DROP [ONLINE|OFFLINE] INDEX index_name ON tbl_name

DROP INDEX drops the index named index_name from the table tbl_name. This statement is mapped to an ALTER TABLE statement to drop the index. See Section 13.1.7, “ALTER TABLE Syntax”.

To drop a primary key, the index name is always PRIMARY, which must be specified as a quoted identifier because PRIMARY is a reserved word:

DROP INDEX `PRIMARY` ON t;

Indexes on variable-width columns of NDB tables are dropped online; that is, without any table copying. The table is not locked against access from other MySQL Cluster API nodes, although it is locked against other operations on the same API node for the duration of the operation. This is done automatically by the server whenever it determines that it is possible to do so; you do not have to use any special SQL syntax or server options to cause it to happen.

In standard MySQL 5.5 releases, it is not possible to override the server when it determines that an index is to be dropped without table copying. In MySQL Cluster, you can drop indexes offline (which causes the table to be locked for all API nodes in the cluster) using the OFFLINE keyword. The rules and limitations governing DROP OFFLINE INDEX and DROP ONLINE INDEX are the same as for ALTER OFFLINE TABLE ... DROP INDEX and ALTER ONLINE TABLE ... DROP INDEX. You cannot cause the noncopying dropping of an index that would normally be dropped offline by using the ONLINE keyword: If it is not possible to perform the DROP operation without table copying, the server ignores the ONLINE keyword. For more information, see Section 13.1.7.2, “ALTER TABLE Online Operations in MySQL Cluster”.

The ONLINE and OFFLINE keywords are available only in MySQL Cluster; attempting to use these keywords in standard MySQL Server 5.5 releases results in a syntax error.