Python sqlite3 parameterized drop table

Question

I have a problem with dropping sqlite3 table in python. I am using standard sqlite3 module.

self.conn = sqlite3.connect(...)

sql = """ drop table ? """
self.conn.execute( sql, (u'table_name',) )

gives me OperationalError: near "?": syntax error

When I change sql to:

sql = """ drop table table_name """

it works fine.

mechanical_meat · Accepted Answer · 2021-12-20 15:09:54Z

13

You cannot use parameters for table names nor column names.

Alternatively you could make it a two-step process, e.g.:

a_table_name = "table_a"
sql_stmt = f"""DROP TABLE {a_table_name}"""
self.conn.execute(sql_stmt)

And if you're doing that you may want to explicitly specify which tables can be deleted...

TABLES_THAT_CAN_BE_DROPPED = ('table_a','table_b',)
if a_table_name in TABLES_THAT_CAN_BE_DROPPED:
    # use code snippet from above 
else:
    pass # handle creatively

edited Dec 20, 2021 at 15:09

answered Apr 9, 2011 at 20:46

mechanical_meat

170k25 gold badges238 silver badges231 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

pajton Over a year ago

Too bad, I wanted to use executemany() with list of tables. Any idea if this would be somehow feasible?

mechanical_meat Over a year ago

Is looping over the table names too slow?

pajton Over a year ago

Of course not. I just love to make the things as simpliest as possible:). Thanks for the answer!

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Python sqlite3 parameterized drop table

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related