Re: ITYM DROP TABLE

Excerpts from David E. Wheeler's message of lun jun 13 17:44:05 -0400 2011:
> I was reading the partitioning docs when I spotted this. I think it means to highlight the advantages of DROP TABLE over DELETE rather than ALTER TABLE.

I think the point of the existing wording is to point out
ALTER TABLE / NO INHERIT. I wonder if it's worth expanding the text to
mention both, such as

--- a/doc/src/sgml/ddl.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ddl.sgml
@@ -2320,7 +2320,9 @@ VALUES ('New York', NULL, NULL, 'NY');
<para>
Bulk loads and deletes can be accomplished by adding or removing
partitions, if that requirement is planned into the partitioning design.
- <command>ALTER TABLE</> is far faster than a bulk operation.
+ <command>ALTER TABLE</> (to split out a sub-table from the partitioned
+ table) and <command>DROP TABLE</> (to remove a partition altogether) are
+ both far faster than a bulk operation.
It also entirely avoids the <command>VACUUM</command>
overhead caused by a bulk <command>DELETE</>.
</para>

However, this introductory text is supposed to be very brief; maybe we
should remove mention of specific commands here.

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Álvaro Herrera <alvherre(at)commandprompt(dot)com>
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