Progress
Language Reference


DELETE Statement

Interfaces
OS
SpeedScript
All
All
Yes

Removes a record from a record buffer and from the database.

DATA MOVEMENT

SYNTAX

DELETE record
  [ VALIDATE ( condition , msg-expression ) ]
  [ NO-ERROR ] 

record

The name of a record buffer. You can delete a record only after it has been put into a record buffer by a CREATE, FIND, FOR EACH, or INSERT statement.

If you define an alternate buffer for a table, you can delete a record from that buffer by using the name of the buffer with the DELETE statement.

To delete a record in a table defined for multiple databases, you must qualify the record’s table name with the database name. See the Record Phrase reference entry for more information.

VALIDATE ( condition, msg-expression )

Use the VALIDATE option to specify a logical value that allows the deletion of a record when TRUE, but does not allow the deletion of a record when FALSE.

The condition is a Boolean expression (a constant, field name, variable name, or expression) with a value of TRUE or FALSE.

The msg-expression is the message you want to display if the condition is FALSE. You must enclose msg-expression in quotation marks ("").

You can also describe delete validation criteria for a table in the Data Dictionary. To suppress the Data Dictionary delete validation criteria for a table, use this VALIDATE option.

VALIDATE(TRUE,"") 

If you use the DELETE statement to delete a record in a work table, Progress disregards any VALIDATE option you use with the DELETE statement.

NO-ERROR

Specifies that any errors that occur when you try to delete the record are suppressed. After the DELETE statement completes, you can check the ERROR-STATUS system handle for information on any errors that might have occurred.

EXAMPLES

The r-delet.p procedure deletes all the records in the customer table.

r-delet.p
FOR EACH customer:
  DELETE customer.
END. 

The r-delet2.p procedure prompts the user for a customer number and then displays the name of that customer. It then prompts the user to press y to confirm the deletion of the customer record. The user’s response is stored in the del variable. If the value of the del variable is y, the procedure deletes the customer record.

r-delet2.p
DEFINE VARIABLE del AS LOGICAL FORMAT "y/n".
REPEAT:
  PROMPT-FOR customer.cust-num.
  FIND customer USING cust-num.
  DISPLAY name.
  del = no.
  UPDATE del LABEL "Enter ""y"" to confirm delete".
  IF del THEN DELETE customer.
END. 

The r-delval.p procedure prompts the user for a customer number. The procedure displays the name of the customer and prompts the user: Do you want to delete this customer? If the user answers no, the procedure prompts the user for another customer number. If the user answers yes, the procedure checks whether the customer has orders, using the VALIDATE option. If they do have orders, the procedure displays this message: This customer has outstanding orders and cannot be deleted. If the customer has no orders, the procedure deletes the customer.

r-delval.p
DEFINE VARIABLE ans AS LOGICAL.

REPEAT WITH 1 DOWN:
  PROMPT-FOR customer.cust-num.
  FIND customer USING customer.cust-num.
  DISPLAY name.
  ans = no.
  DISPLAY "Do you want to delete this customer ?" 
    WITH FRAME f-query.
  UPDATE ans WITH FRAME f-query NO-LABELS.
  IF ans
  THEN DELETE customer
    VALIDATE(NOT(CAN-FIND(order OF customer)),
    "This customer has outstanding orders and cannot be deleted.").
END. 

NOTES

SEE ALSO

CREATE Statement, FIND Statement, FOR Statement, INSERT Statement


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