Delete Method (Attachment Object)

The Delete method removes the Attachment object from the Attachments collection.

Syntax

objAttachment.Delete( )

Remarks

The Delete method performs an irreversible operation on the collection. It calls Release on the collection's reference to the Attachment object. If you have another reference to the attachment, you can still access its properties and methods, but you can never again associate it with any collection because the Add method always creates a new object. You should Set your reference variable either to Nothing or to another attachment.

The final Release on the Attachment object takes place when you assign your reference variable to Nothing, or when you call Delete if you had no other reference. At this point the object is removed from memory. Attempted access to a released object results in an error return of CdoE_INVALID_OBJECT.

When you delete a member of a collection, the collection is immediately refreshed, meaning that its Count property is reduced by one and its members are reindexed. To access a member following the deleted member, you must use its new index value. For more information, see Looping Through a Collection.

The effect of the Delete operation is not permanent until you use the Update, Send, or Delete method on the Message object to which this attachment belongs.

The immediate parent of this Attachment object is an Attachments collection, which is a child of the message. You can delete all the message's attachments by calling the collection's Delete method.

Example

This code fragment illustrates the two situations previously explained. The Set statement calls AddRef on the first Attachment object. That reference survives the call to Delete and has to be reassigned. The second Attachment object is deleted without creating another reference, and no other action is necessary.

' assume valid Message object 
Set objAttachment = objMessage.Attachments.Item(1) 
objAttachment.Delete ' still have a reference from Set statement 
' ... other operations on objAttachment possible but pointless ... 
Set objAttachment = Nothing ' necessary to remove reference 
' ... 
objMessage.Attachments.Item(2).Delete ' no reference to remove