After issuing the \d you are still in the middle of your command. Witness the following copy/paste of a terminal session:
bash-3.2$ ./psql Password: psql (8.4.4) Type "help" for help. postgres=# create table foo (bar int); CREATE TABLE postgres=# drop table foo postgres-# \d List of relations Schema | Name | Type | Owner --------+------+-------+---------- public | foo | table | postgres (1 row) postgres-# drop table foo; ERROR: syntax error at or near "drop" LINE 2: drop table foo; ^ postgres=# drop table foo; DROP TABLE postgres=# This is on 8.4.4. The semicolon is required. On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 3:53 PM, Rich Shepard <rshep...@appl-ecosys.com>wrote: > On Tue, 28 Jun 2011, Rick Genter wrote: > > Silly question, but did you try it with a semicolon after the drop table? >> > > Rick, > > See my answer to Andy: that's incorrect syntax and psql complains. > > > I've noticed that if you are in the middle of a statement and issue a \ >> command, psql ignores the SQL you've typed in and just does the \ command. >> > > But there is no continuation command just 'drop table <tablename>'. > > Thanks, > > > Rich > > -- > Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@postgresql.org) > To make changes to your subscription: > http://www.postgresql.org/**mailpref/pgsql-general<http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general> > -- Rick Genter rick.gen...@gmail.com