Effects of deleting global data

Global data is shared across projects and with the dashboard.
CAUTION

Deleting global data can affect the entire deployment.

To maintain consistency across projects, global data fields are centrally defined in the sandbox. Therefore, when you delete global data, you affect all areas of the deployment that used it.

Here is what happens when you delete any of the following global data.
A data field
The data field and its data values are deleted from the projects and the reports they are in, which may lead to unexpected results. Review any projects, templates, and reports that may be affected.
A list value from a data list field
Any data field that had the deleted list value selected will have the default list value selected instead, which may lead to unexpected results. Review any projects, templates, and reports that may be affected.
A category or a data table
The category or the data table, and all of its data fields are deleted from the projects and the reports they are in, which may lead to unexpected results. Review any projects, templates, and reports that may be affected.

Example of deleting a global data list field

Your company is divided into three business units, so you use a global list field called Business Unit, which has the following list values: Automotive, Healthcare, and Aerospace. The company decides to stop tracking projects by business unit, so you delete the Business Unit data field. When you delete a global list field, it can affect projects and reports in the following ways.
  • If you delete Business Unit, then the Business Unit data field will be broken in any projects and templates it appears in.
  • Any dashboard report that used Business Unit in filters, summaries, or column sets could be affected in any of the following ways.
    • If the list field is used as a dynamic filter, then the dynamic filter is deleted.
    • If the list field is used as criteria in a static filter, then the criteria is deleted from the static filter.
    • If the list field is used as the only criterion in a static filter, then the static filter is deleted.
    • If the list field is used as a grouping variable in a summary, then the variable is removed from the summary, which could affect charts and targets.
    • If the list field is used as subset in a summary, then the list field is removed from the subset.
    • If the list field is used as a column in a column set, then the column is removed from the column set.