It seems that this is not specific to Hive, but more reproduceable with Hive because Hive queries take much longer to complete.

The following scenario is reproduceable in my Hive database:

1. Goto Query Analyzer and execute a select on a table with a large number of columns. I used the Automate/Introduce columns to select all columns. This type of query usually take a long time to execute in my MapR distribution of Hive 0.90.
2. While the query is executing
   • Do Alter Table on this table from the schema tree.
   • Add a new int column and Save.

The Save will cause ADS to become blocked, not able to respond to user inputs. It is blocked inside the CommonSchemaTab.onOK() method, waiting for the executeUpdate() to complete.

A possible fix is in onOK(), spawn a background thread to do the processing, and exit the onOK() method without waiting for the background thread. When the background processing is done, it should close the Alter Table dialog if successful, or update the controls and messages if not successful.

Based on the conversation with Sachin, this has not been an issue for customers. So will move it to a future release, or until we know this is an actual issue that our customers experience.