Overview

For various reasons you may wish to permanently remove multiple problem records from the ProblemTracker database. There are two ways this can be done. First, you can remove all problem records. This is typically done when you finish an evaluation. Second, you can selectively delete some records that match certain criteria. This is typically done when you wish to remove records related to an old project or obsolete release. Both are described in detail below.

Remove All Records

Caution: This operation is permanent. It cannot be undone. Please make a backup of your database prior to performing this operation.

To delete all problem records as well as all attachments and all record history, click the Admin icon in the navigation bar, then click the Maintenance button, then click the Remove All Records button. Once this operation is complete, newly added problem records will start at problem record number zero.

While this operation will remove all problem records, attachments, and history, it will leave other ProblemTracker configuration unchanged (data record customization (fields in the data record), option menus, workflow, users, user groups, email configuration, etc.).

This operation is typically used at the end of an evaluation to remove all test records.

Selectively Remove Records

Caution: This operation is permanent. It cannot be undone. Please make a backup of your database prior to performing this operation.

This operation will delete the problem records that match certain criteria as well as the attachments to those problem records. It will also delete all record history associated with those records, except for one history entry (per deleted record) which is created to indicate when (and by which user) the records were deleted. This operation can be used to remove all "closed" problem records or perhaps problem records from an old release or project that has been completed.

To selectively delete some problem records please follow the instructions below.

1. Login as Admin.
2. You may need to configure your system (at least temporarily) to allow this operation (as by default it is disabled).
   • The option "Remove Records from Database on 'Delete' Operation" in the General Preferences page in the Admin section should be set to Yes (by default it is set to No). This will make the change permanent (data will be deleted from the database). If you need to change this to Yes, you may wish to change it back to No after you have performed this delete operation (so that any other Delete operations are not permanent).
   • The user you are logged in as (e.g. Admin) must be a member of at least one User Group that has the Edit Query Result Set privilege. Verify that the Admins group has the Edit Query Result Set privilege (by default it does). This will allow you to perform an operation (in this case Delete) on all records that match a Query.
   • The user you are logged in as (e.g. Admin) must be a member of at least one User Group that has the Delete privilege. Verify that Admins group has the Delete privilege (by default it does). This will allow you to delete records.
3. Click the Query icon in the button bar.
4. Enter the criteria for the records you wish to delete and click Run Query
5. On the query results page, click the Delete Records button.
6. Click "OK" for the confirmation dialog and ALL the records matching the current query will be deleted permanently from the database. Note: Even though only the first 20 records are displayed, the Delete Records operation will delete all the records returned by the query. The total number of records returned by the current query will be displayed in the status area just below the button bar.