drop-external-table-transact-sql.md

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title: "DROP EXTERNAL TABLE (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs" ms.custom: "" ms.date: "03/03/2017" ms.prod: sql ms.prod_service: "sql-data-warehouse, pdw, sql-database" ms.reviewer: "" ms.suite: "sql" ms.technology: t-sql ms.tgt_pltfrm: "" ms.topic: "language-reference" dev_langs:

• "TSQL" ms.assetid: 02a6a236-0756-4570-abfa-6f677a7df042 caps.latest.revision: 12 author: CarlRabeler ms.author: carlrab manager: craigg monikerRange: ">=aps-pdw-2016||=azure-sqldw-latest||>=sql-server-2016||=sqlallproducts-allversions||>=sql-server-linux-2017"

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DROP EXTERNAL TABLE (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDEtsql-appliesto-ss2016-xxxx-asdw-pdw-md]

Removes a PolyBase external table from. This does not delete the external data.

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE [ database_name . [schema_name ] . | schema_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.

General Remarks

Dropping an external table removes all table-related metadata. It does not delete the external data.

Examples

A. Using basic syntax

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.

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE ProductVendor1;  

C. Dropping a table from another database

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

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE EasternDivision.dbo.SalesPerson;  

See Also

CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE (Transact-SQL)