Deleting fields

About this task

Adding fields or sections to an existing business object is usually a safe thing to do. Except for some unusual situations involving hierarchies and the auto-populate feature, adding fields to a business object will not break an application.

However, deleting fields or sections from a business object can be dangerous. If a workflow or anything else uses a field you have deleted, it will break. Only if you are certain that a field is not being used should you feel free to delete the field.

If you are not certain that a field is not being used by something, do not delete the field from the business object. Instead, leave the field in the business object but remove the field from all forms and reports that use the field. This way, users will not see that the field is still there, but workflows that expect it to be there will still see it.

When you are certain of the consequences, deleting fields from a business object is usually rather straightforward.

Procedure

  1. Check the check box to the left of the field's name in the Field List panel and then click the Delete action at the top of the Field List panel. The platform may ask if you are sure you wish to delete the field and may respond to the Delete action by telling you that the delete was successful.
    • You cannot delete fields that are part of the published name. You have to remove that field from the BO Mapping before the system will let you delete that field. For information about BO Mapping, see "Naming records".
    • Another possible response to the Delete action is that the field cannot be deleted because it is in use somewhere. A field cannot be deleted from a business object if it is referenced by a smart section. If you do not know which business object and which smart section is using the field, you will have to find the smart section and business object that contains it. The IBM TRIRIGA Application Platform can assist you in this search.
  2. If you check the check box to the left of the field name and then click the Field Finder menu item in the Data Modeler's Tools menu, a window pops up that contains a list of business objects that use the field. An example of this is shown in the following figure.
    Figure 1. Field finder
    The image is explained in the text.
  3. There is another way to find where a field is used. Select the field in the Field List. Once the field's properties are displayed in the Field Properties panel, click the Where Used action. A window pops up showing what references or uses the business object / field. The display shows the following information: Name, Type, Module, Object, Form, Action, Additional Information.
    • Check the Where Used before you delete a field to be sure the field is not used in a report. Deleting a field that is used in a report causes an error the next time the report is run.
  4. If you want to export the information in the Where Used window, click the Export Usage action at the top of the window. You will be offered the choice of saving or opening a csv file. For most object types, clicking the linked object will open the builder for the reference.
    The following lists the references found by Where Used:
    Business Object Field
    • Query (Display Columns, Order By, Group By, Sum, Filter)
    • Smart Sections
    • Locator
    • Form
    • Regular Formulas
    • Extended Formulas
    • Workflow Create Record Task (Map - Field, Source or Target)*
    • Workflow Modify Records Task (Map - Field, Source or Target)*
    • Workflow Schedule Task (Map - Field, Source or Target)*
    • Workflow Conditions - Start Task, Switch Task, Break Task*
    • Workflow Retrieve Records Task (Filter)*
    • Workflow Create Record/Modify Records/Schedule Tasks (Map - Field as part of Expression)*
    • Workflow Populate File Task*
    • Workflow Distill File Task*
    • Workflow Variable Assignment Task (Value is from an expression)*
    Form
    • Form Field Action
    • Form Section Action - Popup Form, non Popup Form
    • Portal Section, Record Add
    • Navigation Item (Master Detail Report, Record Add, Master Detail Default)
    • Navigation Item Action
    • Navigation Item Security Override
    • Query
    • Query Action
    • Workflow Modify Metadata Task*
    • Workflow Create Task*
    • State Transitions (Form)
    • System Add
    • System Delete
    Query
    • Form Section Find Action
    • Form Field Action (onClick, onChange)
    • Form Popup Section Action
    • Form Query Section (Query, Availability, Availability Legacy, Calendar, Gantt, Group By)
    • Portal Section Query
    • Scorecard
    • Navigation Item (Master Detail Report, Record Open, Report, Master Detail Hierarchy, Scorecard)
    • Navigation Item Dynamic Labels
    • Navigation Item Security Override
    • Query Action
    • Query in a Sub Report
    • Query in an Associated Query (Hierarchical Query)
    • Query Association Filters
    • Workflow Query Task*
    • Extended Formulas
    Workflow
    • Query Action (Pre-Create Workflow)
    • Form Field Action
    • Form Field Action (Pre Form and Post Form Workflows)
    • Form Section Action (Pre Form and Workflow)
    • Form Section (Select and Stack Pre-Move)
    • Form Section (Synchronous and Stack On-Save)
    • Form (Pre-Load Workflow)
    • State Transition (BO Sub Action - Workflow Select)
    • BO (Pre-Create Workflow)
    • Smart Section (Initialize Record)
    • Call Workflow*
    • Portal Section, Record Add
    • Navigation Item (Record Add)
    • Navigation Item Action
    • Navigation Item Security Override
    Note
    * For workflow references, the system displays the latest workflow version containing the reference. The workflows checked for references are in the following statuses: Revision In Progress, Retired, Published, and In Progress.