PostgreSQL 8.4.16 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 can drop 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.

## See Also

ALTER TABLE, CREATE TABLE

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