How do I delete all data for a family in hbase tab

Question

We have an HBase table with multiple families, and we need to delete all data for a certain family, but leave the rest untouched. We only need to delete the data, and leave the family there, as we will be repopulating the table with new data for that family. The simplest way seems to be to delete the files associated with that family from the file system (found under ../{table_name}/{some_hash}/{family_name}/). Are there any side effects to doing this that we should be aware of? If there are, are there any safer, easy ways to do this?

Answer 1

The safer way would be to deleteColumn and remove the family completely and then re-add it with addColumn. Note that you need to disable the table before you make these changes