The SQL DELETE command is used to delete rows that are no longer required from the database tables. It deletes the whole row from the table. Delete command comes in handy to delete temporary or obsolete data from your database.The DELETE command can delete more than one row from a table in a single query. This proves to be advantages when removing large numbers of rows from a database table.
Syntax
DELETE FROM table_name [WHERE Clause]
- If the WHERE clause is not specified, then all the records will be deleted from the given MySQL table.
- You can specify any condition using the WHERE clause.
- You can delete records in a single table at a time.
Deleting Data from the Command Prompt
Example
root@host# mysql -u root -p password; Enter password:******* mysql> use TUTORIALS; Database changed mysql> DELETE FROM tutorials_tbl WHERE tutorial_id=3; Query OK, 1 row affected (0.23 sec) mysql>
Deleting Data Using a PHP Script
Example
<?php $dbhost = 'localhost'; $dbuser = 'root'; $dbpass = ''; $conn = mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass); if(! $conn ) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } $sql = 'DELETE FROM tutorials_tbl WHERE tutorial_id = 3'; mysql_select_db('TUTORIALS'); $retval = mysql_query( $sql, $conn ); if(! $retval ) { die('Could not delete data: ' . mysql_error()); } echo "Deleted data successfully\n"; mysql_close($conn); ?>