Re: BUG #5347: initdb does not work when a data directory has been deleted

"David Andersen" <david.andersen@andersen-innovation.com> writes:
> [ initdb fails with ]
> initdb: directory "../data" exists but is not empty
> If you want to create a new database system, either remove or empty
> the directory "../data" or run initdb
> with an argument other than "../data".

This is not a bug.  It's an intentional safety feature to prevent people
from accidentally wiping out their databases by re-initdb'ing over them.
If you really want to re-initdb, do what the message tells you to.

            regards, tom lane