Name
DELETE
-- Removes rows from a table.
Synopsis
DELETE FROM [ONLY] table [ WHERE condition ]
Parameters
- table
Use this parameter to provide the name of the table you are deleting
rows from.
- condition
Use this parameter to specify the condition rows are checked for
before they are qualified to be deleted. Essentially the is is
a SELECT query; refer to
SELECT
for more information on how to construct this query.
Results
- DELETE count
This message is displayed if deletion of qualifying rows is
successful. This also displays the number of rows that were
deleted. If the number is 0, no rows qualified for deletion.
Description
Use DELETE to remove rows from a
table. Only rows that qualify a condition supplied with the
WHERE clause will be deleted. To delete all rows from a table,
do not specify a WHERE clause. This does not delete the table,
it merely empties it.
 | The TRUNCATE Command |
|---|
| | Use TRUNCATE
to empty a table more effectively.
|
Use the ONLY clause to indicate you do not wish to remove qualifying
rows from the specified table's sub-tables.
Examples
The following example removes all shipped orders that were both placed by
the customer ID 21 and shipped before March 30th, 2001:
DELETE FROM shipped_orders
WHERE cust_id = 21
AND ship_date < '3/30/2001';