Re: Naming Object commands "Delete" is a source of user errors

On 16 July 2025 08:19:09 Darren Duncan <darren(at)darrenduncan(dot)net> wrote:

> I am finding that it is a recurring and damaging source of user error that
> Object/Explorer commands named "Delete" actually correspond to SQL DROP rather
> than SQL DELETE or TRUNCATE. Multiple times I have accidentally dropped tables
> when I meant to just truncate them.

In fairness, you don't (SQL) DELTE tables - you delete their rows, hence
the command is DELETE FROM. And it is intuitive that when you right-click
on an object and click "Delete", it is the object itself which gets zapped.
Also, TRUNCATE is there in the menu too.

Having said that, I recall that the menu used to say "Drop" rather than
"Delete", which IMHO is clearer to SQL-savvy people.... it got changed at
some point.

Ray.

>
> I created a GitHub issue requesting to rename the "Delete" commands to
> "Drop" to
> help avoid this regular source of cognitive dissonance that leads to errors.
>
> https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/issues/8958
>
> I'm also mentioning the issue in this support list to help draw attention
> to it.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Darren Duncan