This page contains information related to an old version of the Delete Records Smart Service.
To take advantage of the latest features and improvements, we always recommend you use the latest version whenever possible. See the latest version's page for information about what's been changed.
The Delete Records (23.3) smart service is a powerful tool that allows you to easily delete data from the source system and then automatically sync the changes in Appian. The service lets you delete one or more records at a time per node.
To use this smart service, the record type you want to affect must meet the following conditions:
Records can only be deleted from one record type at a time. To delete a record and its related records, you must delete records in the base record type and related record types in separate Delete Records (23.3) nodes.
The user executing this activity must have Viewer permissions for the selected record type in order to delete information. If the user does not, the node will fail and pause the process with an exception.
Note: Since the Delete Records (23.3) Smart Service works directly with your record type's source, read the recommendations in Data Modeling with Appian Records before implementing this smart service.
Icon:
This section contains configuration details specific to this smart service. For more information about common configurations, see the Process Node Properties page.
Name | Data Type | Description | Required | Multiple |
---|---|---|---|---|
Records | List of Any Type | A list of records to be deleted for a single record type. The list can include up to 1,000 records. Each item in the list must include the primary key for the record. Any related record data is ignored. | Yes | Yes |
Pause On Error | Boolean | Determines whether the node should pause by exception if an error occurs deleting data in the source. Default: true . |
No | No |
See also: Record Type
Name | Data Type | Description |
---|---|---|
Count of Records Deleted | Number (Integer) | The number of records deleted from the source |
Error Occurred | Boolean | Returns true if any write to the source system or Appian fails; returns false if all writes succeed |
Errors | List of Any Type | The error that occurred when writing the records and the list of records that failed to write. This is only returned when the Pause On Error input is false . |
Appian can automatically generate a Delete record action. The generated design objects use the Delete Records (23.3) smart service in the workflow powering the new action. The generated interface has a rule input called record
that uses the record type as its data type. The data needed to identify the record being deleted is seamlessly passed from the interface to the process model. See Hard delete a record using a process model for an example.
You can also use the record type constructor syntax when deleting records. In the constructor, include the primary key field to identify the record you want to delete. For example, if you have a Customer record type and want to delete the customer with the ID of 72
, the data passed to the process model would look similar to the following example.
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{
recordType!Customer(
recordType!Customer.fields.customerId: 72
)
}
The Delete Records (23.3) smart service permanently removes data from the source (that is, it performs a hard deletion). If your app or database design requires data to be soft deleted for auditing or to maintain referential integrity, you can use the Write Records smart service to mark a record as deleted according to your schema. For example, your data source may have a field like isDeleted
or deletedTime
. You could configure a source filter so rows that are marked as deleted are no longer synced in Appian.
The Delete Records (23.3) smart service does not support deleting from related record types through the base record type. Instead, you must delete related records and the base record in separate Delete Records (23.3) nodes. For example, you may have a Customer record type that has a one-to-many relationship with a Payment Type record type storing credit card data. If you delete a customer record, you also want to delete any payment data associated with the customer. A process model of this workflow would look similar to the following example:
The Delete Records (23.3) smart service is available as an expression function that can be executed inside a saveInto on a Interface Component or as part of a Web API.
a!deleteRecords_23r3( records, onSuccess, onError )
Keyword | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
|
Any Type |
A list of records to be deleted (up to a maximum of 1,000 records). Each item in the list must include the primary key for the record. Use the |
|
Any Type |
A list of saves or an HTTP response to execute after the smart service successfully deletes rows. Created with |
|
Any Type |
A list of saves or an HTTP response to execute when the smart service fails to delete records. Created with |
When you use this smart service on a record view, the view will automatically refresh with the latest record data.
This means that when your record view interface has a Record Action component that triggers the Delete Records (23.3) smart service, or a button component that triggers the a!deleteRecords_23r3()
function, the record view data will automatically refresh after the delete occurs.
This refresh behavior only applies to data supplied by rv!record. If your record view definition uses rv!identifier
or a local variable to supply the record data, the data will not automatically refresh; instead, you will need to configure additional refresh behavior.
This section explains some of the common reasons the Delete Records (23.3) smart service might fail.
Configuration errors can occur when the node setup or inputs are misconfigured and attempts to write to the source cannot succeed.
Some examples of misconfiguration include:
a!deleteRecords_23r3()
function.Appian is unable to change data in the source in some circumstances.
These situations include:
If Appian is unable to write to the database, the record data will still remain available even if the smart service fails.
The Delete Records (23.3) node executes all of the writes as a single transaction. This means that if you're updating data in multiple database tables, then data is successfully written to all tables or none of the tables.
When Appian attempts to sync changes to the source data, the sync will fail when one of the following occurs:
If Appian is unable to sync changes from the source, the record data will be unavailable. For more information on the different types of sync errors and steps to resolve these errors, see Troubleshooting Syncs.
The following examples show the different ways you can use the a!deleteRecords_23r3()
function to delete your record data.
The following example data is from the Appian Retail application, available for free in Appian Community Edition. To try the example code yourself, sign in to Appian Community to request the latest Appian Community Edition site.
Goal: Use the Delete Records smart service to permanently delete a record.
Sometimes data is created by mistake or your business could be required to delete information on customer request. Users will need the ability to remove record data from your application in those types of situations.
Tip: For faster configuration, you can automatically generate a Delete record action. The generated process model for these actions will use the Delete Records smart service to delete the selected record.
Example
Imagine you need to remove an Employee from the Appian Retail application. You can let users delete record data using a related action connected to a process model. Set a process variable using the record type as the data type to pass the user's selection to the Delete Records smart service.
record
and set the type to the Employee record type. This will allow you to pass employee data to the process model.Create a new process model and configure the process model properties to use the new form and pass record data:
record
.record
process variable to the record
rule input from the interface.For the Records input, set the record process variable as the Value.
Save and publish the process model.
The process node examines the primary key field (in this case, the id
field) and deletes that record from the source.
Goal: Use the Write Records smart service to remove a record from a record type but keep the data available in the source.
Some delete actions need to make the data generally inaccessible in your app, but administrators or other privileged users can retain access in the record type's source (like a database). This type of deleting lets you restore the data if needed.
A related action is a simple way to let users select a record to remove and confirm they want to delete it by clicking a button. This action starts a process model that sets an isDeleted
field to true
. You can then create a source filter so only records that have an isDeleted
field set to false
or null
are synced in Appian.
Example
Let's say you need a record action that allows users to delete orders from a retail application. You want the Order data to persist in the data source, but it should not be available in Appian.
The application contains an Order record type, which stores all order information. This record type has record events configured with the following event types:
To ensure this action can be traced back to a specific user, we'll want to capture a Deleted Order event.
Here's one way you could create this action:
For the form's submit button, update the value
and saveInto
properties so the isDeleted
field is set to true
:
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a!buttonWidget(
label: "Delete",
icon: "trash",
submit: true,
style: "GHOST",
color: "NEGATIVE",
value: true,
saveInto: ri!record[recordType!Order.fields.isDeleted]
)
record
.record
process variable to the input from the interface.pv!record
) and write the soft delete to the Order record type.Save and publish the process model.
Create a related action that launches the new process model. Use the Order record type in the related action context as rv!record
.
In the Order record type, add a source filter so only records with an isDeleted
value of null
or false
are synced. This filter must be created using expression mode because you need to use the OR
operator for the two filter conditions.
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a!queryLogicalExpression(
operator: "OR",
filters: {
a!queryFilter(
field: "IS_DELETED", /* The filter matches the source field's name, not the record field */
operator: "is null"
),
a!queryFilter(
field: "IS_DELETED",
operator: "=",
value: false()
)
},
ignoreFiltersWithEmptyValues: true
)
Goal: Use the Delete Records smart service to remove a related record but keep the data available in the source.
Some related records, like line items on an order, are managed in the context of a base record. In those situations, your interface may need to allow users to select and delete these related records.
Appian has many interface components for selecting data, including checkboxes and radio buttons. In this example, we'll use a dynamic link to create clickable text that saves a value to a rule input property.
Example
Let's say you need a record action that allows users to update a support case, including any of the comments on the case. Comments are in a separate record type and referenced in the Case through a record type relationship.
In this scenario, we'll mark the comment as deleted and use a source filter to exclude deleted comments from the record type. Since we are soft deleting the comments, they are still available in the source for auditing purposes.
A user should be able to delete comments if they meet either of the following conditions:
In the following example, if Alice K. views the case, she will only be able to delete her comment.
Since a case can have one or more comments, a reusable interface will let you add multiple instances of these components without unnecessarily repeating code. You can see an example of how to do this in our video explaining the use of a!forEach() in interfaces.
Before you build the record action:
commentBox
.To create this action, you could:
In the section's contents
parameter, add a a!forEach()
loop that uses the commentBox
interface to display each comment on the case. Each comment box is followed by a dynamic link that sets the isDeleted
field to true
when clicked.
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a!forEach(
/*
The items evaluated for each loop are the Comments related to each case.
To loop through them, you must specify the record type relationship here.
*/
ri!record[recordType!Case.relationships.Comment],
{
if(
fv!isFirst,
a!horizontalLine(color: "#ffffff"),
a!horizontalLine(
showWhen: and(
fv!item[recordType!Comment.fields.isDeleted] <> true,
count(fv!item) > 1
))
),
if(
fv!item[recordType!Comment.fields.isDeleted],
a!richTextDisplayField(),
rule!commentBox(fv!item),
),
a!linkField(
labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
links: {
a!dynamicLink(
label: "Delete comment",
value: true(),
saveInto: ri!record[recordType!Case.relationships.Comment][fv!index][recordType!Comment.fields.isDeleted],
showWhen: {
and(
fv!item[recordType!Comment.fields.isDeleted] <> true,
if(
or(
loggedInUser() = fv!item[recordType!Comment.fields.createdBy],
a!isUserMemberOfGroup(loggedInUser(), "AT Support Managers")
),
true(),
false()
)
)
}
)
}
)
}
)
record
.record
process variable to the input from the interface.pv!record
) and write any soft deletes to the Comment record type.rv!record
.In the Comments record type, add a source filter so only records with an isDeleted
value of null
or false
are synced. This filter must be created using expression mode because you need to use the OR
operator for the two filter conditions.
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a!queryLogicalExpression(
operator: "OR",
filters: {
a!queryFilter(
field: "IS_DELETED", /* The filter matches the source field's name, not the record field */
operator: "is null"
),
a!queryFilter(
field: "IS_DELETED",
operator: "=",
value: false()
)
},
ignoreFiltersWithEmptyValues: true
)
Goal: Use the a!deleteRecords_23r3()
function to delete a record.
Instead of building an entire process model to delete data, you can just build a form and use the a!deleteRecords_23r3()
function in the submit button.
Example
For example, to delete an Address record, use a record type constructor in the records parameter and provide the identifier of the record to be deleted. In the following example, the Address record we want to delete has the addressId
value of 322
.
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a!deleteRecords_23r3(
records: {
recordType!Address(
recordType!Address.fields.addressId: 322
)
}
)
The Address record type has other fields (like city and postalCode) which are not included in the expression. Only the primary key is required to identify the record being deleted.
The a!deleteRecords_23r3()
expression returns data similar to the following:
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countOfRecordsDeleted: 1
Feature | Compatibility | Note |
---|---|---|
Portals | Partially compatible | Can be used with Appian Portals if it is connected using an integration and web API. |
Offline Mobile | Incompatible | |
Sync-Time Custom Record Fields | Incompatible | |
Real-Time Custom Record Fields | Incompatible | Custom record fields that evaluate in real time must be configured using one or more Custom Field functions. |
Process Reports | Incompatible | Cannot be used to configure a process report. |
Process Events | Incompatible | Cannot be used to configure a process event node, such as a start event or timer event. |
Delete Records Smart Service (23.3)