How do you use the ALTER FULLTEXT INDEX statement to modify an existing full-text index?
JackBrn
Posted by JackBrn
Last Updated: July 06, 2024
SQL Fulltext
The ALTER FULLTEXT INDEX statement in SQL Server is used to modify existing full-text indexes. This includes operations like enabling or disabling the index, changing the configurations related to the indexed columns, or altering the associated catalog. Here is the basic syntax to use ALTER FULLTEXT INDEX: 
ALTER FULLTEXT INDEX ON table_name
    {ENABLE|DISABLE}
    {WITH {CHANGE_TRACKING = {AUTO|MANUAL|OFF}}
    |REBUILD
    |DROPPOPULATED
    |SET CHANGE_TRACKING = {AUTO|MANUAL|OFF}}
Breakdown of Components:
1. ENABLE | DISABLE: - ENABLE: Activates the existing full-text index, making it available for queries. - DISABLE: Deactivates the existing full-text index, making it unavailable for queries. 2. WITH CHANGE_TRACKING: - Allows specifying how the full-text index updates are tracked: - AUTO: Automatically tracks changes to the underlying table. - MANUAL: Requires explicit commands to update the full-text index. - OFF: No change tracking is performed. 3. REBUILD: - This option is used to completely rebuild the full-text index, which can be necessary if there have been many changes to the data and performance has suffered. 4. DROPPOPULATED: - This option drops the populated full-text index data but keeps the index structure. You might use this option if you want to repopulate the index later. 5. SET CHANGE_TRACKING: - Modifies how change tracking is applied to the existing index without having to drop and recreate it.
Example Usage:
Here is an example of how to enable a full-text index and specify the change tracking: 
ALTER FULLTEXT INDEX ON MyTable ENABLE WITH CHANGE_TRACKING = AUTO;
And another example to rebuild the full-text index: 
ALTER FULLTEXT INDEX ON MyTable REBUILD;
Note:
- Make sure that any changes made to the full-text index are appropriate for your application's performance and data integrity requirements. - Always test changes in a development environment before applying them in production to ensure they do not introduce any unintended issues. By using these commands, you can manage your full-text indexes efficiently to maintain the performance of full-text searches on your SQL Server.
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