> The sentence really should be written a way that indicates that we're
> talking about who can execute this particular command, rather than who
> can manage to accomplish the removal of the object. I don't think
> it's practical to document the latter. We'd have to include:
>
> - the owner of the table
> - the superuser
> - the schema owner, since they could drop the entire schema
>
At least the schema owner can actually run DROP TABLE. Interestingly, the
database owner CANNOT.
> The phrase "to execute this command" makes the scope of what follows
> clear: it's just who can run this command, NOT who might be able by
> indirect means to get rid of the object. To cover all bases, we could
> add ", or the superuser" to the end of the sentence.
>
>
Example / Proof:
postgres=# select version();
version
-----
PostgreSQL 8.4.8 ...[snip]
(1 row)
postgres=# create role dbowner login password 'pass';
CREATE ROLE
postgres=# create database testdb owner dbowner;
CREATE DATABASE
testdb=# create role schemaowner login password 'pass';
CREATE ROLE
testdb=# create schema testschema;
CREATE SCHEMA
testdb=# alter schema testschema owner to schemaowner;
ALTER SCHEMA
testdb=# create role tableowner login password 'pass';
CREATE ROLE
testdb=# create table testschema.testtable (val text);
CREATE TABLE
testdb=# alter table testschema.testtable owner to tableowner;
ALTER TABLE
testdb=# \c testdb schemaowner
Password for user schemaowner:
psql (8.4.8)
You are now connected to database "testdb" as user "schemaowner".
testdb=> \du schemaowner
List of roles
Role name | Attributes | Member of
-------------+------------+-----------
schemaowner | | {}
testdb=> \dt+ testschema.testtable;
List of relations
Schema | Name | Type | Owner | Size | Description
------------+-----------+-------+------------+---------+-------------
testschema | testtable | table | tableowner | 0 bytes |
(1 row)
testdb=> \dn+ testschema
List of schemas
Name | Owner | Access privileges | Description
------------+-------------+-------------------+-------------
testschema | schemaowner | |
(1 row)
testdb=> drop table testschema.testtable;
DROP TABLE
If I try as DB owner:
// reconnect as superuser.
testdb=# create table testschema.testtable (val text);
CREATE TABLE
testdb=# alter table testschema.testtable owner to tableowner;
ALTER TABLE
testdb=# \c testdb dbowner;
Password for user dbowner:
psql (8.4.8)
You are now connected to database "testdb" as user "dbowner".
testdb=> drop table testschema.testtable;
ERROR: permission denied for schema testschema
Derrick
