The DELETE ELEMENT command deletes an element from a CMS library. If the element is set to /REFERENCE_COPY and there is a current reference copy directory for the CMS library, CMS deletes the corresponding file from the reference copy directory. There cannot be any existing reservations for the element. The element cannot be a member of a group, nor can one of its generations belong to a class, or be under review. If one of the element's generations is under review, use the CANCEL REVIEW command to remove it from the review list. If an element is reserved, you must unreserve or replace it before you can delete the element. If the element belongs to any groups or has generations in any classes, use the REMOVE ELEMENT or REMOVE GENERATION command to remove it. Even though an element is deleted, records of transactions that created and used the element are retained in the library history. You can reuse the deleted element name to create a new element. However, there is no distinction between the two elements in the library history, except that their transactions are separated by entries for DELETE ELEMENT and CREATE ELEMENT commands.