Removing a field that is used in reports from View

Vefa Gulecyuz shared this problem 3 years ago
Resolved

Hi guys, I saw here that Yellowfin does not let us removing a field from view if it is used in reports (or in subqueries?)

But my experience was that I was able to remove a field that was used in reports, unfortunately.

When I checked it again with my existing views, I see that fields that are used in reports can be removed if I edit the view by clicking 'clone'. But if I click on 'edit', I see that those same fields are grayed out and not clickable.

So, this feature works if we edit the view with 'edit' option, and does not work if we edit the view with 'clone' option. I think 'clone' option is not safe because if we remove a field that is used, than we will have a problem the moment we save it. Because it replaces the original view.

I guess we should have grayed out (unclickable) fields in the 'clone' option as well.

What do you think guys?



System Information
Application Version: 8.0.4
Build:20191216
Java Version:11.0.6
Operating System:Linux 4.19.104+ (amd64)

Replies (13)

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An addition: I also see that if a field used as a filter in a report, we can still remove it from the view. And if we remove the filter field, it can create problems in dashboards that this filter is used etc.Maybe you should also prevent fields used as filter from removal?

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Hey Vefa,

I hope you are well!

Ok so you are correct in what you are saying with these 2 different functions for editing/cloning the view. And I do see where this can become problematic and I will be happy to raise an idea request on your behalf to remove the ability to remove used columns and filters in a cloned view.

However, before I go ahead an do so, I do need to tell you a bit more about the difference of editing and cloning.

With the Edit view option, you will not be able to roll back the view, the reason the columns are greyed out are more of a safeguard to prevent any reports that are using this view from breaking and making irreversible changes.

When Cloning the view, you do have the option to roll back to the previous version of the view if something was to break, then it is a simple to 'reset' those changes.

If you would still like me to raise the idea, please let me know! I will be happy to do so! But I just thought I should outline the reason why certain changes cannot be made in 'Edit' and why they can in 'Clone'

Let me know :)

Best Wishes,

Lesley

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Hey Lesley, I understand the difference. However, clone mode is more preferable because it allows the reports to continue functioning while enabling us to edit it. In the edit mode, reports stop functioning until we activate the view again.

For this reason, we prefer to edit the views with clone mode most of the time. So it will be very useful to have the feature I mentioned in Clone mode as well.

Moreover, I am not sure if YF also considers fields that are used in filters and subqueries as non-removable in edit mode. Can you give a little bit explanation on this?

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Hey Vefa,

I hope you are well!

My apologies for the delayed response here!

I do completely understand the want for having fields that are in use to be greyed out in clone mode. Clone mode is mostly recommended, thus we should also apply the edit restrictions within this function.

I will go ahead and raise this as an idea! I will update you as to when this has been done :)

In regards to the used filters not being treated the same as used fields, I will need to confirm the reason for this with the team, as I personally am not sure of why this is!

I will update you on this tomorrow! I hope that is ok :)

Best Wishes,

Lesley

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Hello,

If this is added then please keep the possibility to remove used fields. Just add a message when you remove a used field that the field is being used in reports (maybe showing a list of the reports it is being used in). Then the user can decide if he/she still wants to remove. Thank you.

Regards,

JeRoen

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Hi JeReon, Hi Vefa,

I hope you are both well!

Thank you for your input, JeReon. That is a good idea! 'Best of Both worlds'

So instead of creating an idea where we want to completely block the fields from being removed, would it be suitable to instead have a warning message displayed when selecting a used field to display something like 'This Field is currently being used in x amount of reports / dashboards' or just 'this field is currently being used, removing this may cause reports to fail' ....I am not a content writer, this is just a rough idea! So you can still remove the fields if you wish, but you get a warning before doing so...

Vefa, what do you think of this?

JeReon, is this what you had in mind?

Let me know :) I look forward to your replies!

Best Wishes,

Lesley

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Hi Lesley, I think Jerone's recommendation is good. What I need is to know if a field is used or not.

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Hey Vefa!

Great! Thank you for confirming :)

I will get that raised and also chase up on the information regarding the used filters!

I will update you tomorrow about this - I hope that is ok :)

Best Wishes,

Lesley

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Hey Vefa,

As Discussed, this has now been raised in the community and with the development team.

You will find the idea here < and any further information regarding this enhancement will also be provided with the community idea.

In regards to the filters being used in reports still being able to be deleted, I have had a discussion about this which was quite uncertain...Basically, the filters that are being used were not considered when creating the function to grey out the used fields in edit mode for a view....

Would you like me to create another enhancement request to implement the same function as used fields in 'edit' mode for used filters?

Let me know & I will happily do so! :)

Best Wishes,

Lesley

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Hi Lesley, thanks for helping.

I guess another enhancement request would be good because even if a field is used as a filter and removed from the view that will still break the report. So we should be warned beforehand.

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Hey Vefa,

I have gone ahead and created the enhancement within the community on your behalf and also raised this with the development team also - you will find the community idea here < Where all further updates regarding this will be, I hope that is ok! :)

As all updates regarding both ideas will be in their respective tickets - is it ok for me to close this one? or do you have any further questions? I'll be happy to keep this open if you need :)

Best Wishes,

Lesley

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Thanks a lot Lesley, you can close the ticket.

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Thanks, Vefa!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your week! :)

Best Wishes,

Lesley

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