If a note cannot be created because the note pad is constrained, consider deleting one or more notes to free up some note space and reissue the request. Deleting notes will probably resolve the constraint, but not necessarily. When a note pad is constrained, note pads can interfere with each other in the sense that they compete to claim whatever scarce structure storage is available for notes. The storage consumed by the note that you delete could be claimed for a note in a different note pad before you are able to reissue your request.

Furthermore, a note pad can transition between the constrained and not constrained states as the result of various external actions. For example, structure alter, structure rebuild, structure create, structure delete, or even the creation and deletion of notes and note pads could affect the constrained condition. So deleting a note from a constrained note pad might not free up note space if the system takes the unused storage away from the note pad structure through alter processing.

Reissuing the request is certainly reasonable in the constrained case even if the dynamics are such that notes are not likely to be deleted from your note pad through normal activity. When a note pad is constrained, your reissued request might work as the result of notes getting deleted from other note pads in the structure.

As a last resort, you might delete the note pad and create it anew. Alternatively, you might create another note pad for your program to use. Note that there is no guarantee that a new note pad can be created successfully. However, a newly created note pad will not be constrained. If XCF cannot find a structure with enough space to accommodate all the notes requested by all the note pads that reside in the structure, the create request is rejected. Deleting your note pad could be disruptive to your application. Adding another note pad likely increases the complexity of your program.