The utility statement ALTER PARTITIONING FOR TABLE enables the user to
add a partition to a base table with primary key (ADD)
alter the partition boundaries of a partition (ALTER)
delete a partition (DROP)
A partition can also be added to a non-partitioned base table with primary key, which then becomes a partitioned base table.
When the penultimate partition of a partitioned table is deleted, the table automatically becomes a non-partitioned table (again).
Purpose of the partitioning
A strongly fluctuating data set in a base table means that the data records stored must be handled flexibly. One way to distribute the data to different user spaces is to partition a base table, see section “Partitioned table”. The partitioning of a base table is specified when it is defined with the CREATE TABLE statement. The partitions are frequently formed according to time criteria, e.g. according to the months of the year.
The user can react conveniently to changed requirements for the distribution of the data in a base table using the utility statement ALTER PARTITIONING FOR TABLE.