gd_delete(3) GETDATA gd_delete(3)NAME
gd_delete, gd_delete_alias — remove an entry from a dirfile
SYNOPSIS
#include <getdata.h>
int gd_delete(DIRFILE *dirfile, const char *field_code, unsigned int
flags);
int gd_delete_alias(DIRFILE *dirfile, const char *alias_name, unsigned
int flags);
DESCRIPTION
The gd_delete() function attempts to delete the field specified by
field_code in the dirfile specified by dirfile. The field_code should
not contain a representation suffix.
The gd_delete_alias() function behaves similarly, but deletes the alias
specified by alias_name instead. (This function is needed, since pass‐
ing alias_name to gd_delete() as field_code would have resulted in the
field pointed to by the alias being deleted instead.)
The flags argument influences how the deletion attempt occurs. It may
be zero, for the default behaviour, or else one or more of the follow‐
ing flags, bitwise or'd together:
GD_DEL_DATA
If the field to be deleted is a RAW field, also delete the bi‐
nary data file associated with it. If field_code specified a
RAW field and this flag is not specified, the field will still
be deleted but the binary file will be left untouched. Ignored
by gd_delete_alias().
GD_DEL_DEREF
If the field to be deleted is a CONST or CARRAY field which is
used as a parameter in the specification of other fields, re‐
solve these other fields dependence on the deleted field by re‐
placing instances of field_code in their field specifications
with the value of the scalar field.
GD_DEL_FORCE
Delete the indicated entry, even if it is used in the specifi‐
cation of other fields, either as a input for a derived vector
field or as a scalar parameter in a field specification, or if
it has aliases pointing to it.
GD_DEL_META
If the field to be deleted has metafields attached to it, at‐
tempt to delete those, too. If the field has metafields and
this flag is not specified, the call will fail with the
GD_E_DELETE error. Ignored by gd_delete_alias().
RETURN VALUE
On successful deletion, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned and
the dirfile error is set to a non-zero error value. Possible error
values are:
GD_E_ACCMODE
The specified dirfile was opened read-only.
GD_E_ALLOC
The library was unable to allocate memory.
GD_E_BAD_CODE
The field specified by field_code was not found in the data‐
base.
GD_E_BAD_DIRFILE
The supplied dirfile was invalid.
GD_E_DELETE
The attempt to delete the field failed. Either the specified
field is used in the specification of other fields and
GD_DEL_FORCE or GD_DEL_DEREF was not specified, or it has
metafields and GD_DEL_META was not specified.
GD_E_INTERNAL_ERROR
An internal error occurred in the library while trying to per‐
form the task. This indicates a bug in the library. Please
report the incident to the GetData developers.
GD_E_PROTECTED
The metadata of the fragment containing the field was protected
from change. Or, the deletion of the binary data file associ‐
ated with a RAW field was attempted and the data of the frag‐
ment was protected.
GD_E_RAW_IO
An error occurred while trying to close or delete the binary
file associated with a RAW field.
GD_E_UNKNOWN_ENCODING
The GD_DEL_DATA flag was given but the encoding scheme of the
indicated format specification fragment is not known to the li‐
brary. As a result, the library was unable to delete the bina‐
ry file associated with a RAW field.
GD_E_UNSUPPORTED
The GD_DEL_DATA flag was given but the encoding scheme of the
indicated format specification fragment does not support delet‐
ing the binary file associated with a RAW field.
The dirfile error may be retrieved by calling gd_error(3). A descrip‐
tive error string for the last error encountered can be obtained from a
call to gd_error_string(3).
SEE ALSOgd_open(3), gd_close(3), gd_error(3), gd_error_string(3),
gd_metaflush(3)Version 0.8.0 1 January 2012 gd_delete(3)