DELETE¶

Synopsis¶

DELETE column_name, ... | collection_colname [ term ]  FROM keyspace_name.table_name
  USING TIMESTAMP integer
  WHERE row_specification

term is:

[ list_index_position | [ list_value ]

row_specification is:

primary_key_name = key_value
primary_key_name IN ( key_value, key_value, ...)

Synopsis legend

Description¶

A DELETE statement removes one or more columns from one or more rows in a table, or it removes the entire row if no columns are specified. Cassandra applies seletions within the same partition key atomically and in isolation.

Specifying Columns¶

After the DELETE keyword, optionally list column names, separated by commas.

DELETE col1, col2, col3 FROM Planeteers WHERE userID = 'Captain';

When no column names are specified, the entire row(s) specified in the WHERE clause are deleted.

DELETE FROM MastersOfTheUniverse WHERE mastersID IN ('Man-At-Arms', 'Teela');

When a column is deleted, it is not removed from disk immediately. The deleted column is marked with a tombstone and then removed after the configured grace period has expired. The optional timestamp defines the new tombstone record. See About deletes for more information about how Cassandra handles deleted columns and rows.

Specifying the table¶

The table name follows the list of column names and the keyword FROM.

Identifying a column for deletion using a TIMESTAMP¶

You can identify the column for deletion using a timestamp.

DELETE email, phone
  FROM users
  USING TIMESTAMP 1318452291034
  WHERE user_name = 'jsmith';

The TIMESTAMP input is an integer representing microseconds.

Specifying Rows

The WHERE clause specifies which row or rows to delete from the table.

DELETE col1 FROM SomeTable WHERE userID = 'some_key_value';

This form provides a list of key names using the IN notation and a parenthetical list of comma-delimited key names.

DELETE col1 FROM SomeTable WHERE userID IN (key1, key2);

Example¶

DELETE phone FROM users WHERE user_name IN ('jdoe', 'jsmith');

Using a collection set, list or map¶

To delete an element from the map, use the DELETE command and enclose the timestamp of the element in square brackets:

DELETE todo ['2012-9-24'] FROM users WHERE user_id = 'frodo';

To remove an element from a list, use the DELETE command and the list index position in square brackets:

DELETE top_places[3] FROM users WHERE user_id = 'frodo';

To remove all elements from a set, you can use the DELETE statement:

DELETE emails FROM users WHERE user_id = 'frodo';