DROP_RULE(7pg16)

💅 DROP_RULE 💅

okay bestie, so this is the DROP RULE page from the PostgreSQL 16 docs (the 7pg16 one, iykyk) — and honestly? it's a short one, and we're gonna slay it together. literally the whole vibe is "there's a rewrite rule, and we're getting rid of it." that's it. that's the page. 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

DROP RULE [ IF EXISTS ] name ON table_name [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]

look at her. so clean. so iconic. 🦋

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

DROP RULE drops a rewrite rule. yes bestie, that's genuinely the entire description — the manpage is not beating the "short and sweet" allegations today. 💀 but like, that IS the tea: you point at a rewrite rule, and it's gone. simple as that. ✨

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🫶 PARAMETERS 🫶

• IF EXISTS — do not throw an error if the rule doesn't exist. instead, a notice gets issued. so it's like, "bestie, that rule was never here, but pop off anyway." 🌈 a little heads-up instead of a whole dramatic meltdown. 💅
• name — the name of the rule to drop. the actual victim. the main character we're saying goodbye to. 😭
• table_name — the name of the table or view that the rule applies to. it can optionally be schema-qualified, so go ahead and be fancy with it. 👑
• CASCADE — automatically drop objects that depend on the rule, and then in turn all objects that depend on those objects (see Section 5.14). it's giving "consequences rippling out into the universe" — so yes, read Section 5.14 before you go full rizz mode on this one. 🔥
• RESTRICT — refuse to drop the rule if any objects depend on it. this is the default, so it's the "safe word" of this command — no chain reactions unless you explicitly ask for CASCADE. 🧚

real talk: those two are mutually exclusive vibes — pick one, don't be weird about it.

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🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

to drop the rewrite rule newrule: 🦋

DROP RULE newrule ON mytable;

see how it just... goes. newrule on mytable, gone, reduced to atoms. ate and left no crumbs. 💅

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💜 COMPATIBILITY 💜

DROP RULE is a PostgreSQL language extension — and no cap, so is the entire query rewrite system. so if you're expecting this in some other database, bestie, it's not there. 🙈

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• CREATE RULE (CREATE_RULE(7)) — for when you want a rule in the first place 💖
• ALTER RULE (ALTER_RULE(7)) — for when you just wanna tweak her, not delete her 💫

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okay that's the whole page!! 💖 this little gem comes to you from PostgreSQL 16.15, dated 2026 — go forth and drop your rules responsibly, bestie. mwah. 🎀✨🫶