Deleting Smart Components

How you delete a Smart Component depends on whether it is Private or Public. A Private component is deleted from its module in Module Builder, and restoring an earlier module revision brings it back. A Public component is deleted from the Smart Components Hub, and that deletion is permanent.

Neither kind can be deleted while it is in use. Remove every instance of the component first.

Delete a Private Smart Component

A Private component belongs to its module, so deleting it is a module change. The Smart Components Hub and the Smart Component Editor don't offer Delete Component for a Private component.

Your role must grant Delete on Smart Components (Private).

To delete a Private component:

1. Open the module that owns the component and lock it for editing.
2. Remove every instance of the component from the canvas.
3. In the component tray, find the component in the In This Module group.
4. Hover over the component row and click Delete definition.
5. In the Delete this definition? dialog, click Delete Definition. A message states that the component is deleted when you save the module.
6. Save the module to apply the deletion.

Until you save, undo brings the component back, and leaving the module without saving keeps it. If any instance is still on the canvas, the Cannot delete definition dialog lists each one instead. Select an instance in the list to select it on the canvas, then delete it and try again.

The Make Public dialog can also delete the Private component after every instance switches to the new Public component. See Making Smart Components Public.

In a versioned application, the deletion applies to the branch you have open. Publishing the branch removes the component from the module. See Publishing a Branch.

Recover a Deleted Private Smart Component

Deleting a Private component frees its name in the module. To bring the component back, restore a module revision saved before the deletion. See Restoring a Save.

If another component in the module took the name in the meantime, the restored component returns with a digit added to its name, like Address_Form2.

Delete a Public Smart Component

Deleting a Public component removes it from the component tray and the Smart Components Hub for every Creator. The deletion cannot be undone.

Your role must grant Delete on Smart Components (Public).

To delete a Public component:

1. Click Libraries in the global header, then select Smart Components Hub.
2. In the Explorer panel, select Dashboard.
3. On the component's row in the Public tab, click (ellipsis) and select Delete Component.
4. In the Delete Smart Component? dialog, click Delete. A message confirms the deletion.

Delete Component is also available in the (ellipsis) menu of the Smart Component Editor toolbar.

Public Component Is Still in Use

A Public component can't be deleted while any module or open application draft uses it. Instead of the confirmation, an Unable to delete dialog names the component and counts the modules and application drafts that use the component.

For each application draft, the dialog lists the application, the draft name, and the modules in that draft that place the component. A draft outside your access is counted without its name.

To delete the component, open each listed module in Module Builder and remove every instance of the component, then delete it again. Deleting the component never removes its instances for you.