.\\" auto-generated by docbook2man-spec $Revision: 1.25 $
.TH "DROPDB" "1" "2002-11-22" "Application" "PostgreSQL Client Applications"
.SH NAME
dropdb \- remove a PostgreSQL database
.SH SYNOPSIS
.sp
\fBdropdb\fR\fR [ \fR\fB\fIoptions\fB\fR...\fB \fR\fR]\fR \fB\fIdbname\fB\fR
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
\fBdropdb\fR destroys an existing
PostgreSQL database.
The user who executes this command must be a database
superuser or the owner of the database.
.PP
\fBdropdb\fR is a shell script wrapper around the
SQL command
DROP DATABASE [\fBdrop_database\fR(7)] via
the PostgreSQL interactive terminal
\fBpsql\fR(1). Thus, there is nothing
special about dropping databases via this or other methods. This means
that the \fBpsql\fR must be found by the script and that
a database server is running at the targeted host. Also, any default
settings and environment variables available to \fBpsql\fR
and the \fBlibpq\fR front-end library do apply.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.PP
\fBdropdb\fR accepts the following command-line arguments:
.TP
\fB\fIdbname\fB\fR
Specifies the name of the database to be removed. The database
must be one of the existing PostgreSQL databases
in this installation.
.TP
\fB-e\fR
.TP
\fB--echo\fR
Echo the queries that \fBdropdb\fR generates
and sends to the server.
.TP
\fB-i\fR
.TP
\fB--interactive\fR
Issues a verification prompt before doing anything destructive.
.TP
\fB-q\fR
.TP
\fB--quiet\fR
Do not display a response.
.PP
.PP
\fBcreatedb\fR also accepts the following
command-line arguments for connection parameters:
.TP
\fB-h \fIhost\fB\fR
.TP
\fB--host \fIhost\fB\fR
Specifies the host name of the machine on which the 
server
is running. If host begins with a slash, it is used 
as the directory for the Unix domain socket.
.TP
\fB-p \fIport\fB\fR
.TP
\fB--port \fIport\fB\fR
Specifies the Internet TCP/IP port or local Unix domain socket file 
extension on which the server
is listening for connections.
.TP
\fB-U \fIusername\fB\fR
.TP
\fB--username \fIusername\fB\fR
User name to connect as
.TP
\fB-W\fR
.TP
\fB--password\fR
Force password prompt.
.PP
.SH "DIAGNOSTICS"
.TP
\fBDROP DATABASE\fR
The database was successfully removed.
.TP
\fBdropdb: Database removal failed.\fR
Something didn't work out.
.PP
If there is an error condition, the backend error message will be displayed.
See DROP DATABASE [\fBdrop_database\fR(7)]
and \fBpsql\fR(1) for possibilities.
.PP
.SH "ENVIRONMENT"
.TP
\fBPGHOST\fR
.TP
\fBPGPORT\fR
.TP
\fBPGUSER\fR
Default connection parameters
.SH "EXAMPLES"
.PP
To destroy the database demo on the default
database server:
.sp
.nf
$ \fBdropdb demo\fR
DROP DATABASE
.sp
.fi
.PP
To destroy the database demo using the
server on host eden, port 5000, with verification and a peek
at the underlying query:
.sp
.nf
$ \fBdropdb -p 5000 -h eden -i -e demo\fR
Database "demo" will be permanently deleted.
Are you sure? (y/n) \fBy\fR
DROP DATABASE "demo"
DROP DATABASE
.sp
.fi
.SH "SEE ALSO"
\fBcreatedb\fR(1), DROP DATABASE [\fBdrop_database\fR(7)]