Syntax:
ALTER [ONLINE | OFFLINE] [IGNORE] TABLE tbl_name
    [alter_specification [, alter_specification] ...]
    [partition_options]

ALTER [ONLINE | OFFLINE] [IGNORE] TABLE tbl_name
    partition_options

alter_specification:
    table_options
  | ADD [COLUMN] col_name column_definition
        [FIRST | AFTER col_name ]
  | ADD [COLUMN] (col_name column_definition,...)
  | ADD {INDEX|KEY} [index_name]
        [index_type] (index_col_name,...) [index_option] ...
  | ADD [CONSTRAINT [symbol]] PRIMARY KEY
        [index_type] (index_col_name,...) [index_option] ...
  | ADD [CONSTRAINT [symbol]]
        UNIQUE [INDEX|KEY] [index_name]
        [index_type] (index_col_name,...) [index_option] ...
  | ADD FULLTEXT [INDEX|KEY] [index_name]
        (index_col_name,...) [index_option] ...
  | ADD SPATIAL [INDEX|KEY] [index_name]
        (index_col_name,...) [index_option] ...
  | ADD [CONSTRAINT [symbol]]
        FOREIGN KEY [index_name] (index_col_name,...)
        reference_definition
  | ALTER [COLUMN] col_name {SET DEFAULT literal | DROP DEFAULT}
  | CHANGE [COLUMN] old_col_name new_col_name column_definition
        [FIRST|AFTER col_name]
  | MODIFY [COLUMN] col_name column_definition
        [FIRST | AFTER col_name]
  | DROP [COLUMN] col_name
  | DROP PRIMARY KEY
  | DROP {INDEX|KEY} index_name
  | DROP FOREIGN KEY fk_symbol
  | DISABLE KEYS
  | ENABLE KEYS
  | RENAME [TO] new_tbl_name
  | ORDER BY col_name [, col_name] ...
  | CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET charset_name [COLLATE collation_name]
  | [DEFAULT] CHARACTER SET [=] charset_name [COLLATE [=] collation_name]
  | DISCARD TABLESPACE
  | IMPORT TABLESPACE
  | FORCE
  | ADD PARTITION (partition_definition)
  | DROP PARTITION partition_names
  | TRUNCATE PARTITION {partition_names | ALL }
  | COALESCE PARTITION number
  | REORGANIZE PARTITION partition_names INTO (partition_definitions)
  | ANALYZE PARTITION  {partition_names | ALL }
  | CHECK PARTITION  {partition_names | ALL }
  | OPTIMIZE PARTITION  {partition_names | ALL }
  | REBUILD PARTITION  {partition_names | ALL }
  | REPAIR PARTITION  {partition_names | ALL }
  | PARTITION BY partitioning_expression
  | REMOVE PARTITIONING

index_col_name:
    col_name [(length)] [ASC | DESC]

index_type:
    USING {BTREE | HASH}

index_option:
    KEY_BLOCK_SIZE [=] value
  | index_type
  | WITH PARSER parser_name
  | COMMENT 'string'

table_options:
    table_option [[,] table_option] ...  (see CREATE TABLE options)

partition_options:
    (see CREATE TABLE options)

ALTER TABLE changes the structure of a table. For example, you can add
or delete columns, create or destroy indexes, change the type of
existing columns, or rename columns or the table itself. You can also
change characteristics such as the storage engine used for the table or
the table comment.

Partitioning-related clauses for ALTER TABLE can be used with
partitioned tables for repartitioning, for adding, dropping, merging,
and splitting partitions, and for performing partitioning maintenance.
For more information, see
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/alter-table-partition-operations
.html.

Following the table name, specify the alterations to be made. If none
are given, ALTER TABLE does nothing.

URL: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/alter-table.html

