DROP TABLE

This statement drops a table from the currently selected database. An error is returned if the table does not exist, unless the IF EXISTS modifier is used.

Synopsis

DropTableStmt ::=
    'DROP' OptTemporary TableOrTables IfExists TableNameList RestrictOrCascadeOpt

OptTemporary ::=
    ( 'TEMPORARY' | ('GLOBAL' 'TEMPORARY') )?

TableOrTables ::=
    'TABLE'
|   'TABLES'

TableNameList ::=
    TableName ( ',' TableName )*

Drop temporary tables

You can use the following syntax to drop ordinary tables and temporary tables:

• Use DROP TEMPORARY TABLE to drop local temporary tables.
• Use DROP GLOBAL TEMPORARY TABLE to drop global temporary tables.
• Use DROP TABLE to drop ordinary tables or temporary tables.

Examples

mysql> CREATE TABLE t1 (a INT);
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.11 sec)

mysql> DROP TABLE t1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.22 sec)

mysql> DROP TABLE table_not_exists;
ERROR 1051 (42S02): Unknown table 'test.table_not_exists'

mysql> DROP TABLE IF EXISTS table_not_exists;
Query OK, 0 rows affected, 1 warning (0.01 sec)

mysql> SHOW WARNINGS;
+-------+------+---------------------------------------+
| Level | Code | Message                               |
+-------+------+---------------------------------------+
| Note  | 1051 | Unknown table 'test.table_not_exists' |
+-------+------+---------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

mysql> CREATE VIEW v1 AS SELECT 1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.10 sec)

mysql> DROP TABLE v1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.23 sec)

MySQL compatibility

Currently, RESTRICT and CASCADE are only supported syntactically.

See also

• CREATE TABLE
• SHOW CREATE TABLE
• SHOW TABLES