Delete note pad

Issue a delete note pad request to delete a note pad. An answer area is optional. If an answer is provided, it must be large enough to hold the answer area header. The delete request is rejected if the note pad does not exist.

You can optionally specify the timestamp when the note pad was created to ensure that the correct instance of the note pad is deleted. The note pad can be deleted conditionally or unconditionally. With a conditional delete, you can prevent the note pad from being deleted if it contains notes, or has connections, or both.

If the note pad contains notes when the note pad is deleted, the notes are deleted along with the note pad. If connections to the note pad exist when the note pad is deleted, the connections are also deleted. Depending on the timing as to when the deletion is recognized, connections deleted in this manner might have their IXCNOTE requests rejected for a variety of reasons. For example, a note request could be rejected because the specified note does not exist, or because the connection does not exist, or because the note pad does not exist.

In general, several tasks must be accomplished to delete the note pad. For example, XCF might need to fence the note pad in the host structure to prevent any further note processing, fence the note pad in the XCF catalog to prevent new connections, delete any connections that still exist in the sysplex, release the resources consumed by the note pad in the host structure, and remove the relevant entry from the XCF note pad catalog. Usually the XCF Note Pad Services successfully perform these operations as needed and the note pad is physically deleted by the time the service routine returns control to your program. However, XCF might not be able to perform some or all of these tasks if the note pad structure or the XCF catalog of note pads is not accessible.

In general, the delete request is deemed successful when XCF is able to fence the note pad to prevent note requests from being processed and new connections from being created. The note pad might not be physically deleted, but it is logically deleted. The physical existence of a logically deleted note pad is transparent to your program. A query note pad request would indicate that the note pad does not exist and a new note pad could be created with the same name. As needed, XCF will automatically finish the physical deletion of the note pad when the host structure and catalog become accessible. Although the physical existence of a logically deleted note pad will not directly impact your program, there could in some cases be an indirect impact. For example, the create of a new note pad might be rejected if the XCF catalog appears to be full because the logically deleted note pad still consumes an entry.

If the host structure or the XCF catalog is not accessible, XCF might not be able to fence the note pad. In such cases, the delete request might complete with a return and reason code indicating:

No system resources. In this case, no progress was made. The note pad still exists. It has not been marked for deletion. In some cases, reissuing the request with a longer timeout value might allow the delete to make progress. Otherwise, reissue the delete request at a later time. Alternatively, your program might alert the installation regarding the need to intervene manually through use of the XCF delete utility (IXCDELNP) after the accessibility issues are resolved.
Delete pending. The delete of the note pad is pending. The note pad was fenced in the host structure, but not in the catalog. The note pad exists both physically and logically, but it is not usable for note requests. XCF automatically finishes the delete of the note pad when circumstances allow. Your program could be impacted by a note pad in this state.
In the meantime, you might be able to create a new connection, but it will not be able to process any notes. You will not be able to create a new instance of the note pad until XCF logically deletes the note pad. Note requests will be rejected, generally with a return and reason code indicating that the note pad is quiesced. If an answer area was provided for the note request, the quiesce details will indicate that the note pad is being deleted. If your program needs to wait for the note pad to be deleted, consider issuing an IXCNOTE pause connection request to wait for the note pad to be deleted.
Status unknown. The status of the delete is unknown. The note pad might have been deleted, the delete might be pending, or it might be that no progress was made. Consider using a query note pad request to determine the state of the note pad. If it still exists, reissue the delete request. See Status unknown conditions for more information.
As a result of the delete note pad request, XCF might issues messages. By default, these messages are written to the hard copy log. Message IXC473I is issued when a note pad is deleted. If the note pad is logically deleted, two messages might be issued. The first message will indicate that the note pad is in the midst of being deleted. Whichever system in the sysplex finishes the pending delete will issue the message to indicate that the delete of the note pad has completed.