Delete reports, models and folders

Deleting removes an item for good, and anyone it was shared with loses access. Delete one item from its menu, or tick several in the workspaces panel and delete them in one go. This page covers the confirmations, the results, and what a refusal means.

Delete a report

1. Open the report's menu and choose Delete. The menu sits on the report's row in the workspaces panel, on the actions button of its card, and under More actions in the report header.
2. The dialog is titled Delete report? and reads: "{name}" will be permanently deleted. Anyone it was shared with loses access.
3. Confirm with Delete.

A report that was shared with you cannot be deleted; only the workspace it lives in can delete it. See Share a report.

Delete a semantic model

1. Open the model's menu, on its row in the workspaces panel or on its card, and choose Delete.
2. The dialog is titled Delete semantic model?. While it checks what depends on the model, it reads Checking which reports use this model....
3. If reports are built on the model, the dialog lists them under Reports and warns: Deleting "{name}" will invalidate N report(s) built on it. They will stop working. Opening a listed report closes the dialog and opens the report.
4. Confirm with Delete anyway when reports are listed, or Delete when none use the model. The reports are not deleted with the model: they stay where they are and stop working.

In a bulk delete, tick a model's reports in the same selection so both go together. A model that a report outside the selection still uses is refused, and the refusal appears in the result described below.

Delete a BI table

1. In the model's BI tables tree, open the table's row menu and choose Delete.
2. The dialog is titled Delete BI table? and reads: This will permanently delete "{name}". This action cannot be undone. When the table has calculated columns, it adds Its calculated columns are deleted too: {names}.
3. Under the text, the dialog checks which reports use the table; see Check which reports will break.
4. Confirm with Delete, or with Delete anyway when reports use the table.

The same delete has two other entry points, each with its own wording: Delete on the Bi Table tab of the table's popup (Edit and save a BI table), and Remove from semantic model on the table's toolbar in the Diagram (Work with the diagram). All three run the same report check.

The table's columns, calculated columns and relationships go with it, and so do the report filters that target it: the reports stay, without those filters. Measures are not deleted with a BI table. A measure that can no longer run is marked invalid and left out of charts until you fix it; see Measures.

Check which reports will break

Before you delete a BI table or a measure, or turn a column off for reports, the dialog checks which reports use it.

• While it checks, the dialog reads Checking report usage….
• When reports use the item, it warns {N} reports use this and will break (1 report uses this and will break for one) and lists the first five, in order of report name. Each name opens its report in a new tab, so you can look before you decide. +{K} more counts the other reports you can open, and +{M} you can't open counts the reports that use the item but that you have no access to.
• The confirm button then reads Delete anyway, or Hide anyway when you turn a column off for reports.
• When no report uses the item, the dialog shows no warning and reads as usual. Turning a column off for reports then asks nothing at all.
• If the check fails, the dialog reads Couldn't check report usage, and you can still confirm.

The check only warns; it never blocks the change. A report counts when one of its charts or report filters uses the item. Bookmarks are not counted, and neither are uses inside the model, such as measures, relationships or row-level security. The check runs for people who can edit the model.

To see the reports that use one BI table without deleting anything, open the Dependencies tab of its popup; see Edit and save a BI table.

Delete a folder

1. Right-click the folder in the workspaces panel and choose Delete.
2. The dialog is titled Delete folder? and reads: "{name}" and every folder inside it will be removed. Reports and semantic models in them go with it.
3. Confirm with Delete.

If a folder delete fails, a message titled Folder not deleted appears with the reason from the server.

Delete several items at once

1. Click Batch select in the workspaces panel toolbar and tick the items. A folder is ticked together with everything inside it; workspaces themselves cannot be ticked.
2. Click Delete selected. With nothing ticked, the control reads Select folders, reports or semantic models to delete.
3. The dialog is titled Delete selected items? and spells out the selection as Items to delete ({total}):, with a count for each kind, such as 2 folders, 1 report, 1 semantic model.
4. Read the notes before you confirm: Deleting a folder also deletes everything inside it. appears when folders are in the mix, A semantic model still used by a report outside this selection will be refused. when models are, and Anyone these were shared with loses access. always.
5. Confirm with Delete.

Leaving batch mode clears the selection, and so does finishing a delete, whether or not everything went. Afterwards the result arrives as a message:

• Deleted with 2 reports, 1 semantic model removed., or Nothing was left to remove. when a folder's cascade had already taken everything.
• A message titled {n} item(s) not deleted with {deleted} were removed. See what stayed. when some items were refused; the refused items open in the dialog described below.
• Nothing was deleted with the reason when the whole delete failed.

The result counts what actually went, including everything a folder took with it. Items that a folder in the same selection already removed are skipped, not reported as failures.

If a delete is refused

Refused items do not only arrive as a message; they open in a dialog titled {n} item(s) not deleted. Each row names the item and the server's own reason, and when no reason comes back the row reads The server refused to delete this item. Close the dialog with Close.

There is no retry, and none is needed: a refusal is a permission answer, so the same button would return the same sentence. Fix the cause instead: get the missing permission from an administrator, or ask the item's owner to delete it. The message table in Troubleshooting lists the wording of the common refusals.

Permissions

A bulk delete asks for no extra permission: each item is checked with the gate a single delete would use, and a refusal names only the items you could not delete. For how permissions combine, see Who can do what in DataPrism; to change a role, see Roles and permissions.

Questions, answered

What happens to people a report was shared with when I delete it?

They lose access. The confirmation states it: "{name}" will be permanently deleted. Anyone it was shared with loses access. The bulk dialog repeats the same warning for a mixed selection as Anyone these were shared with loses access.

Can I delete a report someone shared with me?

No. A report shared with you can be deleted only from the workspace it lives in: A report shared with you cannot be deleted. Only the workspace it lives in can do that. A share never covers deleting; see Share a report.

Why does the delete button read Delete anyway?

Because reports use what you are deleting. For a semantic model, the dialog lists the reports built on it under Reports and warns that they will stop working. For a BI table or a measure, it warns {N} reports use this and will break and names the first five. Either way the confirm button changes to Delete anyway. Read the list before you confirm; the delete is still allowed.

What does "+2 you can't open" mean in the warning?

Two more reports use the item, but you have no access to them, so the warning counts them without naming them. They break all the same. Ask their owners, or an administrator, before you go ahead.

What happens to report filters on a BI table I delete?

They are deleted with the table. The reports that held them stay, without those filters. The warning in the delete dialog counts those reports among the ones that will break, so you see them before you confirm.

Can I delete when the dialog says "Couldn't check report usage"?

Yes. The check failed, not the delete, so the confirm button stays available. Without the check you do not know which reports will break: cancel and open the dialog again to retry the check first.

Does deleting a semantic model delete the reports built on it?

No. The reports stay where they are and stop working, as the warning says. In a bulk delete, tick the reports with the model to take them together.

How do I know what a bulk delete will remove?

The confirmation spells it out: Items to delete ({total}): counts the selection by kind. A folder is ticked together with its contents, so the totals already include everything the cascade will take. If the totals are larger than you expected, cancel and adjust the ticks.

Why is there no retry when a delete is refused?

Because a refusal is a permission answer. Pressing the same button again would return the same sentence, so the dialog shows each item with its reason and a Close button. Check your permissions, or ask the item's owner to delete it.

Why does a bulk delete skip some of the items I selected?

Items that a folder in the same selection already removed are skipped, not reported as failures. The dialog that lists problems names only the items the server refused, with its reason.

Is deleting permanent?

Yes. The confirmations say the action cannot be undone; a folder also removes every folder, report and semantic model inside it.

Where do I find Delete?

On an item's menu, from its row in the workspaces panel or the actions button on its card on the home page. A report also has Delete under More actions in its header, and folders and BI tables have Delete in their row menus. A BI table can also be deleted from its popup and with Remove from semantic model on the diagram.