Create and Alter Views

CREATE VIEW

Creates a virtual table whose contents (columns and rows) are defined by a query. Use this statement to create a view of the data in one or more tables in the database. For example, a view can be used for the following purposes:

• To focus, simplify, and customize the perception each user has of the database.
• As a security mechanism by allowing users to access data through the view, without granting the users permissions to directly access the underlying base tables.
• To provide a backward compatible interface to emulate a table whose schema has changed.

Syntax

---

CREATE VIEW [ schema_name . ] view_name [ (column [ ,...n ] ) ] 
[ WITH <view_attribute> [ ,...n ] ] 
AS select_statement 
[ WITH CHECK OPTION ] [ ; ]

<view_attribute> ::= 
{
    [ ENCRYPTION ]
    [ SCHEMABINDING ]
    [ VIEW_METADATA ]     }

Example:

Create View Customer_view
AS
Select customerid, customername,city from customers

The above statement will create a view named customer_view

To Alter view:

Example:

Alter view customer_view
As
Select customerid, customername,city,country from customers