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Delete Process Flow

Preparing for an EIM delete process requires a thorough understanding of the parameter settings that specify delete criteria. You should be very careful and specific when setting delete-criteria parameters to avoid unintentional data loss. The EIM parameters mentioned in the following process flow are discussed in depth in Parameters Used for Deletes in Both the Header and Process Sections.

To delete data, EIM performs the following steps.

1. EIM initializes EIM tables for delete.

   If clear interface Table in the configuration file is true, all rows with the specified batch number are deleted. clear interface Table must be false for a delete process that uses EIM table values to identify rows for deletion.

2. EIM deletes rows.
   1. If the delete exact parameter in the configuration file is set to TRUE, EIM deletes the rows from the table that match the user key defined in the EIM table.
   2. If the DELETE MATCHES parameter in the configuration file is set to a base table, EIM deletes the rows from the target base table that match the predicate specified in the parameter.
   3. If the DELETE ALL ROWS parameter in the configuration file is set to TRUE, EIM deletes all rows from the target base table.

      For information on configuration file parameters to use in a delete process, see Parameters Used for Deletes in Both the Header and Process Sections.

3. EIM sets if_row_stat to deleted for rows that are successfully processed.
   • When a foreign key column that references the deleted record is a required one, the record with the foreign key is deleted. Otherwise, the foreign key column is cleared.

     NOTE:  If the record to be deleted is a parent, the child records are affected as described above. However, if a non-required foreign key is part of the user key and clearing it will create a conflict, then the record will be deleted.

   • EIM deletion of a parent row causes cascade deletion of child rows only if the foreign key column in the child table is a mandatory column. Otherwise a cascade clear is performed.

NOTE:  Because the delete process affects the contents of base tables, transaction logging should be in effect during delete operations if you have active mobile Web clients, so that the appropriate transactions are captured for later docking.