# Clear

This function is used to completely erase values in fields, a named variable or a list of fields in a named variable. More information is given in Statement Source/Target Determination regarding the runtime determination of which items to clear.

When a field is cleared its value is set to empty. When a field type is chosen which allows more than one item, all items in the field type will be removed.

When the source mode is Named Variable and as list is checked, the text field, after unescaping, is considered to be a list of named variables separated by the default list delimiter (\~) or newline (\n) characters. Every named variable in the list will be cleared.

Please read

When a named variable is inserted via the Insert Named Variable context menu item it is unescaped as that is what is required when as list is not enabled. However, when as list is enabled, it is entirely likely that the list is contained in a named variable. In that case manually escape the named variable as \<named variable> or hold down the Shift key when inserting it via the context menu. Either way you get a warning asking if that is what you intended. You can ignore the warning. To get around the issue the text field can be displayed in a multi-line editor by clicking on the control to the right of the field. \n sequences are changed to newline characters when displayed and changed back to \n sequences after editing.

examples:

    ' Clear a single named variable 'nvar'
    Clear named variable 'nvar'

    ' Clear named variables listed in 'varlist'
    Set named variable 'varlist' to "nvar1\~nvar2\~nvar3"
    Clear named variables in list '\<varlist>'

    ' Clear named variables specified in an inline list
    Clear named variables in list 'nvar1\nnvar2\nnvar3'

Field Selection Modes in Tables