DROP_OPERATOR_CLASS(7pg17)

💅 DROP OPERATOR CLASS 💅

okay bestie, welcome to DROP OPERATOR CLASS(7) from the PostgreSQL 17.11 Documentation — this is the page where operator classes get unalived (respectfully 💀✨). No cap, it's giving cleanup era.

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✨ NAME ✨

DROP_OPERATOR_CLASS — remove an operator class. literally what it says on the tin, bestie 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

DROP OPERATOR CLASS [ IF EXISTS ] name USING index_method [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so DROP OPERATOR CLASS drops an existing operator class. To execute this command you must be the owner of the operator class — owner energy only, iykyk 👑.

DROP OPERATOR CLASS does not drop any of the operators or functions referenced by the class. not me checking twice 😭. If there are any indexes depending on the operator class, you will need to specify CASCADE for the drop to complete.

🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀

• IF EXISTS — do not throw an error if the operator class does not exist. A notice is issued in this case. polite little heads-up ✨
• name — the name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing operator class.
• index_method — the name of the index access method the operator class is for.
• CASCADE — automatically drop objects that depend on the operator class (such as indexes), and in turn all objects that depend on those objects (see Section 5.15). full domino-effect slay 🔥
• RESTRICT — refuse to drop the operator class if any objects depend on it. This is the default. no impulsive deletes here 🙈

🧚 NOTES 🧚

DROP OPERATOR CLASS will not drop the operator family containing the class, even if there is nothing else left in the family (in particular, in the case where the family was implicitly created by CREATE OPERATOR CLASS). An empty operator family is harmless, but for the sake of tidiness you might wish to remove the family with DROP OPERATOR FAMILY; or perhaps better, use DROP OPERATOR FAMILY in the first place. bestie, tidy vibes only 🌈

⭐ EXAMPLES ⭐

Remove the B-tree operator class widget_ops:

DROP OPERATOR CLASS widget_ops USING btree;

This command will not succeed if there are any existing indexes that use the operator class. Add CASCADE to drop such indexes along with the operator class. that's the whole plot twist 😭

💜 COMPATIBILITY 💜

There is no DROP OPERATOR CLASS statement in the SQL standard. not a standard girlie, and that's iconic 💅

🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

• ALTER OPERATOR CLASS (ALTER_OPERATOR_CLASS(7))
• CREATE OPERATOR CLASS (CREATE_OPERATOR_CLASS(7))
• DROP OPERATOR FAMILY (DROP_OPERATOR_FAMILY(7))

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that's the whole page, bestie 🫶 — PostgreSQL 17.11, dated 2026, signing off with DROP OPERATOR CLASS(7) energy. mwah 💖