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pythonsqliteparameterized-querysql-drop

Python sqlite3 parameterized drop table

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.

Solution

  • 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