130 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
130 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
<!--
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doc/src/sgml/ref/drop_table.sgml
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PostgreSQL documentation
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-->
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<refentry id="sql-droptable">
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<indexterm zone="sql-droptable">
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<primary>DROP TABLE</primary>
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</indexterm>
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<refmeta>
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<refentrytitle>DROP TABLE</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
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<refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
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</refmeta>
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<refnamediv>
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<refname>DROP TABLE</refname>
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<refpurpose>remove a table</refpurpose>
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</refnamediv>
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<refsynopsisdiv>
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<synopsis>
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DROP TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable> [, ...] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]
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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>DROP TABLE</command> removes tables from the database.
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Only the table owner, the schema owner, and superuser can drop a
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table. To empty a table of rows
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without destroying the table, use <link linkend="sql-delete"><command>DELETE</command></link>
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or <link linkend="sql-truncate"><command>TRUNCATE</command></link>.
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</para>
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<para>
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<command>DROP TABLE</command> always removes any indexes, rules,
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triggers, and constraints that exist for the target table.
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However, to drop a table that is referenced by a view or a foreign-key
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constraint of another table, <literal>CASCADE</literal> must be
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specified. (<literal>CASCADE</literal> will remove a dependent view entirely,
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but in the foreign-key case it will only remove the foreign-key
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constraint, not the other table entirely.)
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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>IF EXISTS</literal></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Do not throw an error if the table does not exist. A notice is issued
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in this case.
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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">name</replaceable></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to drop.
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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><literal>CASCADE</literal></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Automatically drop objects that depend on the table (such as
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views),
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and in turn all objects that depend on those objects
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(see <xref linkend="ddl-depend"/>).
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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><literal>RESTRICT</literal></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Refuse to drop the table if any objects depend on it. This is
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the default.
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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>Examples</title>
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<para>
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To destroy two tables, <literal>films</literal> and
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<literal>distributors</literal>:
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<programlisting>
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DROP TABLE films, distributors;
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</programlisting></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 SQL standard, except that the standard only
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allows one table to be dropped per command, and apart from the
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<literal>IF EXISTS</literal> option, which is a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
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extension.
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</para>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>See Also</title>
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<simplelist type="inline">
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<member><xref linkend="sql-altertable"/></member>
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<member><xref linkend="sql-createtable"/></member>
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</simplelist>
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</refsect1>
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</refentry>
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