postgresql/doc/src/sgml/ref/drop_database.sgml

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Postgres documentation
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<refentry id="SQL-DROPDATABASE">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle id="SQL-DROPDATABASE-TITLE">
   DROP DATABASE
  </refentrytitle>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>
 <refnamediv>
  <refname>
   DROP DATABASE
  </refname>
  <refpurpose>
   Removes an existing database
  </refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>
 <refsynopsisdiv>
  <refsynopsisdivinfo>
   <date>1999-12-11</date>
  </refsynopsisdivinfo>
  <synopsis>
DROP DATABASE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable>
  </synopsis>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-DROPDATABASE-1">
   <refsect2info>
    <date>1999-12-11</date>
   </refsect2info>
   <title>
    Inputs
   </title>
   <para>
    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The name of an existing database to remove.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-DROPDATABASE-2">
   <refsect2info>
    <date>1999-12-11</date>
   </refsect2info>
   <title>
    Outputs
   </title>
   <para>

    <variablelist>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>DROP DATABASE</computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	This message is returned if the command is successful.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>ERROR:  user '<replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable>' is not allowed to create/drop databases</computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        You must have the special CREATEDB privilege to drop databases.
        See <xref linkend="SQL-CREATEUSER" endterm="SQL-CREATEUSER-title">.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>ERROR:  dropdb: cannot be executed on the template database</computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The <literal>template1</literal> database cannot be removed. It's not in
        your interest.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>ERROR:  dropdb: cannot be executed on an open database</computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        You cannot be connected to the database your are about to remove.
        Instead, you could connect to <literal>template1</literal> or any other
        database and run this command again.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>ERROR:  dropdb: database '<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>' does not exist</computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	This message occurs if the specified database does not exist.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>ERROR:  dropdb: database '<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>' is not owned by you</computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        You must be the owner of the database. Being the owner usually means that
        you created it as well.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>ERROR:  dropdb: May not be called in a transaction block.</computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        You must finish the transaction in progress before you can call this command.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>NOTICE:  The database directory 'xxx' could not be removed.</computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The database was dropped (unless other error messages came up), but the
        directory where the data is stored could not be removed. You must delete
        it manually.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsynopsisdiv>
 
 <refsect1 id="R1-SQL-DROPDATABASE-1">
  <refsect1info>
   <date>1999-12-11</date>
  </refsect1info>
  <title>
   Description
  </title>
  <para>
   <command>DROP DATABASE</command> removes the catalog entries for an existing
   database and deletes the directory containing the data.
   It can only be executed by the database owner (usually the user that created
   it).
  </para>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-DROPDATABASE-3">
   <refsect2info>
    <date>1999-12-11</date>
   </refsect2info>
   <title>
    Notes
   </title>

   <para>
    This command cannot be executed while connected to the target
    database. Thus, it might be more convenient to use the shell
    script <xref linkend="app-dropdb" endterm="app-dropdb-title">,
    which is a wrapper around this command, instead.
   </para>

   <para>
    Refer to
    <xref linkend="sql-createdatabase" endterm="sql-createdatabase-title">
    for information on how to create a database.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="R1-SQL-DROPDATABASE-3">
  <title>
   Compatibility
  </title>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-DROPDATABASE-4">
   <refsect2info>
    <date>1998-04-15</date>
   </refsect2info>
   <title>
    SQL92
   </title>

   <para>
    <command>DROP DATABASE</command> statement is a
    <productname>Postgres</productname> language extension;
    there is no such command in <acronym>SQL92</acronym>.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

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