User Guide

delete 279
delete
Availability
Flash Player 5.
Usage
delete reference
Parameters
reference
The name of the variable or object to eliminate.
Returns
A Boolean value.
Description
Operator; 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 takes care of removing the object and freeing 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. Predefined objects and properties, and variables declared with
var, cannot be
deleted. You cannot use the
delete operator to remove movie clips.
Example
Usage 1: The following example creates an object, uses it, and deletes it after it is no longer
needed:
var account:Object = new Object();
account.name = "Jon";
account.balance = 10000;
trace(account.name);
delete account;
trace(account.name); //output: Jon 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;
CHAPTER 2
ActionScript Language Reference