ASA SQL User's Guide
  Working with Database Objects
    Working with databases

Erasing a database

Erasing a database deletes all tables and data from disk, including the transaction log that records alterations to the database. All database files are read-only to prevent accidental modification or deletion of the database files.

In Sybase Central, you can erase a database using the Erase Database utility. You need to connect to a database to access this utility, but the Erase Database wizard lets you specify any database for erasing. In order to erase a non-running database, the database server must be running.

In Interactive SQL, you can erase a database using the DROP DATABASE statement. Required permissions can be set using the database server -gu command-line option. The default setting is to require DBA authority.

You can also erase a database from a command line with the dberase utility. The database to be erased must not be running when this utility is used.

To erase a database (Sybase Central)

1. In the left pane, select the Adaptive Server Anywhere 9 plug-in.

2. In the right pane, click the Utilities tab.

3. In the right pane, double-click Erase Database.

4. Follow the instructions in the wizard.

To erase a database (SQL)

• Execute a DROP DATABASE statement.

  For example,

  DROP DATABASE 'c:\temp\temp.db'

To erase a database (command line)

• From a command line, run the dberase utility.

  For example,

  dberase company.db

For more information, see DROP DATABASE statement, and The Erase utility.