Question: I am having problems renaming a column in SQL Server Compact Edition. I know that you can rename a table using `sp_rename`, but this doesn't work with columns.

I've searched for an alternative, but haven't found one. 

Can I delete a column and then add a new one after a specific column? If I delete the column and add it after the a specified one the data would be lost right?

It seems that once you have created the table it can't be properly modified - is this another of the limitations of SQLCE?

Answer: 
~~sp\_rename works with columns too:~~

```
EXEC sp_rename
objname = '< Table Name.Old Column Name >',
@newname = '<New Column Name>',
@objtype = 'COLUMN'  

```

Example: 

```
SP_RENAME 'MyTable.[MyOldColumnName]' , '[MyNewColumnName]', 'COLUMN'  

```
SDF Viewer has this function built in, you can also rename indexes, keys and relationships. Just right click on the name you want to change in the database treeview.