<!--
doc/src/sgml/ref/dropdb.sgml
PostgreSQL documentation
-->

<refentry id="app-dropdb">
 <indexterm zone="app-dropdb">
  <primary>dropdb</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle><application>dropdb</application></refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  <refmiscinfo>Application</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>dropdb</refname>
  <refpurpose>remove a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
  <cmdsynopsis>
   <command>dropdb</command>
   <arg rep="repeat"><replaceable>connection-option</replaceable></arg>
   <arg rep="repeat"><replaceable>option</replaceable></arg>
   <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>dbname</replaceable></arg>
  </cmdsynopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>


 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <application>dropdb</application> destroys an existing
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database.
   The user who executes this command must be a database
   superuser or the owner of the database.
  </para>

  <para>
   <application>dropdb</application> is a wrapper around the
   <acronym>SQL</acronym> command <link linkend="sql-dropdatabase"><command>DROP DATABASE</command></link>.
   There is no effective difference between dropping databases via
   this utility and via other methods for accessing the server.
  </para>

 </refsect1>


 <refsect1>
  <title>Options</title>

  <para>
   <application>dropdb</application> accepts the following command-line arguments:

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Specifies the name of the database to be removed.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-e</option></term>
      <term><option>--echo</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Echo the commands that <application>dropdb</application> generates
        and sends to the server.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-f</option></term>
      <term><option>--force</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Attempt to terminate all existing connections to the target database
        before dropping it.   See <xref linkend="sql-dropdatabase"/> for more
        information on this option.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-i</option></term>
      <term><option>--interactive</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
       Issues a verification prompt before doing anything destructive.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
       <term><option>-V</option></term>
       <term><option>--version</option></term>
       <listitem>
       <para>
       Print the <application>dropdb</application> version and exit.
       </para>
       </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>--if-exists</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
       Do not throw an error if the database does not exist. A notice is issued
       in this case.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
       <term><option>-?</option></term>
       <term><option>--help</option></term>
       <listitem>
       <para>
       Show help about <application>dropdb</application> command line
       arguments, and exit.
       </para>
       </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

  </para>

  <para>
   <application>dropdb</application> also accepts the following
   command-line arguments for connection parameters:

   <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-h <replaceable class="parameter">host</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--host=<replaceable class="parameter">host</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Specifies the host name of the machine on which the
        server
        is running.