DROP (Short Name: DRO)
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Use the DROP command to remove the specified item from the database.

drop

Options

,
Indicates that this part of the command is repeatable.

ALL
Removes all tables from the database.

ALL EXCEPT tblname
Removes all tables from the database except the table(s) listed.

ALL EXCEPT viewname
Removes all views from the database except the view(s) listed.

colname IN tblname
Removes the index from the specified column in the specified table.

COLUMN colname FROM tblname
Removes a column's structure and data from the specified table.

CURSOR cursor
Removes the specified cursor. The DROP CURSOR command removes a cursor definition from memory, therefore freeing memory.

Cursors are dropped when you use the CONNECT command to open another database, or the DISCONNECT command to close the database.

FOR tblname
Removes the rule from the specified table for the specified table.

FORM formname
Removes the specified form.

INDEX
Removes the index from the column in the specified table.

indexname
Removes a named index.

LABEL labelname
Removes the specified label.

NOCHECK
Eliminates the confirmation message.

PROCEDURE procname
Removes the specified stored procedure from the database.

REPORT rptname
Removes the specified report.

RULE
Removes the specified rule.

TABLE
Removes the specified table.

tblname
Specifies the table name to be removed.

tblname.colname
Removes the index from the specified column in the specified table.

VIEW viewname
Removes the specified view.

viewname
Specifies the view name to be removed.

WITH 'message'
Removes the specified rule from all tables to which it applies. Omitting the WITH 'message' option removes all rules.

About the DROP Command

The table below lists guidelines for using the DROP command.

When you drop...
You must...
A column used in the definition of a computed column
Remove the computed column first.
A column used in a form, report, or label
Delete the column from the form, report, or label definition.
A column used in a rule
Delete the rule for that column in any table from which you removed the column.
A form, report, label, table, or view used in an application
Revise your application to reflect the changes in the database after dropping the form, report, or label.
A view or table used in a form report or label
Delete the form, report, or label from the database after dropping the form, report, or label.
A column or table used in a view
Delete the view from the database.
A table that has rules
Delete the rule with DROP if the table you are dropping is used in the WHERE clause of a rule definition. For example, a table name is used in a WHERE clause of a rule definition when a rule is used to verify a value in one table against values in another table.


      
R:BASE deletes the rules if the table is the table on which the rules are based.

After running the DROP command, the database item is gone, but the disk space the item occupied is not available. To recover that space, use the PACK or RELOAD commands.

You can rebuild a dropped index using CREATE INDEX.

When STATICDB is set on-which actives a read-only schema mode-DROP is unavailable. For more information, see the "SET STATICDB" entry.

Database Access Rights with DROP

The DROP command requires that you enter the database owner's user identifier if a user identifier has been assigned with the GRANT command. However, if a user has CREATE or ALTER access rights, that user can use the DROP command to drop tables or any columns in tables to which the user has rights.

Removing Rules with DROP RULE
Before you remove a rule with the DROP RULE command, enter a SELECT command to verify that you would be removing the correct rule from the correct table(s). Use the conditions in a WHERE clause to enter the exact message and any table names that you plan to use in the DROP command. Once you have verified that the message would remove the correct rules, proceed with the DROP RULES command. For example, to verify that a DROP command with the message "Model number must be unique" would remove only the rules you want to remove, enter the following SELECT command. R:BASE would display all the rules for all the tables in the database to which this message applies.

SELECT * FROM SYS_RULES WHERE SYS_MESSAGE = 'Model number must be unique'

Examples

The following command removes the empext column from the employee table.

DROP COLUMN empext FROM employee

The following two command lines show alternative ways to remove the index from the custid column in the transmaster table.

DROP INDEX custid IN transmaster
DROP INDEX transmaster.custid

The following command removes from the database all rules with the message 'Model number must be unique.'

DROP RULE WITH 'Model number must be unique' 

The following command removes any rule from the product table that starts with the message 'Model number.' You can use the wildcard character for MANY (%) in a message.

DROP RULE FOR product WITH 'Model number%'

The following command removes the cursor named cursor1 from memory.

DROP CURSOR cursor1