# Delete

The `Delete` action deletes a particular item or set of items in a managed repository through an appropriate connector. Although the delete action can query IDOL Server, the documents are not deleted from IDOL Server until a connector runs a synchronize task on the repository and sends delete commands to IDOL.

There are several ways that you can specify the documents to delete:

- To specify documents by their identifiers, set the `Identifiers` action parameter. The Distributed Connector queries IDOL Server to retrieve the value of the `AUTN_GROUP` field from each document, so that it can send `Delete` actions to the correct connector groups.
- To specify documents by their identifiers, you can alternatively set the `IdentifiersXML` action parameter. When you set the `IdentifiersXML` parameter, the Distributed Connector does not query IDOL, so you must also specify the `AUTN_GROUP` action parameter. You can use the `IdentifiersXML` parameter instead of `Identifiers` if you want to avoid the query to IDOL.
- To specify documents that match a query, set the `Text` action parameter. The Distributed Connector queries IDOL Server to find any documents that match the query, and then deletes those documents from their repositories.
- To specify documents that match a stored state token, set the `StateMatchID` action parameter. The Distributed Connector queries IDOL Server to retrieve information about the documents contained in the token, and then deletes those documents from their repositories.

You must set exactly one of the parameters `Identifiers`, `IdentifiersXML`, `Text`, and `StateMatchID`.

## Parameters

Parameter Name | Description | Required
--- | --- | ---
AnyLanguage | Sets the value of the `AnyLanguage` parameter, used when queries are sent to IDOL. |
AUTN_GROUP | The connector group to send the action to. This parameter is ignored unless you set `IdentifiersXML`. | Required if you set `IdentifiersXML`.
Combine | Sets the value of the `Combine` parameter, used when queries are sent to IDOL. |
Config | An optional Base64 encoded configuration file, to override the connector configuration file. |
DatabaseMatch | Sets the value of the `DatabaseMatch` parameter, used when queries are sent to IDOL. |
FieldText | Sets the value of the `FieldText` parameter, used when queries are sent to IDOL. |
Identifiers | A comma-separated list of identifiers specifying the documents to delete. | You must set one of `Identifiers`, `IdentifiersXML`, `StateMatchID`, or `Text`.
IdentifiersXML | Specifies the identifiers of the documents to delete. | You must set one of `Identifiers`, `IdentifiersXML`, `StateMatchID`, or `Text`.
InsertMeta | Inserts metadata into the IDOL index related to what was deleted during the action. |
RemoveMeta | Removes metadata from the IDOL index following the action. When a connector reports to the Distributed Connector (using the `FetchFinished` action) that it has deleted documents, the Distributed Connector can remove metadata fields from the documents in IDOL. |
SecurityInfo | Specifies the value of the `SecurityInfo` parameter, used when queries are sent to IDOL. |
StateMatchID | The ID of an IDOL state token that specifies the documents to delete. For example, you can use an existing IDOL query that has been refined. You can set this parameter instead of specifying document identifiers or specifying a new query to send to IDOL. For more information about the `StateMatchID` parameter, refer to the IDOL Server Reference. | You must set one of `Identifiers`, `IdentifiersXML`, `StateMatchID`, or `Text`.
StoredStateField | Sets the value of the `StoredStateField` parameter when queries are sent to IDOL. This parameter specifies the name of a document field to use when creating a stored state token. |
TaskSections | To force the connector to use a specific task section (in its configuration file) to delete the documents, set this parameter. By default, the correct task section is obtained from the document identifier. |
Text | Sets the value of the `Text` parameter, used when queries are sent to IDOL. | You must set one of `Identifiers`, `IdentifiersXML`, `StateMatchID`, or `Text`.

Any additional parameters that you specify are passed to the connector that performs the action.

For more information about IDOL query parameters, refer to the IDOL Server Reference.

## Examples

To specify the documents to delete by their identifiers:

    /action=fetch&fetchaction=delete
    	      &identifiers=PGlkIHM9IkRJUjEiIHI9IkM6XEF1dG...

To delete all documents that are returned as a result of a query to IDOL server:

    /action=fetch&fetchaction=delete
    	      &text=dolphins
    	      &fieldtext=EQUAL{1}:MAMMAL
     	      &securityinfo=...

To delete documents that were returned in response to a previous IDOL query:

    /action=fetch&fetchaction=delete
    	      &statematchid=B8UGIK95FKJG-23

## Response

The `delete` action is asynchronous, so you will receive a token in response to the request. Use the token with the `QueueInfo` action to check the status of the action:

    <action>
      <token>MTAuMi4xMDUuMzQ6MTIzNDpGRVRDSDoxNDAyOTU3MzY4</token>
      <status>Finished</status>
      <queued_time>2009-Oct-15 14:44:32</queued_time>
      <time_in_queue>0</time_in_queue>
      <process_start_time>2009-Oct-15 14:44:32</process_start_time>
      <time_processing>3</time_processing>
      <process_end_time>2009-Oct-15 14:44:35</process_end_time>
    </action>

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