# Plan: ADR-0035 Phase 4, sub-phase 4h — `ALTER TABLE … RENAME TO` Add the advanced-mode SQL form: - `ALTER TABLE RENAME TO ` — rename a table. **Advanced-mode only** (no simple-mode rename-table verb; ADR-0035 §6). Closes the rename half of `C1` for the advanced surface. This is the **one genuinely new low-level op** in Phase 4 (ADR-0035 §6) — not a reuse of an existing executor. Within one transaction it renames the table in the database, renames its `data/.csv` → `data/.csv` (via the persistence layer), and updates **every** metadata row that names it. **User-confirmed scope (2026-05-26):** - **Same-name rename** (`rename T to T`) → **refuse** with a friendly error (mirrors the existing `rename column` identical-rename refusal). - **CHECK-text drift → rewrite the stored CHECK text** (the §7 DA finding). The engine rewrites table-qualified column references inside the renamed table's own CHECKs in the *live* schema (`CHECK (T.age>0)` → `CHECK ("U".age>0)` — confirmed empirically on SQLite 3.48). Our *stored* CHECK text (both `__rdbms_playground_columns.check_expr` and `__rdbms_playground_table_checks.check_expr`) must be rewritten the same way, or a fresh rebuild emits `CHECK (T.age>0)` for a table now named `U` and fails. **Bounded problem:** a CHECK constraint may reference only the table's own columns (SQLite forbids subqueries / other tables in CHECK), so the *only* table qualifier that can appear is the old table name — the rewrite target is unambiguous (`old`/`"old"` → `new`/ `"new"`). Reuses/extends the 4e CHECK tokenizer (`check_references_ column`, `db.rs:5489`) which already skips string literals and is case-insensitive. - **Auto-named labels (indexes *and* relationships) → left stale** on rename. ADR-0035 §6 lists only CSV + column/relationship/table-CHECK metadata to update; auto-named indexes (`__idx`) and auto-named relationships (`{parent}_{pcol}_to_{child}_{ccol}`, `db.rs:5982`) keep their old names — functional, just cosmetically referencing the old table name. **Documented caveat:** index names are schema-global and relationship names are `UNIQUE`, so recreating a table under the *old* name later could collide with a stale label; this is an accepted consequence (cosmetic refresh is a possible 4i/follow-up, out of 4h). **Decided-and-noted (conventional defaults, no user fork):** - **Rename to an existing *other* table** → **refuse** "table `` already exists" (an explicit, engine-neutral pre-check before the native rename, which would otherwise surface engine wording). - **Rename of an FK parent or child** → **allowed** (unlike DROP, which refuses inbound FKs). The native rename rewrites child FK references in the live schema; we update both ends of the relationship metadata. - **Success feedback** → **auto-show the renamed table** under its new name (returns a `TableDescription`, mirroring `rename column`). - **Target name** → parse-time `reject_internal_table` validator on the new-name slot (mirrors the `CREATE TABLE` name slot) + executor `reject_internal_table_name` guard for defense in depth. ## 1. Baseline (at handoff 40) - After 4g + the rebuild fix: **1885 passing, 0 failed, 0 skipped, 1 ignored** (the `friendly/mod.rs` ` ```ignore ` doctest); clippy clean (`cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings`). Branch `main`, HEAD `6112859` (the handoff-40 docs commit; `6ff97f6`/`50a889e`/`6112859` are local-only — normal). Re-verified this session: **1885 / 0 / 0 / 1**. ## 2. Decisions (settled) 1. **One new low-level executor, `do_rename_table`.** No existing reuse (§6 is explicit: rename is a genuinely new op). It uses the engine's native `ALTER TABLE RENAME TO ` (structure-preserving — no rebuild needed), then updates the three `__rdbms_*` metadata tables, then drives persistence, then commits the db last (ADR-0015 §6 ordering). Mirrors the shape of `do_rename_column` (`src/db.rs:4314`). 2. **CSV rename reuses the existing persistence machinery — no new method.** `finalize_persistence` (`src/db.rs:2663`) already (a) on `schema_dirty` rewrites the *entire* `project.yaml` from the live db schema — so the rename is reflected automatically — and (b) writes a CSV per `rewritten_tables` entry (read in-tx by name) and deletes a CSV per `deleted_tables` entry. So: ```rust Changes { schema_dirty: true, rewritten_tables: vec![new.to_string()], // writes data/.csv deleted_tables: vec![old.to_string()] } // removes data/.csv ``` The renamed table is read by its new name (visible in-tx after the native rename), serialised to `data/.csv`, and `data/.csv` is deleted. Empty tables produce no CSV on either side (the existing `write_table_data` empty-→-delete rule), preserving the ADR-0015 "empty tables → no CSV" invariant. NULL-vs-empty fidelity is preserved because the rows are re-serialised from the db (where NULL is NULL), not byte-copied. **No `rename_table_data` method, no `Changes` field added.** (The Explore-suggested "add a file-rename method" is rejected in §5 R-alt.) 3. **Metadata updates — all three tables, both relationship ends, plus CHECK-text reconciliation.** Within the tx, after the native rename: - `__rdbms_playground_columns` (`META_TABLE`): `table_name old→new`; **and** rewrite any column-level `check_expr` whose text qualifies a reference with the old table name (`old.`/`"old".` → `new.`/`"new".` — §2.9). - `__rdbms_playground_relationships` (`REL_TABLE`): `parent_table old→new` **and** `child_table old→new` (two UPDATEs — covers a table that is an FK parent, a child, or **self-referential** at once). The relationship `name` is **not** touched (left stale per the user decision; FK endpoints are stored as table-name *values*, not as expression text, so they need no rewrite — only the column UPDATE). - `__rdbms_playground_table_checks` (`CHECK_TABLE`): `table_name old→new`; **and** rewrite each table-level `check_expr` the same way (§2.9). No index metadata table exists (indexes are PRAGMA-derived with a `unique` flag; ADR-0025 Amd 1), so nothing to update there — indexes follow the renamed table natively and keep their (stale) names per the user decision. DEFAULT expressions do **not** drift (SQLite defaults cannot reference the table). 4. **Grammar — split the `rename` verb into an inner Choice** (the §6.1 "no same-leading-keyword Choice siblings" rule). Today `AT_RENAME_COLUMN` is the lone `rename`-led branch in `AT_ACTION_CHOICES`. Replace it with one `AT_RENAME` branch (`rename` + an inner `Choice`) whose two tails lead on **distinct** second keywords: `column` (→ rename column) and `to` (→ rename table). Mirrors the 4g `add`/`drop` restructure. 5. **New-name ident slot is distinct from the target slot.** The table being altered binds role `table_name` (`AT_TABLE_NAME`, `IdentSource::Tables`). The rename target binds a **new** role `new_table_name` (`IdentSource::NewName`, `validator: Some(reject_internal_table)`, all `writes_*: false`, wrapped in `NEW_NAME_HINT`) — mirrors the `CREATE TABLE` name slot for parse-time `__rdbms_*` refusal and the `NEW_COLUMN_NAME` hint treatment. Distinct roles keep `require_ident(path, "new_table_name")` unambiguous. 6. **Builder discrimination** (`build_sql_alter_table`, `ddl.rs:2131`): insert a `rename` branch **before** the final `else` (DropConstraint). Order becomes `type` → `column` → `add` → **`rename`** → else `drop`. By the time control reaches the `rename` check, `column` is absent (caught earlier), so `rename` present ⇒ table rename: `AlterTableAction::RenameTable { new: require_ident(path, "new_table_name")? }`. 7. **One undo step.** `do_rename_table` is one user mutation carrying a `source`, snapshotted by the worker `snapshot_then` hook (whole-project snapshot — db backup + yaml/csv copy), so a rename is exactly one `undo` step. Same wiring as every other `SqlAlterTable` action. 8. **Replay / history.** `finalize_persistence` appends the literal SQL line to `history.log`; `alter` is a schema-write entry word (not in the ADR-0034 Amd 1 app-lifecycle skip set), so the rename replays as a write with no replay-filter change. 9. **CHECK-text qualifier rewrite (§7 DA Finding 1).** A new helper `rewrite_check_table_qualifier(check_expr, old, new) -> String` rewrites every occurrence of the old table name **used as a qualifier** (immediately followed by `.`), in both the bare (`old.`) and quoted (`"old".`) forms, case-insensitively, **skipping string literals** — extending the 4e tokenizer that `check_references_column` already uses. A bare token equal to the old name but *not* followed by `.` (e.g. a column literally named like the table) is left untouched, so the common unqualified CHECK (`age > 0`) is a no-op. Applied in `do_rename_table` to every column-level `check_expr` (META) and every table-level `check_expr` (CHECK_TABLE) of the renamed table. Re-enters in advanced mode (ADR-0030 §11) — the rewritten text is still valid SQL the user could retype. 10. **Existence check is explicit (§7 DA Finding 2).** `read_schema` does **not** error on a missing table (`pragma_table_info` returns zero rows). The "no such table" guard uses an explicit `do_list_tables(conn)?.iter().any(|t| t == old)` check, not a reliance on `read_schema` failing. ## 3. Phase 1 — Requirements checklist (4h) ### Grammar / dispatch - [ ] `AlterTableAction` gains `RenameTable { new: String }`. - [ ] `NEW_TABLE_NAME` ident node (role `new_table_name`, `IdentSource::NewName`, `reject_internal_table` validator, `NEW_NAME_HINT`). - [ ] `AT_RENAME` = `Seq[rename, Choice[AT_RENAME_COLUMN_TAIL, AT_RENAME_TABLE_TAIL]]`; the two tails lead on distinct keywords (`column` / `to`). `AT_RENAME_COLUMN_TAIL` = `column to `; `AT_RENAME_TABLE_TAIL` = `to `. `AT_ACTION_CHOICES` swaps `AT_RENAME_COLUMN` → `AT_RENAME`. - [ ] `build_sql_alter_table` routes `rename` (no `column`) → `RenameTable`. - [ ] Existing four action branches still route (add/drop/rename/alter column, alter-column-type, add/drop constraint); trailing `;` tolerated; `alter` stays advanced-only; source table slot rejects `__rdbms_*` at parse (existing `AT_TABLE_NAME` validator); target slot rejects `__rdbms_*` at parse (new validator). ### Execution - [ ] `do_rename_table(conn, persistence, source, old, new)`: `reject_internal_table_name(old)` + `(new)`; **existence** — explicit `do_list_tables` contains `old` (→ friendly "no such table", *not* a reliance on `read_schema` erroring — §2.10); **same-name** (`old==new`) → friendly refusal; **existing-target** (`do_list_tables` contains `new`) → friendly "already exists" refusal (pre-empts the engine's own collision wording); tx: native `ALTER TABLE … RENAME TO` + the metadata UPDATEs (§2.3) **+ the CHECK-text rewrite** (§2.9, both META and CHECK_TABLE `check_expr`); `do_describe_table(conn, new)` for auto-show; `finalize_persistence` with the §2.2 `Changes`; `tx.commit()`. - [ ] `rewrite_check_table_qualifier` helper (§2.9) + its own unit tests (bare `T.age`→`U.age`; quoted `"T".age`→`"U".age`; case-insensitive; string literal `'T.x'` untouched; bare column named `T` untouched; unqualified `age > 0` unchanged). - [ ] Worker `Request::RenameTable { name, new, source, reply }`; `Database::rename_table(table, new, source)` method; handler arm wrapped in `snapshot_then` (one undo step). - [ ] `runtime.rs` `SqlAlterTable` match: `RenameTable { new }` → `database.rename_table(table, new, src)` mapped like the `RenameColumn` arm. - [ ] `app.rs` `build_translate_context`: `RenameTable { .. }` → `(Operation::RenameTable, Some(table), None)`. - [ ] `Operation::RenameTable` added; `keyword()` arm → `"rename table"`. ### Testing - [ ] **Tier 1** (`sql_alter_table_tests` in `ddl.rs`): parse `alter table T rename to U` → `RenameTable { new: "U" }`; `alter table T rename column a to b` still → `RenameColumn`; the other four actions still route; target `__rdbms_*` refused at parse. - [ ] **Tier 3** (`tests/sql_alter_table.rs` via `run_replay`): - rename a table **with rows** → the CSV follows (`data/.csv` present, `data/.csv` gone), data intact incl. a NULL. - rename an **FK parent** → relationship metadata `parent_table` updates; the child's FK still enforces (a violating child insert is rejected under the new name). - rename an **FK child** → `child_table` updates; FK still enforces. - rename a **self-referential** table → both ends update, no PK conflict on `REL_TABLE`. - rename a table with a **table-level CHECK** → `table_checks` rows follow; the CHECK still enforces. - rename a table with a **table-qualified CHECK** (both a column-level `CHECK (T.age > 0)` and a table-level `CHECK (T.a <> T.b)`) → the stored `check_expr` is rewritten to the new name, the CHECK still enforces, **and the project survives a fresh rebuild** (the precise §7 Finding-1 regression — without the rewrite, rebuild fails with "no such table T"). - rename a table with an **index** → index still present + functional (name unchanged, per the user decision). - **survives a fresh rebuild** — delete the `.db`, `rebuild` from `project.yaml`/CSV: the renamed table + all its metadata round-trip (the §6.4 fresh-rebuild discipline). - **one undo step**: rename, `undo`, the table is back under its old name with its rows/relationship/CHECK; `redo` reapplies. - **refusals**: rename to an existing other table; rename to the same name; rename to an `__rdbms_*` name (executor guard, in case the parse validator is bypassed by a synthesised command); rename a non-existent table. - [ ] **Catalog** lockstep + vocab audit for the refreshed `sql_alter_table` usage (now listing `rename to `); the wording stays engine-neutral. ## 4. Architecture & change list (file by file) - **`src/dsl/command.rs`**: `AlterTableAction::RenameTable { new: String }`. - **`src/dsl/grammar/ddl.rs`**: - `NEW_TABLE_NAME_IDENT` / `NEW_TABLE_NAME` nodes (≈ near `AT_RENAME_COLUMN`, mirroring `NEW_COLUMN_NAME` at line 501 + the `CREATE TABLE` name slot's `reject_internal_table` validator). - `AT_RENAME_COLUMN_TAIL` (the existing `column …` body minus the leading `rename`), `AT_RENAME_TABLE_TAIL` (`to `), `AT_RENAME_TAIL` (`Choice`), `AT_RENAME` (`Seq[rename, tail]`); swap into `AT_ACTION_CHOICES` (line 1998). - `build_sql_alter_table` (line 2131): the `rename` branch + doc-comment update (discrimination now `type → column → add → rename → drop`). - **`src/db.rs`**: - `Request::RenameTable` variant (the worker request enum, ≈452–650). - `Database::rename_table` method (mirror `rename_column`). - handler dispatch arm (≈ the `RenameColumn` arm) wrapped in `snapshot_then`. - `do_rename_table` executor (model: `do_rename_column` at 4314 + `do_drop_table` at 3227 for the persistence-cleanup shape). Uses an explicit `do_list_tables` existence/collision check (§2.10), not `read_schema`-erroring. - `rewrite_check_table_qualifier` helper near the 4e CHECK tokenizer (`check_references_column`, `db.rs:5489`); applied in `do_rename_table` to META + CHECK_TABLE `check_expr` (§2.9). - **`src/runtime.rs`**: `SqlAlterTable` inner match → `RenameTable` arm. - **`src/app.rs`**: `build_translate_context` inner match → `RenameTable` arm (≈1595). - **`src/friendly/translate.rs`**: `Operation::RenameTable` + `keyword()` arm `"rename table"`. - **`src/friendly/strings/en-US.yaml`**: add the `rename to ` line to the `sql_alter_table` usage; any new refusal-message keys (same-name / existing-target) — engine-neutral, vocab-audit-clean. (`parse.usage.sql_alter_table` / `help.ddl.sql_alter_table` keys already registered in `keys.rs`.) ## 5. Phase 2 — Candidate approaches (key forks) **Rename mechanism.** (M1) the engine's native `ALTER TABLE … RENAME TO` + manual metadata UPDATEs *(lead — structure-preserving, atomic, no data movement; the engine also rewrites child FK references in the live schema since `legacy_alter_table` is off by default)*. (M2) the ADR-0013 rebuild-table primitive (create new, copy rows, drop old) — *rejected* (heavyweight; rebuilds the whole table to change only its name; rename is not a structural change). (M3) drop + recreate — *rejected* (loses rows; absurd for a rename). **CSV persistence.** (R1) reuse `finalize_persistence` with `rewritten_tables=[new]` + `deleted_tables=[old]` *(lead — zero new machinery; re-serialises by the new name, deletes the old, handles empty-table-no-CSV for free)*. (R-alt) add a `Persistence::rename_table_data` + a `Changes.renamed_tables` field and `fs::rename` the file — *rejected* (new public method + new struct field for behaviour the existing rewrite+delete path already delivers; byte-copy buys nothing over re-serialisation since rows come from the db). (R3) leave the CSV under the old name and special-case the loader — *rejected* (breaks the `data/
.csv` invariant; confuses a human reading the project dir). **Grammar.** (G1) split `rename` into one branch with an inner `Choice` on the distinct second keyword (`column` / `to`) *(lead — the established §6.1 + 4g pattern; trap-safe)*. (G2) two sibling `rename`-led branches in `AT_ACTION_CHOICES` — *rejected* (the walker `Choice` does not backtrack between same-leading-keyword branches; this is exactly the 4g trap). (G3) make the `column` keyword optional and disambiguate purely in the builder — *rejected* (ambiguous grammar; the optional-keyword shape invites the same backtracking trap and muddies completion). **Target `__rdbms_*` refusal.** (V1) parse-time validator on the new-name slot (mirrors `CREATE TABLE`) **and** an executor guard *(lead — earliest feedback + defense in depth; the worker is directly reachable by synthesised commands/tests)*. (V2) executor guard only — *weaker* (loses the pre-submit `[ERR]` indicator the CREATE name slot gives). (V3) parse-only — *rejected* (a synthesised `RenameTable` command would slip a metadata-table rename past the guard). ## 6. Phase 3 — Selection **M1 + R1 + G1 + V1.** Satisfies every §3 item with the smallest faithful change: native rename is the one new low-level op §6 calls for; the CSV rename rides the existing rewrite+delete path (no new persistence surface); the grammar mirrors the trap-safe 4g restructure; the target gets the same parse-time `__rdbms_*` refusal as `CREATE TABLE` plus an executor guard. The same-name and existing-target refusals (user-confirmed / conventional) keep the surface honest; auto-named index *and* relationship names are left as-is per the ADR §6 scope and the user decision; and the CHECK-text rewrite (§2.9) keeps the stored metadata in step with the live schema so a fresh rebuild round-trips. ## 7. Devil's Advocate review of this plan **Planning `/runda` pass (2026-05-26) — three findings, all resolved:** - **Finding 1 (BLOCKING, resolved → rewrite).** CHECK-expression text drift: empirically confirmed that SQLite (3.48, `legacy_alter_table` off) rewrites a table-qualified column reference in the renamed table's *live* CHECK (`T.age`→`"U".age`), while the *stored* `check_expr` would stay `T.age` and break a fresh rebuild. The original plan was silent on it. **Resolved** by §2.9 (rewrite the stored CHECK text in both metadata tables), user-confirmed; bounded because a CHECK can only reference its own table; regression test added (§3). This is the exact class as the `50a889e` rebuild-metadata bug and the 4e column-CHECK drift — the `/runda` "probe, don't reason" pass earned its keep again. - **Finding 2 (correction, resolved).** `read_schema` does not error on a missing table; the existence/“no such table” guard is now an explicit `do_list_tables` check (§2.10). - **Finding 3 (consistency, resolved → leave stale).** Auto-named relationships embed the table name (`db.rs:5982`) exactly like auto- named indexes; both are left stale on rename per the user decision, with the UNIQUE/global-name collision caveat documented. - **Forks escalated?** All four genuine forks (same-name behaviour; auto-named-label handling; CHECK-text drift; relationship-vs-index consistency) were put to the user (2026-05-26) and answered. The conventional edges (existing-target refuse; FK-parent/child allowed; auto-show; target-name validation) are decided-and-noted with rationale, inviting correction. No silent autonomous design call. ✓ - **Grammar trap (the recurring 4g bite)?** The two `rename` tails lead on **distinct** keywords (`column` vs `to`) under one `rename` branch — exactly the §6.1 rule. A parse test for both tails + the four other actions guards it. ✓ - **New-name role collision?** The target binds a *distinct* role (`new_table_name`), so `require_ident` cannot confuse it with the `table_name` target slot. ✓ - **Fresh-rebuild metadata loss (the `50a889e` class)?** 4h changes metadata *values* (renames), not the schema — `do_rebuild_from_text` already wipes + repopulates META/REL/CHECK from yaml, and the yaml is rewritten under the new name by `schema_dirty`. A fresh-rebuild test is mandatory (§3) and is the precise probe for this class. ✓ - **Both relationship ends + self-ref?** Two UPDATEs (`parent_table`, `child_table`); a self-referential table updates both with no `REL_TABLE` PK `(child_table, child_column)` conflict (single row, `new` was not previously a child_table). Explicit self-ref test. ✓ - **CSV fidelity (NULL vs empty, empty tables)?** Re-serialised from the db, not byte-copied — NULL stays NULL; an empty renamed table writes no `.csv` and deletes `.csv` (the existing empty-→-delete rule). Test renames a table with a NULL cell. ✓ - **FK enforcement after rename?** `legacy_alter_table` is off, so the native rename rewrites child FK references in the live schema; the metadata UPDATE keeps `REL_TABLE` consistent; rebuild regenerates FK DDL from the updated metadata. Tests assert enforcement under the new name + a rebuild round-trip. ✓ - **Engine neutrality?** The same-name / existing-target refusals are authored engine-neutral ("table", "the database"); the native rename's own collision error is pre-empted by the explicit `do_list_tables` check so the engine wording never surfaces. Vocab audit + catalog lockstep guard it. ✓ - **One undo step?** One executor call = one `snapshot_then` = one whole-project snapshot. e2e undo/redo test. ✓ - **Anything dropped?** Auto-named index refresh (out of scope, user decision, noted as a possible 4i/follow-up). No silent drops. ## 8. Implementation sequence (test-first) 1. **Command + Operation + grammar + builder.** Add `RenameTable` variant, `Operation::RenameTable`, the `NEW_TABLE_NAME` node + the `AT_RENAME` split, the builder branch. Tier-1 parse tests (rename-table vs rename-column dispatch; the four other actions; target `__rdbms_*` refusal) → red, then exhaustive arms (compiler finds `runtime.rs` / `app.rs` / `keyword()`) → green (parse only). 2. **CHECK-text rewrite helper.** `rewrite_check_table_qualifier` (§2.9) with unit tests first (bare/quoted/case/string-literal/bare-column/ unqualified) → red → green. Isolated, lands before the executor uses it. 3. **Executor + worker wiring.** `do_rename_table` (explicit existence check; metadata UPDATEs; the CHECK-text rewrite over META + CHECK_TABLE), `Request::RenameTable`, `Database::rename_table`, the `snapshot_then` handler arm, the `runtime.rs` + `app.rs` arms. Tier-3 e2e (rows/CSV, FK parent, FK child, self-ref, table-CHECK, **table-qualified CHECK + fresh rebuild** (the Finding-1 regression), index, fresh rebuild, undo/redo, all four refusals) → red where they exercise new behaviour, then green. 4. **Catalog + docs.** Refresh `sql_alter_table` usage (`rename to`); add refusal-message keys; ADR-0035 Status + §13 4h; README; `requirements.md` `Q1`/`C1` — all lockstep. 5. **Full sweep.** `cargo test` (no regression from 1885) + `cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings`. 6. **Finished-slice `/runda`** (per handoff §7 — budget at least one, covering 4h; it found the rebuild bug last session). Fix anything it surfaces, re-green. 7. **Commit proposal** — propose the message, wait for approval. No AI attribution. (Push is the user's step.) ## 9. Exit gate - All §3 items satisfied; all tiers green, zero skips; no regression from 1885; written-DA / `/runda` PASS; clippy clean; ADR-0035 §13 4h + README + `requirements.md` lockstep. After 4h, only **4i** (the verification sweep) remains to complete Phase 4.