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><H1
><A
NAME="SQL-DELETE"
></A
>DELETE</H1
><DIV
CLASS="REFNAMEDIV"
><A
NAME="AEN39301"
></A
><H2
>Name</H2
>DELETE -- delete rows of a table</DIV
><A
NAME="AEN39304"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="REFSYNOPSISDIV"
><A
NAME="AEN39306"
></A
><H2
>Synopsis</H2
><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>DELETE FROM [ ONLY ] <VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>table</VAR
> [ WHERE <VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>condition</VAR
> ]</PRE
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN39310"
></A
><H2
>Description</H2
><P
> <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>DELETE</TT
> deletes rows that satisfy the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>WHERE</TT
> clause from the specified table. If the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>WHERE</TT
> clause is absent, the effect is to delete
all rows in the table. The result is a valid, but empty table.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="TIP"
><BLOCKQUOTE
CLASS="TIP"
><P
><B
>Tip: </B
> <A
HREF="sql-truncate.html"
><I
>TRUNCATE</I
></A
> is a
<SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> extension which provides a
faster mechanism to remove all rows from a table.
</P
></BLOCKQUOTE
></DIV
><P
> By default, <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>DELETE</TT
> will delete rows in the
specified table and all its subtables. If you wish to only delete
from the specific table mentioned, you must use the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>ONLY</TT
> clause.
</P
><P
> You must have the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>DELETE</TT
> privilege on the table
to delete from it, as well as the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>SELECT</TT
>
privilege for any table whose values are read in the <VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>condition</VAR
>.
</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN39327"
></A
><H2
>Parameters</H2
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
><VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>table</VAR
></DT
><DD
><P
> The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing table.
</P
></DD
><DT
><VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>condition</VAR
></DT
><DD
><P
> A value expression that returns a value of type
<TT
CLASS="TYPE"
>boolean</TT
> that determines the rows which are to be
deleted.
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN39341"
></A
><H2
>Outputs</H2
><P
> On successful completion, a <TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>DELETE</TT
> command returns a command
tag of the form
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>DELETE <VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>count</VAR
></PRE
><P>
The <VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>count</VAR
> is the number
of rows deleted. If <VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>count</VAR
> is
0, no rows matched the <VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>condition</VAR
> (this is not considered
an error).
</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN39350"
></A
><H2
>Examples</H2
><P
> Delete all films but musicals:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>DELETE FROM films WHERE kind <> 'Musical';</PRE
><P>
</P
><P
> Clear the table <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>films</TT
>:
</P><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>DELETE FROM films;</PRE
><P>
</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN39357"
></A
><H2
>Compatibility</H2
><P
> This command conforms to the SQL standard.
</P
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