Assume the following table definition.
CREATE TABLE t1 ( i INTEGER, d DATE) PRIMARY INDEX (i) PARTITION BY RANGE_N(d BETWEEN DATE '2000-01-01' AND DATE '2000-12-31' EACH INTERVAL '1' MONTH);
The following ALTER TABLE request is valid. After the EACH clause is expanded, t1 has 12 existing ranges of one month each. The DROP RANGE operation is an attempt to drop a single four-month range that covers 4 of the existing one-month ranges. The system accepts this as a valid request to drop the 4 ranges within the range specified by the DROP clause.
ALTER TABLE t1 MODIFY DROP RANGE BETWEEN DATE '2000-01-01' AND DATE '2000-04-30' WITH DELETE;
The new partitioning expression for t1 after this ALTER TABLE request completes is the following.
RANGE_N(d BETWEEN DATE '2000-05-01' AND DATE '2000-12-31' EACH INTERVAL '1' MONTH)
If table t1 were column-partitioned and named t1_cp , the preceding row-partitioned table example would have the same effect.