That is why you should make your own backup copy with a unique name or in another directory.

This section assumes you are using BDE-standard table types (dBASE or Paradox). You can also change the structure of the table types of other databases connected via BDE aliases. For information on restructuring these tables, see the documentation of the respective manufacturer.