DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS in SQLite?

Question

Using SQLite 3.37.2. The following queries work:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS MyTable;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS...;

But a similar query on a column generates an error:

ALTER TABLE MyTable DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS MyField;

Remove IF EXISTS and the query works fine.

Does SQLite support IF EXISTS and IF NOT EXISTS for adding/dropping columns? This related question appears to answer "no", though that was back in 2010. Perhaps something has changed in the latest version(s).

Answer 1

This recent SQLite forum question on the same subject is answered by the primary SQLite developer, Richard Hipp. Based on the Richard's answer, and the observation from @AnonCoward, the following is true:

As of v3.37.2 (January 2022), SQLite does NOT support either of the following:

ALTER TABLE ... ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS ...;
ALTER TABLE ... DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS ...;

UPDATE

There is currently a prototype implementation of this functionality in SQLite. The git check-in can be viewed here. Not slated for release in the upcoming v3.38.0 release, but sometime in the future.