1999-07-22 17:09:15 +02:00
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$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/delete.sgml,v 1.27 2006/08/12 02:52:03 tgl Exp $
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2001-12-08 04:24:40 +01:00
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PostgreSQL documentation
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1999-07-22 17:09:15 +02:00
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-->
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1999-07-06 19:16:42 +02:00
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<refentry id="SQL-DELETE">
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<refmeta>
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<refentrytitle id="SQL-DELETE-TITLE">DELETE</refentrytitle>
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<refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
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</refmeta>
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2003-04-27 01:56:51 +02:00
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<refnamediv>
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<refname>DELETE</refname>
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<refpurpose>delete rows of a table</refpurpose>
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</refnamediv>
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<indexterm zone="sql-delete">
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<primary>DELETE</primary>
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</indexterm>
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<refsynopsisdiv>
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<synopsis>
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DELETE FROM [ ONLY ] <replaceable class="PARAMETER">table</replaceable> [ [ AS ] <replaceable class="parameter">alias</replaceable> ]
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[ USING <replaceable class="PARAMETER">usinglist</replaceable> ]
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[ WHERE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">condition</replaceable> ]
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[ RETURNING * | <replaceable class="parameter">output_expression</replaceable> [ AS <replaceable class="parameter">output_name</replaceable> ] [, ...] ]
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</synopsis>
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</refsynopsisdiv>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Description</title>
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<para>
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<command>DELETE</command> deletes rows that satisfy the
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<literal>WHERE</literal> clause from the specified table. If the
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<literal>WHERE</literal> clause is absent, the effect is to delete
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all rows in the table. The result is a valid, but empty table.
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</para>
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1999-10-01 17:24:46 +02:00
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<tip>
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<para>
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1999-10-04 06:37:46 +02:00
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<xref linkend="sql-truncate" endterm="sql-truncate-title"> is a
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<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extension that provides a
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faster mechanism to remove all rows from a table.
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</para>
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</tip>
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2000-06-09 03:44:34 +02:00
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<para>
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By default, <command>DELETE</command> will delete rows in the
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specified table and all its child tables. If you wish to delete only
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from the specific table mentioned, you must use the
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<literal>ONLY</literal> clause.
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</para>
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<para>
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There are two ways to delete rows in a table using information
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contained in other tables in the database: using sub-selects, or
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specifying additional tables in the <literal>USING</literal> clause.
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Which technique is more appropriate depends on the specific
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circumstances.
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</para>
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<para>
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The optional <literal>RETURNING</> clause causes <command>DELETE</>
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to compute and return value(s) based on each row actually deleted.
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Any expression using the table's columns, and/or columns of other
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tables mentioned in <literal>USING</literal>, can be computed.
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The syntax of the <literal>RETURNING</> list is identical to that of the
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output list of <command>SELECT</>.
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</para>
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<para>
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You must have the <literal>DELETE</literal> privilege on the table
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to delete from it, as well as the <literal>SELECT</literal>
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privilege for any table in the <literal>USING</literal> clause or
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whose values are read in the <replaceable
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class="parameter">condition</replaceable>.
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</para>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Parameters</title>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><literal>ONLY</></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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If specified, delete rows from the named table only. When not
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specified, any tables inheriting from the named table are also processed.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><replaceable class="parameter">table</replaceable></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing table.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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2006-01-22 06:20:35 +01:00
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<varlistentry>
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<term><replaceable class="parameter">alias</replaceable></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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A substitute name for the target table. When an alias is
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provided, it completely hides the actual name of the table. For
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example, given <literal>DELETE FROM foo AS f</>, the remainder
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of the <command>DELETE</command> statement must refer to this
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table as <literal>f</> not <literal>foo</>.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">usinglist</replaceable></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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A list of table expressions, allowing columns from other tables
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to appear in the <literal>WHERE</> condition. This is similar
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to the list of tables that can be specified in the <xref
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linkend="sql-from" endterm="sql-from-title"> of a
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<command>SELECT</command> statement; for example, an alias for
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the table name can be specified. Do not repeat the target table
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in the <replaceable class="PARAMETER">usinglist</replaceable>,
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unless you wish to set up a self-join.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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An expression returning a value of type
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<type>boolean</type>, which determines the rows that are to be
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deleted.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">output_expression</replaceable></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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An expression to be computed and returned by the <command>DELETE</>
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command after each row is deleted. The expression may use any
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column names of the <replaceable class="PARAMETER">table</replaceable>
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or table(s) listed in <literal>USING</>.
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Write <literal>*</> to return all columns.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">output_name</replaceable></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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A name to use for a returned column.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Outputs</title>
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<para>
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On successful completion, a <command>DELETE</> command returns a command
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tag of the form
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<screen>
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DELETE <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable>
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</screen>
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The <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable> is the number
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of rows deleted. If <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable> is
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0, no rows matched the <replaceable
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class="parameter">condition</replaceable> (this is not considered
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an error).
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</para>
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<para>
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If the <command>DELETE</> command contains a <literal>RETURNING</>
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clause, the result will be similar to that of a <command>SELECT</>
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statement containing the columns and values defined in the
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<literal>RETURNING</> list, computed over the row(s) deleted by the
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command.
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</para>
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</refsect1>
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2005-01-09 06:57:45 +01:00
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<refsect1>
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<title>Notes</title>
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<para>
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<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> lets you reference columns of
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other tables in the <literal>WHERE</> condition by specifying the
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other tables in the <literal>USING</literal> clause. For example,
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to delete all films produced by a given producer, one might do
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<programlisting>
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DELETE FROM films USING producers
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WHERE producer_id = producers.id AND producers.name = 'foo';
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</programlisting>
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What is essentially happening here is a join between <structname>films</>
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and <structname>producers</>, with all successfully joined
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<structname>films</> rows being marked for deletion.
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This syntax is not standard. A more standard way to do it is
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<programlisting>
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DELETE FROM films
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WHERE producer_id IN (SELECT id FROM producers WHERE name = 'foo');
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</programlisting>
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In some cases the join style is easier to write or faster to
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execute than the sub-select style.
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</para>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Examples</title>
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<para>
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Delete all films but musicals:
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<programlisting>
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DELETE FROM films WHERE kind <> 'Musical';
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</programlisting>
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</para>
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1998-09-01 17:53:09 +02:00
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<para>
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Clear the table <literal>films</literal>:
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<programlisting>
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DELETE FROM films;
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</programlisting>
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</para>
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<para>
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Delete completed tasks, returning full details of the deleted rows:
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<programlisting>
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DELETE FROM tasks WHERE status = 'DONE' RETURNING *;
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</programlisting>
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</para>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Compatibility</title>
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<para>
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This command conforms to the <acronym>SQL</acronym> standard, except
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that the <literal>USING</literal> and <literal>RETURNING</> clauses
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are <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extensions.
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</para>
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</refsect1>
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</refentry>
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<!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file
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Local variables:
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mode: sgml
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sgml-omittag:nil
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sgml-shorttag:t
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sgml-minimize-attributes:nil
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sgml-always-quote-attributes:t
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sgml-indent-step:1
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sgml-indent-data:t
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sgml-parent-document:nil
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sgml-default-dtd-file:"../reference.ced"
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sgml-exposed-tags:nil
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sgml-local-catalogs:"/usr/lib/sgml/catalog"
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sgml-local-ecat-files:nil
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End:
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-->
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