DROP EXTERNAL TABLE (Transact-SQL)

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12/29/2022

Applies to: SQL Server 2016 (13.x) and later Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics Analytics Platform System (PDW)

Removes a PolyBase external table from a database, but doesn't delete the external data.

Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

syntaxsql

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE { database_name.schema_name.table_name | schema_name.table_name | table_name }
[;]

Arguments

[ database_name . [schema_name] . | schema_name . ] table_name
The one- to three-part name of the external table to remove. The table name can optionally include the schema, or the database and schema.

Permissions

Requires:

ALTER permission on the schema to which the table belongs.
ALTER ANY EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE
ALTER ANY EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT

Remarks

Dropping an external table removes all table-related metadata. It doesn't delete the external data.

Examples

A. Using basic syntax

SQL

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE SalesPerson;  
DROP EXTERNAL TABLE dbo.SalesPerson;  
DROP EXTERNAL TABLE EasternDivision.dbo.SalesPerson;

B. Dropping an external table from the current database

The following example removes the ProductVendor1 table, its data, indexes, and any dependent views from the current database.

SQL

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE ProductVendor1;

C. Dropping a table from another database

The following example drops the SalesPerson table in the EasternDivision database.

SQL

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE EasternDivision.dbo.SalesPerson;

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