Deleting
Deleting removes an object from the Rule Repository for good, together with everything that belongs to it. Use it to clear out sources that are no longer used, rules that have become obsolete, versions that were never needed, and drafts and tests nobody will run again. There is no recycle bin and no undo, so the repository makes deleting deliberate: it shows exactly what will go, refuses anything that would break a live rule or erase production history, and asks you to type a word to confirm.
Only people can delete. AI agents and services never can, and each kind of object has its own delete permission, so your application may not let you delete everything, or anything.
Deleting uses these parts of the repository:
- The Delete buttons: Delete Source Object, Delete Rule, and Delete Version (in the Source Version and Rule Version dialogs), on the Details tab of each dialog; Delete Draft in the Draft dialog; Delete Test in the Test and Test Result dialogs.
- The Danger Zone confirmation, which opens inside the dialog in two steps:
- The first step says what you are about to delete and counts everything that goes with it, by kind, with Cancel and Next. If something stands in the way, it says so instead, with each problem as a link to the object involved, and offers only Cancel.
- The second step asks you to type the word delete, with Cancel and Delete. Delete stays off until you have typed the word.
What Goes with an Object
| Deleting |
Also deletes |
| A source object |
All its source versions, its rules and their versions, drafts, tests, recorded live evaluations and activity entries |
| A source version |
The rule versions and drafts written against it, and their tests, live evaluations and activity entries |
| A rule |
All its versions and drafts, and their tests, live evaluations and activity entries |
| A rule version |
Its tests, live evaluations and activity entries |
| A draft |
Its notes and activity entries |
| A test |
Its notes and activity entries |
Notes on a deleted object go with it too, and so do the value templates of a deleted source object or source version. One activity entry always stays: the one recording the deletion, with the deleted object's definition.
What Cannot Be Deleted
The repository refuses to delete anything that would:
- Remove a live version. Take the version offline first; see Going Live.
- Remove a version that has ever been live. Such a version may have run in production, and its recorded evaluations must stay explainable. It, and the rule and source version it belongs to, can only be deleted together with its whole source object. Its drafts and tests can still be deleted.
- Remove a rule that another rule calls. Change or delete the calling rule first.
- Leave a rule or a source with no versions. To remove the last version, delete the rule or the source instead.
Deleting a Source, a Source Version, a Rule or a Rule Version
- Open the object's dialog, for example by clicking its row in its grid.
- Click the Details tab.
- Click the delete button, for example Delete Rule. The Danger Zone opens and lists what will be deleted with it.
- Read the counts. If the first step lists problems instead, click Cancel and deal with them first; each problem links to the object involved.
- Click Next.
- Type delete in the box and click Delete (or press Enter).
- The dialog closes, the grid is read again, and a notification says the object was deleted. Any other dialog showing something that was deleted with it closes too.
Deleting a Draft or a Test
- Open the draft, or the test.
- Click Delete Draft or Delete Test.
- Click Next, type delete and click Delete.
A test's Delete Test stays off until the test has been saved. A deleted test's Test dialog closes, and any unsaved changes in it are discarded.