Deleting table definitions, field definitions, and data

Deleting a table or field in the Manage Database dialog box permanently and irretrievably deletes the table or field definition and all the data in that table or field.

Important  Before you delete a field or a table, confirm that you don't need any of the data it contains.

To delete a table definition:

  1. Choose File menu > Manage > Database.
  2. Click the Tables tab.
  3. In the Tables tab, select one or more tables that you want to delete, then click Delete.
    • Click Also remove occurrences of these tables in the graph to remove any tables based on this data table from the relationships graph.
    • Click Delete to continue the deletion.
    • Click Cancel to leave the table unchanged.
  4. Click Done.

To delete a field definition:

  1. Choose File menu > Manage > Database.
  2. Click the Fields tab.
  3. If your database contains more than one table, select the appropriate table from the Table list.
  4. In the Fields tab, select one or more fields that you want to delete, then click Delete.
    • Click Delete to continue the deletion.
    • Click Cancel to leave the field unchanged.
  5. Click Done.

Notes 

  • When you delete a table, you delete all of the records and field definitions associated with that table.
  • You can remove a field from a layout without deleting the field definition.
  • If you delete a field that's referenced in a calculation field, summary field, calculation in a script, or relationship defined in the same file, you see an alert. If the reference to the field is in a related file, instead of an alert, <Missing Field> or <unknown> appears in the related file.
  • You can't create, modify, or delete field definitions in an ODBC data source.
  • If you see a message that you can't delete a field, do one of the following:
    • Change the calculation field, summary field, script, or relationship so that it doesn't include the field you want to delete.
    • Delete the calculation field, summary field, script, or relationship.
  • If you place a field from a related file on a layout, and you later delete the field definition from the related file, a placeholder for the deleted field remains on the layout. The placeholder contains the text <Field Missing>.

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