guys, just wanna change value of 1 existing column # insert into tablename (columnname) values ('value'); ...works # select columnname from tablename where columnname='value'; ...works # insert into tablename (columnname) values ('value') select columnname from tablename where columnname='value'; or # insert into tablename (columnname) values ('value') where columnname='value'; ...combinations don't work # alter table tablename alter column columnname set value='value'; ...doesn't work either embarrassingly simple? pgadmin III thinks so jzs http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.1/static/sql-insert.html http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.0/static/sql-altertable.html