Use this statement to delete all database files associated with a database.

Syntax

DROP DATABASE database-name [ KEY key ]

Remarks

The DROP DATABASE statement physically deletes all associated database files from disk. If the database file does not exist, or is not in a suitable condition for the database to be started, an error is generated.

DROP DATABASE cannot be used in stored procedures, triggers, events, or batches.

Permissions

Required permissions are set using the database server -gu option. The default setting is to require DBA authority.

The database must not be in use to be dropped.

You must specify a key if you want to drop a strongly encrypted database

Not supported on Windows Mobile.

Side effects

In addition to deleting the database files from disk, any associated transaction log file or transaction log mirror file is deleted.

See also

• CREATE DATABASE statement
• DatabaseKey connection parameter [DBKEY]

Standards and compatibility

Example

Drop the database temp.db, in the C:\temp directory:

DROP DATABASE 'c:\temp\temp.db';