All good answers. I prefer:

DELETE from DOWNLOAD_TABLE3 ;
WHERE atc('pled',Field_a) = 0 and atc('certified',Field_a) = 0

The reason I prefer using SQL syntax for these deletes is that it opens up cross table conditions without having to set relations. Your example only uses a single table but it's still fast and cheap. ATC() is preferable since it removes case considerations from the delete criteria.

>I am trying to delete a specific set of records that don't meet a particular criteria from my table. The code is as follows:
>
>DELETE FOR Field_a not LIKE '%PLED%' AND field_a NOT LIKE '%CERTIFIED%' IN DOWNLOAD_TABLE3
>
>and I get the following error message:
>
>command contains unrecognized phrase/keyword
>
>
>I am trying to delete all record that don't contain the word "CERTIFIED" OR 'PLED'. Is a problem using the operator LIKE? If so, is a another way of deleting records that don't match my criteria?
>Help appreciated.
>
>
>THanks
>Nick Patel