User Guide

Statements 201
delete statement
delete reference
Destroys the object reference specified by the reference parameter, and returns true if the
reference is successfully deleted;
false otherwise. This operator is useful for freeing memory
used by scripts. You can use the
delete operator to remove references to objects. After all
references to an object are removed, Flash Player removes the object and frees the memory
used by that object.
Although
delete is an operator, it is typically used as a statement, as shown in the following
example:
delete x;
The delete operator can fail and return false if the reference parameter does not exist or
cannot be deleted. You cannot delete predefined objects and properties, and you cannot delete
variables that are declared within a function with the
var statement. You cannot use the
delete operator to remove movie clips.
Availability: ActionScript 1.0; Flash Player 5
Returns
Boolean - A Boolean value.
Parameters
reference:Object - The name of the variable or object to eliminate.
Example
Usage 1: The following example creates an object, uses it, and deletes it when it is no longer
needed:
var account:Object = new Object();
account.name = "Jon";
account.balance = 10000;
trace(account.name); //output: Jon
delete account;
trace(account.name); //output: undefined
Usage 2: The following example deletes a property of an object:
// create the new object "account"
var account:Object = new Object();
// assign property name to the account
account.name = "Jon";
// delete the property
delete account.name;