<!-- $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/dropdb.sgml,v 1.18 2002/09/21 18:32:54 petere Exp $ PostgreSQL documentation --> <refentry id="APP-DROPDB"> <refmeta> <refentrytitle id="APP-DROPDB-TITLE"><application>dropdb</application></refentrytitle> <manvolnum>1</manvolnum> <refmiscinfo>Application</refmiscinfo> </refmeta> <refnamediv> <refname>dropdb</refname> <refpurpose>remove a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database</refpurpose> </refnamediv> <refsynopsisdiv> <cmdsynopsis> <command>dropdb</command> <arg rep="repeat"><replaceable>options</replaceable></arg> <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>dbname</replaceable></arg> </cmdsynopsis> </refsynopsisdiv> <refsect1> <title>Description</title> <para> <application>dropdb</application> destroys an existing <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database. The user who executes this command must be a database superuser or the owner of the database. </para> <para> <application>dropdb</application> is a shell script wrapper around the <acronym>SQL</acronym> command <xref linkend="SQL-DROPDATABASE" endterm="SQL-DROPDATABASE-title"> via the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> interactive terminal <xref linkend="APP-PSQL">. Thus, there is nothing special about dropping databases via this or other methods. This means that the <application>psql</application> must be found by the script and that a database server is running at the targeted host. Also, any default settings and environment variables available to <application>psql</application> and the <application>libpq</application> front-end library do apply. </para> </refsect1> <refsect1> <title>Options</title> <variablelist> <varlistentry> <term><option>-h <replaceable class="parameter">host</replaceable></></term> <term><option>--host <replaceable class="parameter">host</replaceable></></term> <listitem> <para> Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. If host begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix domain socket. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term><option>-p <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></></term> <term><option>--port <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></></term> <listitem> <para> Specifies the Internet TCP/IP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term><option>-U <replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></></term> <term><option>--username <replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></></term> <listitem> <para> User name to connect as </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term><option>-W</></term> <term><option>--password</></term> <listitem> <para> Force password prompt. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term><option>-e</></term> <term><option>--echo</></term> <listitem> <para> Echo the queries that <application>dropdb</application> generates and sends to the server. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term><option>-q</></term> <term><option>--quiet</></term> <listitem> <para> Do not display a response. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term><option>-i</></term> <term><option>--interactive</></term> <listitem> <para> Issues a verification prompt before doing anything destructive. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term><replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable></term> <listitem> <para> Specifies the name of the database to be removed. The database must be one of the existing <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> databases in this installation. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> <para> The options <literal>-h</literal>, <literal>-p</literal>, <literal>-U</literal>, <literal>-W</literal>, and <literal>-e</literal> are passed on literally to <xref linkend="APP-PSQL">. </para> </refsect1> <refsect1> <title>Diagnostics</title> <variablelist> <varlistentry> <term><computeroutput>DROP DATABASE</computeroutput></term> <listitem> <para>The database was successfully removed.</para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term><computeroutput>dropdb: Database removal failed.</computeroutput></term> <listitem> <para>Something didn't work out.</para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> <para> If there is an error condition, the backend error message will be displayed. See <xref linkend="SQL-DROPDATABASE" endterm="SQL-DROPDATABASE-title"> and <xref linkend="APP-PSQL"> for possibilities. </para> </refsect1> <refsect1> <title>Environment</title> <variablelist> <varlistentry> <term><envar>PGHOST</envar></term> <term><envar>PGPORT</envar></term> <term><envar>PGUSER</envar></term> <listitem> <para> Default connection parameters </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> </refsect1> <refsect1 id="R1-APP-DROPDB-2"> <title>Examples</title> <para> To destroy the database <literal>demo</literal> on the default database server: <screen> <prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>dropdb demo</userinput> <computeroutput>DROP DATABASE</computeroutput> </screen> </para> <para> To destroy the database <literal>demo</literal> using the server on host <literal>eden</literal>, port 5000, with verification and a peek at the underlying query: <screen> <prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>dropdb -p 5000 -h eden -i -e demo</userinput> <computeroutput>Database "demo" will be permanently deleted. Are you sure? (y/n) </computeroutput><userinput>y</userinput> <computeroutput>DROP DATABASE "demo" DROP DATABASE</computeroutput> </screen> </para> </refsect1> <refsect1> <title>See Also</title> <simplelist type="inline"> <member><xref linkend="app-createdb"></member> <member><xref linkend="sql-dropdatabase" endterm="sql-dropdatabase-title"></member> </simplelist> </refsect1> </refentry> <!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file Local variables: mode: sgml sgml-omittag:nil 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: -->