Delete all the tables within a Dataset in BigQuery using the bq command line utility.

delete-all-the-tables.sh

#!/bin/bash

# VARS
PROJECT=my-project
DATASET_NAME=Datisan_TEST

# tables will have the structure day_tables_prefix_yyyyMMdd (sharded daily tables)
TABLE_PREFIX=day_tables_prefix

# make sure we are on the right project
echo
echo 'Make sure we are on the correct project...'
gcloud config set project $PROJECT

# test the function by sending a pub/sub topic message
echo
echo 'Deleting the tables...'

for table in `bq ls --max_results=10000000 $DATASET_NAME | grep TABLE | grep $TABLE_PREFIX |awk '{print $1}'`; 
do
  FQ_TABLE_NAME=$PROJECT:$DATASET_NAME.$table
  echo $FQ_TABLE_NAME;
  bq rm -f -t $FQ_TABLE_NAME;
done

echo
echo 'Check the output to ensure all is well in the world...'
echo