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PostgreSQL 8.2.23 Documentation
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DROP TABLE

Name

DROP TABLE -- remove a table

Synopsis

DROP TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name [, ...] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]

Description

DROP TABLE removes tables from the database. Only its owner may destroy a table. To empty a table of rows without destroying the table, use DELETE or TRUNCATE.

DROP TABLE always removes any indexes, rules, triggers, and constraints that exist for the target table. However, to drop a table that is referenced by a view or a foreign-key constraint of another table, CASCADE must be specified. (CASCADE will remove a dependent view entirely, but in the foreign-key case it will only remove the foreign-key constraint, not the other table entirely.)

Parameters

IF EXISTS: Do not throw an error if the table does not exist. A notice is issued in this case.
name: The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to drop.
CASCADE: Automatically drop objects that depend on the table (such as views).
RESTRICT: Refuse to drop the table if any objects depend on it. This is the default.

Examples

To destroy two tables, films and distributors:

DROP TABLE films, distributors;

Compatibility

This command conforms to the SQL standard, except that the standard only allows one table to be dropped per command, and apart from the IF EXISTS option, which is a PostgreSQL extension.

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