---
title: "dblink_build_sql_delete"
id: contrib-dblink-build-sql-delete
pg_version: "20devel"
---

<a id="contrib-dblink-build-sql-delete"></a>

# dblink_build_sql_delete — builds a DELETE statement using supplied values for primary key field values 

## Synopsis

```
dblink_build_sql_delete(text relname,
                        int2vector primary_key_attnums,
                        integer num_primary_key_atts,
                        text[] tgt_pk_att_vals_array) returns text
```

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## Description

`dblink_build_sql_delete` can be useful in doing selective replication of a local table to a remote database. It builds an SQL `DELETE` command that will delete the row with the given primary key values. 

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## Arguments

**`relname`**

 Name of a local relation, for example `foo` or `myschema.mytab`. Include double quotes if the name is mixed-case or contains special characters, for example `"FooBar"`; without quotes, the string will be folded to lower case. **`primary_key_attnums`**

 Attribute numbers (1-based) of the primary key fields, for example `1 2`. **`num_primary_key_atts`**

 The number of primary key fields. **`tgt_pk_att_vals_array`**

 Values of the primary key fields to be used in the resulting `DELETE` command. Each field is represented in text form. <a id="id-1.11.7.21.24.7"></a>

## Return Value

Returns the requested SQL statement as text.

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## Notes

As of PostgreSQL 9.0, the attribute numbers in `primary_key_attnums` are interpreted as logical column numbers, corresponding to the column's position in `SELECT * FROM relname`. Previous versions interpreted the numbers as physical column positions. There is a difference if any column(s) to the left of the indicated column have been dropped during the lifetime of the table. 

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## Examples


SELECT dblink_build_sql_delete('"MyFoo"', '1 2', 2, '{"1", "b"}');
           dblink_build_sql_delete
---------------------------------------------
 DELETE FROM "MyFoo" WHERE f1='1' AND f2='b'
(1 row)