Deletes the specified view definition. When the DROP VIEW
    statement executes, SQL deletes the view definition from the
    database. If you attach to the database using the PATHNAME
    qualifier, SQL also deletes the view definition from the
    repository.

1  –  Environment

    You can use the DROP VIEW statement:

    o  In interactive SQL

    o  Embedded in host language programs to be precompiled

    o  As part of a procedure in an SQL module

    o  In dynamic SQL as a statement to be dynamically executed

2  –  Format

  DROP VIEW <view-name> --+-+---------------+-+->
                          | +-> CASCADE  ---+ |
                          | +-> RESTRICT  --+ |
                          | +-> IF EXISTS --+ |
                          +----------<--------+

3  –  Arguments

3.1  –  CASCADE

    Specifies that you want SQL to delete all other view definitions
    that refer to the named view and then delete that view
    definition. This is known as a cascading delete. If you delete
    a view referenced by a stored routine or trigger with a routine
    or language-semantic dependency, SQL also marks the affected
    routines and triggers as invalid.

3.2  –  IF_EXISTS

    Prevents SQL command language from displaying error messages if
    the referenced object does not exist in the database.

3.3  –  RESTRICT

    Specifies that you want SQL to delete only the named view
    definition. If there are other views, triggers, or routines that
    refer to the named view, the deletion fails. RESTRICT is the
    default.

3.4  –  view-name

    Specifies the name of the view definition you want to delete.

4  –  Examples

    Example 1: Deleting a view definition

    The following example deletes the view definition CURRENT_INFO:

    SQL> DROP VIEW CURRENT_INFO;
    SQL> COMMIT;

    Example 2: Deleting a view with dependent views

    This example shows that SQL will not automatically delete any
    views that refer to the view named in the DROP VIEW statement.
    You must use the CASCADE keyword to delete a view with dependent
    views.

    SQL> DROP VIEW CURRENT_JOB;
    %RDB-E-NO_META_UPDATE, metadata update failed
    -RDMS-F-VIEWINVIEW, view CURRENT_JOB is referenced by view CURRENT_INFO
    -RDMS-F-VIEWNOTDEL, view CURRENT_JOB has not been deleted

    SQL> DROP VIEW CURRENT_JOB CASCADE;
    View CURRENT_INFO is also being dropped.
    SQL> COMMIT;

    Example 3: Adding new definitions to a database

    When updating metadata definitions using a predefined SQL script
    it sometimes required to remove objects that may not be present
    in all databases being maintained. Adding a DROP VIEW, for
    instance, will result in an error as shown here.

    SQL> drop view CURRENT_INFO;
    %SQL-F-RELNOTDEF, Table CURRENT_INFO is not defined in database or schema
    SQL> create view CURRENT_INFO
    cont> ...etc...

    By using the IF EXISTS clause the error message is supressed and
    makes for a less confusing execution of the maintance script.

    SQL> drop view CURRENT_INFO if exists;
    SQL> create view CURRENT_INFO
    cont> ...etc...