DROP INDEX

Remove an index

Synopsis:

DROP INDEX [IF EXISTS] [database-name .] index-name

Description:

The DROP INDEX statement removes an index added with the CREATE INDEX statement. The index named is completely removed from the disk. The only way to recover the index is to reenter the appropriate CREATE INDEX command.

The DROP INDEX statement doesn't reduce the size of the database file in the default mode. Empty space in the database is retained for later INSERTs. To remove free space in the database, use the VACUUM command. If the auto-vacuum mode is enabled for a database, then space will be freed automatically by DROP INDEX.

The optional IF EXISTS clause suppresses the error that would normally result if the index doesn't exist.