Name: H5Ldelete
Signature:
herr_t H5Ldelete( hid_t loc_id, const char *name, hid_t lapl_id )

Purpose:
Removes a link from a group.

Description:
H5Ldelete removes the link specified by name from the location loc_id.

If the link being removed is a hard link, H5Ldelete also decrements the link count for the object to which name points. Unless there is a duplicate hard link in that group, this action removes the object to which name points from the group that previously contained it.

Object headers keep track of how many hard links refer to an object; when the hard link count, also referred to as the reference count, reaches zero, the object can be removed from the file. The file space associated will then be released, i.e., identified in memory as freespace. Objects which are open are not removed until all identifiers to the object are closed.

Note that space identified as freespace is available for re-use only as long as the file remains open; once a file has been closed, the HDF5 library loses track of freespace. See “Freespace Management” in “Performace Analysis and Issues” for further details.

Warning:
Exercise caution in the use of H5Ldelete; if the link being removed is on the only path leading to an HDF5 object, that object may become permanently inaccessible in the file.

Parameters:
hid_t loc_id IN: Identifier of the file or group containing the object.
const char *name     IN: Name of the link to delete.
hid_t lapl_id IN: Link access property list identifier.

Returns:
Returns a non-negative value if successful; otherwise returns a negative value.

Fortran90 Interface: h5ldelete_f
SUBROUTINE h5ldelete_f(loc_id, name, hdferr, lapl_id)
  IMPLICIT NONE
  INTEGER(HID_T), INTENT(IN) :: loc_id  ! Identifier of the file or group 
                                        ! containing the object
  CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(IN) :: name  ! Name of the link to delete
  INTEGER, INTENT(OUT) :: hdferr        ! Error code: 
                                        ! 0 on success and -1 on failure 
  INTEGER(HID_T), OPTIONAL, INTENT(IN) :: lapl_id 
                                        ! Link access property list identifier
END SUBROUTINE h5ldelete_f
    

History:
Release     C
1.8.0 Function introduced in this release.