Drop database which has a "minus" in its name in Postgres

Question

I've this database named a-b in postgres and I'm unable to delete it using this query drop database "a-b";. The double quotes were supposed to work but sadly, they didn't. I'm using Postgres-XL r1.3.

The error message I receive is:

ERROR: syntax error at or near "-"

What do you mean "sadly, they haven't"? Does that mean it produces the same error message? — Evan Trimboli, Nov 21 '16 at 11:10
yes i've tried prepending backslash as well. and they too, didn't work :( — Pragun, Nov 21 '16 at 11:11
This **will** work in "plain" Postgres, so this is most probably a Postgres-XL problem. Looks like the same as: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/39143887/how-can-i-drop-a-postgres-xl-database-that-has-its-name-starting-with-a-digit — , Nov 21 '16 at 11:14
Maybe you should try it from command line. I would suggest you to take a look at this: http://stackoverflow.com/a/7073852/1867076 — Prometheus, Nov 21 '16 at 11:15
well i tried it from the Postgres-XL (pgxc) as well and it still fails :( says PGXC dropdb 'a-b' -p 6100 dropdb: database removal failed: ERROR: syntax error at or near "-" — Pragun, Nov 21 '16 at 11:18
Can't you wrap the database name in square braces? i.e. DROP DATABASE [a-b]; — Steve Matthews, Nov 21 '16 at 11:19
this is probably supposed to be a postgres-xl problem then. hope they'll figure it out. — Pragun, Nov 21 '16 at 11:20
You could try renaming it first perhaps? ALTER DATABASE "a-b" RENAME TO adashb; Then follow up with a DROP DATABASE adashb; — Steve Matthews, Nov 21 '16 at 11:21

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 21 '16 at 11:29

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You could try renaming it first perhaps? ALTER DATABASE "a-b" RENAME TO adashb; Then follow up with a DROP DATABASE adashb;

answered Nov 21 '16 at 11:29

Steve Matthews

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 01 '16 at 09:50

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This bug is fixed in the latest Postgres-XL 9.5r1.4 release http://files.postgres-xl.org/documentation/release-xl-9-5r1.4.html

answered Dec 01 '16 at 09:50

Pavan Deolasee

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Drop database which has a "minus" in its name in Postgres

2 Answers2