DROP TABLE Statement in Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink¶
The DROP TABLE statement removes a table definition from Apache Flink® and, depending on the table type, will also delete associated resources like the Kafka topic and schemas in Schema Registry.
Syntax¶
DROP TABLE [IF EXISTS] table_name
Parameters¶
IF EXISTS- Optional clause that prevents an error if the table does not exist.
table_name- The name of the table to drop.
Description¶
The DROP TABLE statement behavior varies depending on the table type:
Regular Tables¶
For tables backed by Kafka topics (created using CREATE TABLE or inferred from existing topics):
- Deletes the underlying Kafka topic permanently
- When using TopicNameStrategy (default): - Deletes all versions of the associated schemas from Schema Registry
- When using RecordNameStrategy or TopicRecordNameStrategy: - Deletes the Kafka topic but preserves schemas in Schema Registry
External Tables¶
Note
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For external tables (such as vector databases and lookup tables):
- Removes the table definition from Flink’s metadata
- Does not delete data from the external system
- Examples include vector search tables and federated search tables
Permissions¶
To execute DROP TABLE, you need a RBAC roles that allows you to delete the Kafka topics and/or Schema Registry schema subjects.
Important Considerations¶
- The DROP TABLE operation is not atomic. If either the Kafka topic deletion or schema deletion fails, the operation may partially complete.
- Dropping a table permanently deletes the Kafka topic data.
- Running statements that depend on a dropped table will transition to DEGRADED status.
- It’s recommended to stop dependent statements before dropping a table.
- When using TopicNameStrategy, dropping a table will delete schemas even if they are used by other topics.
Examples¶
Drop a Kafka-backed table:
DROP TABLE my_table;
Drop a table if it exists:
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS my_table;