
In this chapter, we will learn to delete tables.
Table deletion is very easy, but remember all deleted tables are irrecoverable. The general syntax for table deletion is as follows −
DROP TABLE table_name ;
Two options exist for performing a table drop: use the command prompt or a PHP script.
At the command prompt, simply use the DROP TABLE SQL command −
root@host# mysql -u root -p Enter password:******* mysql> use PRODUCTS; Database changed mysql> DROP TABLE products_tbl mysql> SELECT * from products_tbl ERROR 1146 (42S02): Table 'products_tbl' doesn't exist
PHP provides mysql_query() for dropping tables. Simply pass its second argument the appropriate SQL command −
<html>
<head>
<title>Create a MariaDB Table</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
$dbhost = 'localhost:3036';
$dbuser = 'root';
$dbpass = 'rootpassword';
$conn = mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass);
if(! $conn ) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo 'Connected successfully<br />';
$sql = "DROP TABLE products_tbl";
mysql_select_db( 'PRODUCTS' );
$retval = mysql_query( $sql, $conn );
if(! $retval ) {
die('Could not delete table: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo "Table deleted successfully\n";
mysql_close($conn);
?>
</body>
</html>
On successful table deletion, you will see the following output −
mysql> Table deleted successfully