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 PROCEDUREEXTERNAL FUNCTION 

ALTER FUNCTION

Alters a stored function

Available in

DSQL

Syntax
ALTER FUNCTION funcname
  [ ( [ <in_params> ] ) ]
  RETURNS <domain_or_non_array_type> [COLLATE collation]
  [DETERMINISTIC]
  {<psql_function> | <external-module-body>}

!! See syntax of CREATE FUNCTION for further rules !!

The ALTER FUNCTION statement allows the following changes to a stored function definition:

  • the set and characteristics of input and output type

  • local variables, named cursors, and subroutines

  • code in the body of the stored procedure

For external functions (UDR), you can change the entry point and engine name.For legacy external functions declared using DECLARE EXTERNAL FUNCTION — also known as UDFs — it is not possible to convert to PSQL and vice versa.

After ALTER FUNCTION executes, existing privileges remain intact and dependencies are not affected.

Altering a function without specifying the SQL SECURITY clause will remove the SQL Security property if currently set for this function.This means the behaviour will revert to the database default.

Caution

Take care about changing the number and type of input parameters and the output type of a stored function.Existing application code and procedures, functions and triggers that call it could become invalid because the new description of the parameters is incompatible with the old calling format.For information on how to troubleshoot such a situation, see the article The RDB$VALID_BLR Field in the Appendix.

Who Can Alter a Function

The ALTER FUNCTION statement can be executed by:

  • Administrators

  • Owner of the stored function

  • Users with the ALTER ANY FUNCTION privilege