In order to delete data, you may actually need to increase disk space by adding a dbspace to your IQ Store. The amount of space you need for a deletion depends on the distribution of the data on data pages, more than on the size or number of rows being deleted. IQ needs to retain a version of each page that contains any of the data you are deleting, from the time the deletion begins until the transaction commits. If the rows being deleted happen to be distributed across many data pages, then you need space in your IQ Store to retain all of those extra data pages.
For example, assume that you need to delete ten rows from a database where each page holds 100 rows. If each of those ten rows is on a separate data page, then your IQ Store needs to have space for ten version pages, each big enough to hold 100 rows. While this distribution is unlikely, it is possible.
The space needed to delete data varies by index type. It is proportional to—and in the worst case, equal to—the size of the index from which you are deleting. For information on sizes of index types, see “Indexing criteria: disk space usage.”
If you run out of space while deleting data, Sybase IQ halts the deletion and displays this message in the notification log:
Out of disk space
After you add space, the deletion resumes. When the delete transaction commits, the space becomes available for other deletions or insertions. If you do not need normally that much space in your database, you can drop the dbspace to regain the extra disk space for other purposes. Be sure you do so before inserting any data which might need to use the new dbspace.
Running out of space during a deletion should not affect other query users.
If you run out of space, but do not have enough disk space to add another dbspace, you must shut down the database engine and then restart it, allowing the database to roll back. You can then delete the rows in smaller, separate transactions.
DROP TABLE and DROP DATABASE delete
the table or database and all data in it without creating any version
pages, so you do not need to add space to use these commands.
