PreparedStatement puts ticks around strings when doing ALTER statement

Question

Hi,
I am trying to add a column to a table with a prepared statement:
private static final String ALTER_TABLE = "ALTER TABLE scene_tags ADD ? BOOL DEFAULT FALSE";
addNewTagCol = conn.prepareStatement(ALTER_TABLE);
addNewTagCol.setString(1, newTagName.getText());
addNewTagCol.executeUpdate();
When I execute this in java I get a syntax error from mySQL:
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ''dd' BOOL DEFAULT FALSE' at line 1
If I do:
System.out.println(addNewTagCol.toString());
I get:
ALTER TABLE scene_tags ADD 'dd' BOOL DEFAULT FALSE
The probem is the 'dd' which should be just dd.
If I copy this into the command line it doesn't like the 'dd'.
How do I stop the ticks ticking?
Thanks,
John

Answer 1

Personally, I don't think that CREATE and ALTER statements should be executed in Java.
The schema is usually in place when a Java app starts. The application then performs CRUD operations on a well-defined, static schema. Changing the schema means changing the application, something that you shouldn't be doing on the fly.
If you think you have to alter a table in a Java app, I'm betting that you have a bad design that needs rethinking.
Unless you're trying to write an admin tool from scratch, of course. In that case I'd refer you to an admin tool like SQL Squirrel.
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