<REFENTRY ID="SQL-DELETE">
 <REFMETA>
  <REFENTRYTITLE>
   DELETE
  </REFENTRYTITLE>
  <REFMISCINFO>SQL - Language Statements</REFMISCINFO>
 </REFMETA>
 <REFNAMEDIV>
  <REFNAME>
   DELETE
  </REFNAME>
  <REFPURPOSE>
   Deletes rows from a table
  </REFPURPOSE>
  
  
 <REFSYNOPSISDIV>
  <REFSYNOPSISDIVINFO>
   <DATE>1998-04-15</DATE>
  </REFSYNOPSISDIVINFO>
  <SYNOPSIS>
   DELETE FROM <REPLACEABLE CLASS="PARAMETER">table</REPLACEABLE> [ WHERE <REPLACEABLE CLASS="PARAMETER">condition</REPLACEABLE> ]
  </SYNOPSIS>
  
  <REFSECT2 ID="R2-SQL-DELETE-1">
   <REFSECT2INFO>
    <DATE>1998-04-15</DATE>
   </REFSECT2INFO>
   <TITLE>
    Inputs
   </TITLE>
   <PARA>
   </PARA>
       <VARIABLELIST>
	<VARLISTENTRY>
	 <TERM>
	  <replaceable class="parameter">table</replaceable>
	 </TERM>
	 <LISTITEM>
	  <PARA>
          The name of an existing table.
	  </PARA>
	 </LISTITEM>
	</VARLISTENTRY>
	<VARLISTENTRY>
	 <TERM>
	  <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable>
	 </TERM>
	 <LISTITEM>
	  <PARA>
	   This is an SQL selection query which returns the rows which
	   are to be deleted.
	  </PARA>
	  <PARA>
          Refer to the SELECT statement for further description
          of the WHERE clause.
	  </PARA>
	 </LISTITEM>
	</VARLISTENTRY>
       </variablelist>
  </REFSECT2>
  
  <REFSECT2 ID="R2-SQL-DELETE-2">
   <REFSECT2INFO>
    <DATE>1998-04-15</DATE>
   </REFSECT2INFO>
   <TITLE>
    Outputs
   </TITLE>
   <PARA>
       <VARIABLELIST>
	<VARLISTENTRY>
	 <TERM>
	  <ReturnValue> DELETE <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable></ReturnValue>
	 </TERM>
	 <LISTITEM>
	  <PARA>
	   Message returned if items are successfully deleted. The
	   <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable> is the number
	   of rows deleted.
	  </PARA>
	  <PARA>
	   If <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable> is 0,
	   no rows were deleted.

   </VARIABLELIST>
  </REFSECT2>
</REFSYNOPSISDIV>
 
 <REFSECT1 ID="R1-SQL-DELETE-1">
  <REFSECT1INFO>
   <DATE>1998-04-15</DATE>
  </REFSECT1INFO>
  <TITLE>
   Description
  </TITLE>
  <PARA>
   DELETE removes rows which satisfy the WHERE <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable>,
   from the specified table.
  </PARA>
  <PARA>
   If the <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable> is absent,
   the effect is to delete all rows in the table.
   The result is a valid, but empty table.
  </PARA>
  <PARA>
   You must have write access to the table in order to modify
   it, as well as read access to any table whose values are
   read in the <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable>.
  </PARA>
 </REFSECT1>
  
 <REFSECT1 ID="R1-SQL-DELETE-2">
  <TITLE>
   Usage
  </TITLE>
  <PARA>
   Remove all films but musicals:
  </PARA>
  <ProgramListing>
DELETE FROM films WHERE kind &lt;&gt; 'Musical';

SELECT * FROM films;

code |title                    |did| date_prod|kind      |len
-----+-------------------------+---+----------+----------+------
UA501|West Side Story          |105|1961-01-03|Musical   | 02:32
TC901|The King and I           |109|1956-08-11|Musical   | 02:13
WD101|Bed Knobs and Broomsticks|111|          |Musical   | 01:57
(3 rows)
  </ProgramListing>
  <para>
   Clear the table <literal>films</literal>:
  </para>
  <programlisting>
DELETE FROM films;
   
SELECT * FROM films;
code|title|did|date_prod|kind|len
----+-----+---+---------+----+---
(0 rows)
  </programlisting>      
 </REFSECT1>
 
 <REFSECT1 ID="R1-SQL-DELETE-3">
  <TITLE>
   Compatibility
  </TITLE>
  <PARA>
  </PARA>
  
  <REFSECT2 ID="R2-SQL-DELETE-4">
   <REFSECT2INFO>
    <DATE>1998-04-15</DATE>
   </REFSECT2INFO>
   <TITLE>
    SQL92
   </TITLE>
   <PARA>
   <acronym>SQL92</acronym> allows a positioned DELETE statement:
   </PARA>
   
   <synopsis>
DELETE FROM <replaceable class="parameter">table</replaceable> WHERE CURRENT OF <replaceable class="parameter">cursor</replaceable>
   </synopsis>
   <para>
   where <replaceable class="parameter">cursor</replaceable> identifies an open cursor. Interactive cursors in <productname>Postgres</productname> are read-only.
</para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsect1>
</REFENTRY>

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