====== Delete statement   ======


 
==== Description ====
 
Deletes a row from a table.
 
==== Syntax ====
 
**Delete**[//tablevar// %%|%%  Cursor //cursorvar//], //key// Then  Else //statements//
 
==== Parameters ====
 
The Delete statement has the following parameters.

^Parameter^Description^
|//tablevar//|Created by a previous Open statement.|
|//cursorvar//|If accessing a cursor, //cursorvar// contains a cursor variable, and is preceded with the keyword Cursor. Cursor variables are initialized with a Select...By statement.|
|Then|The statement(s) following Then are executed if a record is deleted successfully.|
|Else|The statement(s) following Else are executed if the deletion fails. The Status() function indicates the severity of the error, and the system variable @FILE_ERROR contains detail about the nature of the error.||

 
==== See Also ====
 
[[if|If]], [[open|Open]], [[select_by|Select...By]]
 
==== Example ====
 
<code>
/* This code fragment selects the table and reads each row. If the fifth column of any row is the string "INACTIVE", then the row is deleted from the table. */

$Insert Logical
open "CUSTOMER" to CUST_FILE then
 select CUST_FILE
 done = FALSE$
 loop
  readnext @ID Else Done = TRUE$
 until done
  read CUST_REC from CUST_FILE, @ID then
   if CUST_REC<5> = "INACTIVE" then
    delete CUST_FILE, @ID else
     GoSub delete_error
    end
   end
  end else
   GoSub Read_Error
  end
 repeat
end else
 GoSub Open_Error
end
</code>