@Override
  public List<String> listPartitionNames(String catName, String dbName, String tableName,
      short max) throws MetaException {
    List<String> pns = null;
    boolean success = false;
    try {
      openTransaction();
      LOG.debug("Executing getPartitionNames");
      pns = getPartitionNamesNoTxn(catName, dbName, tableName, max);
      success = commitTransaction();
    } finally {
      rollbackAndCleanup(success, null);
    }
    return pns;
  }
Drop an MPartition and cascade deletes (e.g., delete partition privilege grants,
  drop the storage descriptor cleanly, etc.)
standalone-metastore/metastore-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/ObjectStore.java