Updating pg_attribute to change field's data type from integer to bigint on very large table

[Jeff Adams <jeff.adams@xxxxxxxx>]

Greetings,

I have a very large table (approximately 1 billion records). I need to change a field's data type from integer to bigint. I started up an ALTER TABLE approach yesterday and it is still running (trying to rewrite the whole table?). I remember seeing mention of being able to do this in the pg_attribute table. Has anybody ever used the latter approach. If so, instructions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks...

Jeff