Deleted filed still shows up in the List layout and form layout but not in table ?

[rajendravunnam]

Hello,

I have a   string field 'platform'(u_platform) , i tried to convert it into Reference. I have deleted the field and created a new one with the same name 'Platform' (u_platform) but as a reference field. All this is captured in a single update set. When this update set is moved to Dev from Beta environment, there was an error   while committing the update set:

Error

sys_dictionary_change_request_u_platform

Type change not allowed. Invalid type conversion for field 'Platform' on table 'Change Request'. Cannot convert from 'String' to 'Reference'. There exists data records (252) that are not a Sys ID.

so, in   my Beta instance i have deleted the Reference field and added it back as a String and moved it to dev (the update set which has String configuration captured). Now dev looked good. But again i have deleted this field in beta and moved the update set to Dev. Unfortunately the field was still showing up as 'u_platform' on the form and list layout but i can't see it in the table.   When i tried to configure dictionary on this field, it is giving me 'no record found'.There were already some records for which this field is populated in Dev.   I am not sure how to fix this and what problems would arise when i move this change to TEST and beyond. Any help is appreciated.

[Daniel Gens]

For future readers:

Following Veena's suggestion, I took at look at 'sys_storage_alias' table and found me "ghost field" in there. Moreover, I was able to delete a record in that table without contacting HI.

I ran the following background script to delete the record:

var sys_id = "e7e80a80dbb35f00a41efb0e0f96199b"; // substitute your sys id
var gr = new GlideRecord('sys_storage_alias');
gr.get(sys_id);
gs.info(' Table Name: ' + gr.table_name + ' Column Name: ' + gr.element_name);
gr.setWorkflow(false);
var flag = gr.deleteRecord();
gs.info(flag); // will return true if record is deleted successfully

[DNC]

Hi Daniel

I have used the same script and executed it in the background script.

The record is deleted from the 'sys_storage_alias' but, still, the field is available in the form.

Tried to hide via UI Policies, but no luck

[Daniel Gens]

Hi Nagarjuna,

I've been using the following Fix Script to fully and cleanly delete table columns as it requires not only clearing sys_storage_alias, but also sys_dictionary and sys_documentation:

Name: Delete table column

Active: true

Unloadable: false

Run once: false

Flush cache: false

Before: false

Description: Deleting a column doesn't cleanly remove all references to it. Use this script to cleanly delete table columns.

Script:

// Replace with your table name
var table = 'incident';

// Replace with your column name
var column = 'u_metric';

// Running and checking success
gs.info("cleanDict successful? " + cleanDict(table, column));
gs.info("cleanAlias successful? " + cleanAlias(table, column));
gs.info("cleanDoc successful? " + cleanDoc(table, column));


function cleanDict(table, column) {
	var gr = new GlideRecord('sys_dictionary');
	gr.addQuery('name', table);
	gr.addQuery('element', column);
	gr.query();
	while (gr.next()){
		gr.setWorkflow(false);
		return gr.deleteRecord();
	}
}

function cleanAlias(table, column) {
	var gr = new GlideRecord('sys_storage_alias');
	gr.addQuery('table_name', table);
	gr.addQuery('element_name', 'CONTAINS', column);
	gr.query();
	while (gr.next()){
		gs.info(gr.getDisplayValue());
		gs.info(' Table Name: ' + gr.table_name + ' Column Name: ' + gr.element_name);
		gr.setWorkflow(false);
		return gr.deleteRecord();
	}
}

function cleanDoc(table, column) {
	var gr = new GlideRecord('sys_documentation');
	gr.addQuery('name', table);
	gr.addQuery('element', 'CONTAINS', column);
	gr.query();
	while (gr.next()){
		gs.info(gr.getDisplayValue());
		gs.info(' Table Name: ' + gr.name + ' Column Name: ' + gr.element + ' Column Label: ' + gr.label );
		gr.setWorkflow(false);
		return gr.deleteRecord();
	}
}

After it's all set up, you can Run Fix Script with the UI action on the Fix Script form. Note that if you've already delete your column from sys_storage_alias, the deletion will appear not successful because the record is already gone.

[RiteshSwarnakar]

Background Script to find out those which are not sys_id :

var ga = new GlideAggregate('table_name');           
var c = 0;
ga.groupBy('field_name');
ga.query();
while (ga.next()) {
if (ga.field_name.toString().length!=32){
gs.print(ga.field_name);
c+=1;
}}
gs.print(c);