drop-external-file-format-transact-sql.md

title	DROP EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs
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ms.date	03/07/2017
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DROP EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDEtsql-appliesto-ss2016-xxxx-asdw-pdw_md]

Removes a PolyBase external file format.

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

-- Syntax for SQL Server, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Parallel Data Warehouse  
  
-- Drop an external file format  
DROP EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT external_file_format_name  
[;]  

Arguments

external_file_format_name
The name of the external file format to drop.

Metadata

To view a list of external file formats use the sys.external_file_formats (Transact-SQL) system view.

SELECT * FROM sys.external_file_formats;  

Permissions

Requires ALTER ANY EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT.

General Remarks

Dropping an external file format does not remove the external data.

Locking

Takes a shared lock on the external file format object.

Examples

A. Using basic syntax

DROP EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT myfileformat;  

Examples: [!INCLUDEssSDWfull] and [!INCLUDEssPDW]

B. Using basic syntax

DROP EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT myfileformat;  

See Also

CREATE EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT (Transact-SQL)