Hide/Disable

The Hide/Disable check box is found on most NetForum data entry pages.

Selecting the check box will effectively remove the record from NetForum without actually deleting the record from the database. After a records is hidden, then that record will no longer be searchable and it will no longer display as an option in DropDownLists.

"Hiding" a record is also called "archiving" a record or "soft deleting" a record (as opposed to a "hard" delete which permanently removes the record from the database).

FAQ

Q. I need to find a hidden record. How can I do this?

A. In most areas of NetForum, it is not possible to locate a hidden record. One exception is Individuals, where a special query can be written to navigate to a hidden record.

Q. I need to "un-hide" a record. Can this be done?

A. Yes, but you will need to be able to navigate to it first. See question above.

Q. What if there isn't a way in the NetForum UI to navigate to the record? How can I un-delete it in this case?

A. It will need to he un-deleted from the backend SQL database. Contact your Abila representative.

Q. Can you find a way to let a user recover hidden records from within the application?

A. Given the relative rarity of this scenario, we don't believe it makes senses to develop this feature when there are other competing features that offer more value to users.

Q. Why do some forms not have this check box?

A. On the Form setup page in the Toolkit, there is an option to remove the hide/disable record checkbox from a page. This is done for certain records that should not be hidden.

Q. Is this check box used for records in the Admin and Toolkit and CMS modules?

A. In some cases, the Hide/Disable checkbox is used for slightly different purposes in these modules. See specific documentation.

Q. What is the difference between Hide/Disable and actually deleting a record?

A. See Hide/Disable vs Delete for the answer.

Q. Can this check box be removed completely, or perhaps just for certain users?

A. Yes, you can set security on the field to render it read-only or invisible to end users. The field will be named zzz_delete_flag where zzz is the 3-character column prefix for that database table. You can manage privileges on this field using Group Column Privilege security.

Q. What happens with a "hard delete"?

A. Delete, also known as a "hard delete", gives the option of deleting a record (e.g. a committee, contact information, product, etc) that was never used (applied to an invoice, purchase, populated, etc). If a committee, event, or product is completely empty and was never used for anything at all you can delete it by clicking the Delete key in the edit form. You have to hide/disable it if there is information within the event, committee, or product because if you try to delete you will get a foreign key constraint. If necessary you can delete all the information for an event, committee, or product; once you delete all the information out of the record you can delete the event, committee, or product. An example of this is removing all the committee positions from a committee. The committee must be *completely* empty, and have no associations to other modules (individual, Events, Products, etc.) before you can delete it.

See Also