1.4.12.5 The DELETE Statement

The DELETE statement is used to delete rows in a table.

Syntax

DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE column_name = some_value

1.4.12.5.1 Delete a Row

Person:

+----------+-----------+--------+-------------+
| LastName | FirstName | Number | DateOfBirth |
+----------+-----------+--------+-------------+
| 'Smith'  | 'John'    | 1      | 1980-01-01  |
| 'Doe'    | 'John'    | 1      | 1980-01-01  |
| 'Blair'  | 'James'   | 8      | 1953-05-06  |
+----------+-----------+--------+-------------+

John Doe is going to be deleted:

DELETE FROM Person WHERE LastName = 'Doe'

Result

+----------+-----------+--------+-------------+
| LastName | FirstName | Number | DateOfBirth |
+----------+-----------+--------+-------------+
| 'Smith'  | 'John'    | 1      | 1980-01-01  |
| 'Blair'  | 'James'   | 8      | 1953-05-06  |
+----------+-----------+--------+-------------+

1.4.12.5.2 Delete All Rows

It is possible to delete all rows in a table without deleting the table. This means that the table structure and attributes will be intact:

DELETE FROM table_name

Result

+----------+-----------+--------+-------------+
| LastName | FirstName | Number | DateOfBirth |
+----------+-----------+--------+-------------+
+----------+-----------+--------+-------------+