trinodb/trino

Support `IF NOT EXISTS` clause in `CREATE VIEW` statement.

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#28076 opened on Feb 2, 2026

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 (1 comment) (1 reaction) (0 assignees)Java (9,113 stars) (2,678 forks)batch import
enhancementgood first issue

Description

IF NOT EXISTS is supported in CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW, but not for CREATE VIEW

https://github.com/trinodb/trino/blob/6dafeebd711564a42a5e9556dd3803ce652d56d8/core/trino-grammar/src/main/antlr4/io/trino/grammar/sql/SqlBase.g4#L106-L115

there is IMO no reason not to support IF NOT EXISTS in CREATE VIEW as well

cc @martint

Contributor guide

Tech stack
java
Domain
database
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
JavaANTLR grammarTrino project setup
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
85
Research direction
The issue points to a specific grammar file: core/trino grammar/src/main/antlr4/io/trino/grammar/sql/SqlBase.g4, where lines 106-115 show the existing support for CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW. The same pattern should be applied to CREATE VIEW. After modifying the grammar, regenerate the parser and check if any visitor or AST classes need updates. Look for similar implementations in the codebase (e.g., how CREATE VIEW is parsed now) to ensure consistency. Finally, add or update tests for the new syntax.