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PostgreSQL 8.1.4 Documentation
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DROP TABLE

Name

DROP TABLE -- remove a table

Synopsis

DROP TABLE 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.

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

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.

See Also

ALTER TABLE, CREATE TABLE
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