DELETE

CommentsProcedural SQL (PSQL) Statements

`DELETE`

Deletes rows from a table or updatable view

Syntax

DELETE
  FROM target [[AS] alias]
  [WHERE {<search-conditions> | CURRENT OF cursorname}]
  [PLAN <plan_items>]
  [ORDER BY <sort_items>]
  [ROWS m [TO n]]
  [SKIP LOCKED]
  [RETURNING <returning_list> [INTO <variables>]]

<returning_list> ::= * | <output_column> [, <output_column]

<output_column> ::=
    target.*
  | <return_expression> [COLLATE collation] [[AS] alias]

<return_expression> ::=
    <value-expression>
  | [target.]col_name

<value-expression> ::=
    <literal>
  | <context-variable>
  | any other expression returning a single
    value of a Firebird data type or NULL

<variables> ::=
  [:]varname [, [:]varname ...]

Table 1. Arguments for the `DELETE` Statement Parameters
Argument	Description
target	The name of the table or view from which the records are to be deleted
alias	Alias for the target table or view
search-conditions	Search condition limiting the set of rows being targeted for deletion
cursorname	The name of the cursor in which current record is positioned for deletion
plan_items	Query plan clause
sort_items	`ORDER BY` clause
m, n	Integer expressions for limiting the number of rows being deleted
return_expression	An expression to be returned in the `RETURNING` clause
value-expression	An expression whose value is used for returning
varname	Name of a PSQL variable

DELETE removes rows from a database table or from one or more of the tables that underlie a view.WHERE and ROWS clauses can limit the number of rows deleted.If neither WHERE nor ROWS is present, DELETE removes all the rows in the relation.

Aliases

If an alias is specified for the target table or view, it must be used to qualify all field name references in the DELETE statement.

Examples

Supported usage:

delete from Cities where name starting 'Alex';

delete from Cities where Cities.name starting 'Alex';

delete from Cities C where name starting 'Alex';

delete from Cities C where C.name starting 'Alex';

Not possible:

delete from Cities C where Cities.name starting 'Alex';