VMS Help PASCAL, Input Output, Direct Access, DELETE  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

  The DELETE procedure deletes the current file component.  DELETE
  can  be used only on files with relative or indexed organization
  that have been opened for direct or keyed access; it  cannot  be
  used on files with sequential organization.

  Syntax:

     DELETE( file_variable[[, ERROR := error-recovery]] );

  The 'file_variable' is the name of the file variable  associated
  with the file from which a component is to be deleted.

  The 'error-recovery' specifies the action  to  be  taken  if  an
  error occurs during execution of the routine.  By default, after
  the first error, the error message is printed and  execution  is
  stopped.

  The file must be in inspection mode before DELETE is called; the
  mode does not change after the procedure's execution.

  When the DELETE procedure is called, the current  component,  as
  indicated by the file buffer, must already have been locked by a
  successful FIND, FINDK, GET, RESET, or RESETK  procedure  before
  it  can  be  deleted.  After deletion, the component is unlocked
  and the UFB function returns TRUE.

  See the "Compaq Pascal Language Reference Manual" for a complete
  description of the DELETE procedure.