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<refentry id="SQL-DROPINDEX">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle id="SQL-DROPINDEX-TITLE">DROP INDEX</refentrytitle>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>
 <refnamediv>
  <refname>
   DROP INDEX
  </refname>
  <refpurpose>
   remove an index
  </refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>
 <refsynopsisdiv>
  <refsynopsisdivinfo>
   <date>1999-07-20</date>
  </refsynopsisdivinfo>
  <synopsis>
DROP INDEX <replaceable class="PARAMETER">index_name</replaceable> [, ...] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]
  </synopsis>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-DROPINDEX-1">
   <refsect2info>
    <date>1998-04-15</date>
   </refsect2info>
   <title>
    Inputs
   </title>
   <para>
    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">index_name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an index to remove.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
     <varlistentry>
      <term>CASCADE</term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Automatically drop objects that depend on the index.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
     <varlistentry>
      <term>RESTRICT</term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Refuse to drop the index if there are any dependent objects.
	This is the default.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-DROPINDEX-2">
   <refsect2info>
    <date>1998-04-15</date>
   </refsect2info>
   <title>
    Outputs
   </title>
   <para>
    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>
DROP INDEX
       </computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The message returned if the command completes successfully.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>
ERROR: index "<replaceable class="PARAMETER">index_name</replaceable>" does not exist
       </computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	This message occurs if <replaceable class="PARAMETER">index_name</replaceable>
	is not an index in the database.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1 id="R1-SQL-DROPINDEX-1">
  <refsect1info>
   <date>1998-04-15</date>
  </refsect1info>
  <title>
   Description
  </title>
  <para>
   <command>DROP INDEX</command> drops an existing index from the database
   system. To execute this command you must be the owner of
   the index.
  </para>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-DROPINDEX-3">
   <refsect2info>
    <date>1998-04-15</date>
   </refsect2info>
   <title>
    Notes
   </title>
   <para>
    <command>DROP INDEX</command> is a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
    language extension.
   </para>
   <para>
    Refer to 
    <xref linkend="sql-createindex" endterm="sql-createindex-title">
    for information on how to create indexes.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="R1-SQL-DROPINDEX-2">
  <title>
   Usage
  </title>
  <para>
   This command will remove the <literal>title_idx</literal> index:

   <programlisting>
    DROP INDEX title_idx;
   </programlisting>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="R1-SQL-DROPINDEX-3">
  <title>
   Compatibility
  </title>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-DROPINDEX-4">
   <refsect2info>
    <date>1998-04-15</date>
   </refsect2info>
   <title>
    SQL92
   </title>
   <para>
    <acronym>SQL92</acronym> defines commands by which to access
    a generic relational database.
    Indexes are an implementation-dependent feature and hence
    there are no index-specific commands or definitions in the
    <acronym>SQL92</acronym> language.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>


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