SQL> drop database;
drop database
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01586: database must be mounted EXCLUSIVE and not open for this operation

SQL> select instance_name, status from v$instance;

INSTANCE_NAME   STATUS
---------------- ------------
ANDREA       OPEN

SQL> ! oerr ora 01586
01586, 00000, "database must be mounted EXCLUSIVE and not open for this operation"
// *Cause: Attempting to DROP DATABASE when the database is not mounted
//          EXCLUSIVE.
// *Action: Mount the database in EXCLUSIVE mode.

SQL> alter database close;

Database altered.

SQL> drop database;
drop database
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-12719: operation requires database is in RESTRICTED mode
SQL> alter system enable RESTRICTED session;

System altered.

SQL> drop database;

Database dropped.

Disconnected from Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options
SQL> exit
------------------------------------------------

DROP DATABASE

Purpose

Use the DROP DATABASE command to delete the target database and, if RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog, unregister it. RMAN removes all datafiles, online redo logs, and control files belonging to the target database. By default, RMAN prompts for confirmation.

Prerequisites

Execute this command only at the RMAN prompt. You must be connected to a target database. The target database must be mounted exclusive and not open, and started in RESTRICT mode.

Syntax

dropDatabase::=

Description of the illustration dropdatabase.gif

Semantics

Syntax Element	Description
INCLUDING BACKUPS	Deletes backup sets, proxy copies, image copies, and archived redo logs associated with the target database from all configured device types. Note: If you have been using a recovery catalog but run RMAN in NOCATALOG mode when you drop the database, then RMAN will not delete any backups which are known to the recovery catalog but no longer exist in the target database control file.
NOPROMPT	Does not prompt for confirmation before deleting the database.

Example

Example 2-69 Deleting a Database

In this example, you want to delete a test database called test1 that is registered in the recovery catalog. You start the RMAN client, connect to database test1 as TARGET, and connect to the recovery catalog. You then run the following commands to delete the target database files, as well as all backups, copies, and archived logs associated with the database:

RMAN> CONNECT TARGET SYS@test1

target database Password: password connected to target database: TEST1 (DBID=39525561)

RMAN> STARTUP FORCE MOUNT
RMAN> SQL 'ALTER SYSTEM ENABLE RESTRICTED SESSION';
RMAN> DROP DATABASE INCLUDING BACKUPS NOPROMPT;

drop database---ora-01586

DROP DATABASE