<REFENTRY ID="SQL-DROPTABLE"> <REFMETA> <REFENTRYTITLE> DROP TABLE </REFENTRYTITLE> <REFMISCINFO>SQL - Language Statements</REFMISCINFO> </REFMETA> <REFNAMEDIV> <REFNAME> DROP TABLE </REFNAME> <REFPURPOSE> Removes existing tables from a database </REFPURPOSE> </refnamediv> <REFSYNOPSISDIV> <REFSYNOPSISDIVINFO> <DATE>1998-09-22</DATE> </REFSYNOPSISDIVINFO> <SYNOPSIS> DROP TABLE <REPLACEABLE CLASS="PARAMETER">table</REPLACEABLE> [, ...] </SYNOPSIS> <REFSECT2 ID="R2-SQL-DROPTABLE-1"> <REFSECT2INFO> <DATE>1998-09-22</DATE> </REFSECT2INFO> <TITLE> Inputs </TITLE> <PARA> </PARA> <VARIABLELIST> <VARLISTENTRY> <TERM> <ReturnValue><REPLACEABLE CLASS="PARAMETER">table</REPLACEABLE></ReturnValue> </TERM> <LISTITEM> <PARA> The name of an existing table or view to drop. </PARA> </LISTITEM> </VARLISTENTRY> </variablelist> </REFSECT2> <REFSECT2 ID="R2-SQL-DROPTABLE-2"> <REFSECT2INFO> <DATE>1998-09-22</DATE> </REFSECT2INFO> <TITLE> Outputs </TITLE> <PARA> <VARIABLELIST> <VARLISTENTRY> <TERM> <ReturnValue>DROP</ReturnValue> </TERM> <LISTITEM> <PARA> The message returned if the command completes successfully. </PARA> </LISTITEM> </VARLISTENTRY> <VARLISTENTRY> <TERM> <ReturnValue> ERROR Relation "<replaceable class="parameter">table</replaceable>" Does Not Exist!</ReturnValue> </TERM> <LISTITEM> <PARA> If the specified table or view does not exist in the database. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </VARIABLELIST> </para> </REFSECT2> </REFSYNOPSISDIV> <REFSECT1 ID="R1-SQL-DROPTABLE-1"> <REFSECT1INFO> <DATE>1998-09-22</DATE> </REFSECT1INFO> <TITLE> Description </TITLE> <PARA> <command>DROP TABLE</command> removes tables and views from the database. Only its owner may destroy a table or view. A table may be emptied of rows, but not destroyed, by using <command>DELETE</command>. </PARA> <PARA> If a table being destroyed has secondary indexes on it, they will be removed first. The removal of just a secondary index will not affect the contents of the underlying table. </PARA> <REFSECT2 ID="R2-SQL-DROPTABLE-3"> <REFSECT2INFO> <DATE>1998-09-22</DATE> </REFSECT2INFO> <TITLE> Notes </TITLE> <PARA> Refer to <command>CREATE TABLE</command> and <command>ALTER TABLE</command> for information on how to create or modify tables. </PARA> </REFSECT2> </refsect1> <REFSECT1 ID="R1-SQL-DROPTABLE-2"> <TITLE> Usage </TITLE> <PARA> To destroy the <literal>films</literal> and <command>distributors</command> tables: </PARA> <ProgramListing> DROP TABLE films, distributors </ProgramListing> </REFSECT1> <REFSECT1 ID="R1-SQL-DROPTABLE-3"> <TITLE> Compatibility </TITLE> <PARA> </PARA> <REFSECT2 ID="R2-SQL-DROPTABLE-4"> <REFSECT2INFO> <DATE>1998-09-22</DATE> </REFSECT2INFO> <TITLE> SQL92 </TITLE> <PARA> SQL92 specifies some additional capabilities for DROP TABLE: </PARA> <synopsis> DROP TABLE <replaceable class="parameter">table</replaceable> { RESTRICT | CASCADE } </synopsis> <variablelist> <varlistentry> <term>RESTRICT</term> <listitem> <para> Ensures that only a table with no dependent views or integrity constraints can be destroyed. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>CASCADE</term> <listitem> <para> Any referencing views or integrity constraints will also be dropped. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> <tip> <para> At present, to remove a referenced view you must drop it explicitly. </para> </tip> </refsect2> </refsect1> </REFENTRY> <!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file Local variables: mode: sgml sgml-omittag:t sgml-shorttag:t sgml-minimize-attributes:nil sgml-always-quote-attributes:t sgml-indent-step:1 sgml-indent-data:t sgml-parent-document:nil sgml-default-dtd-file:"../reference.ced" sgml-exposed-tags:nil sgml-local-catalogs:"/usr/lib/sgml/catalog" sgml-local-ecat-files:nil End: -->