FREE (for TEXT/BYTE)

The FREE statement releases resources allocated to the specified variable.

Syntax

FREE target

target is the name of a TEXT or BYTE variable to be freed.

Usage

When followed by a variable name, the FREE statement releases resources allocated to store the data of TEXT and BYTE variables.

If the TEXT/BYTE variable was located in memory, the runtime system releases the memory. If the variable was located in a file, the runtime system deletes the file.

For variables declared in a local scope of reference, the resources are automatically freed by the runtime system when returning from the function or MAIN block.

After freeing a TEXT or BYTE variable, it must be re-configured with a new LOCATE call.

Temporary files of large object are automatically deleted when the program ends.

Example

MAIN
  DEFINE ctext TEXT
  DATABASE stock
  LOCATE ctext IN FILE "/tmp/data1.txt"
  SELECT col1 INTO ctext FROM lobtab WHERE key=123
  FREE ctext
END MAIN