Delete WBS

What a planner means

Delete WBS is Edit > Delete of a WBS element in Project > WBS. Oracle does not print a menu item named Delete WBS. The how-to Oracle names is Delete a work breakdown structure element. If the WBS is assigned to activities, Oracle prompts to delete the WBS and those activities or reassign the assignments to the parent WBS. The dialog Oracle names is Merge or Delete WBS Element(s). It is a command. It is not stored data. It is not Cut WBS, not Copy WBS, not Cut Activity, not Delete Activity, not Dissolve, not Change an activity's WBS assignment, not Add WBS from Template, not a WBS Summary activity, not Fill Down, and not Primavera Cloud Delete and Reassign a WBS.

Oracle Delete a work breakdown structure element (Professional):

1. "Choose Project, WBS."
2. "Select the WBS element you want to delete, then choose Edit, Delete." "If the WBS element you want to delete is assigned to activities, you are prompted to delete the WBS element and all activities assigned to it or reassign all of its activity assignments to the element's parent WBS element."
3. "Click OK, then click Yes."

Note Oracle printed on that page: "If you delete a parent WBS element, all elements contained in the parent element are also deleted."

The how-to fetched does not print the dialog title Merge or Delete WBS Element(s). Do not invent that it did. The how-to fetched does not print Delete Element(s) / Merge Element(s). Do not invent that it did.

Merge or Delete WBS Element(s) dialog box (Professional): "Use the Merge or Delete WBS Element(s) dialog box to confirm that you want to delete a WBS element. Also, if the WBS you are deleting has activities associated with it, choose one of the following options before clicking OK to confirm the delete action."

• Delete Element(s) — "Deletes the selected WBS element and all activities assigned to it."
• Merge Element(s) — "Deletes the selected WBS element and reassigns its activities to the WBS element."

Quote the dialog page as printed. The how-to names the reassignment target as the element's parent WBS element. The dialog page fetched prints "to the WBS element." Do not invent that the dialog printed "parent." Do not invent other buttons. Do not invent that Merge keeps planned resource allocations.

Dialog note: "These two options also appear if the WBS has both activities and planned resource allocations. However, resource allocations cannot be merged. Regardless of the option you choose, the planned resource allocations are deleted. For this reason, when a WBS has planned resource allocations but no activities, these options do not appear."

The Professional how-to fetched does not print the planned-resource-allocation note. Quote it from the dialog page (and from EPPM Working with WBS Elements). Do not invent that the how-to printed it. Oracle printed planned resource allocations. Do not invent that those words are an XER table.

Professional — Work Breakdown Structure window: "Use the Edit menu on the Menu bar, the Edit toolbar, or shortcut (right-click) menu to add, delete, cut, copy, and paste WBS elements." That is shortcut Delete, not a printed item titled Delete WBS. Edit Menu: Delete "Deletes the selected data object." Enabled when the active window is "All except Tracking." Corresponding toolbar: Edit Toolbar. This is the same Delete as any other data object. Delete WBS is that command when the selected object is a WBS element in the WBS window.

Edit Toolbar Delete: "Deletes the selected data object." Yes (displays by default). Enabled when "All except Tracking." Del or Delete. Edit > Delete.

Hot keys: Alt-E, L = Delete. The same table also prints Alt-E, L = Select All. Quote both. Do not collapse them. Do not collapse toolbar Del or Delete and Alt-E, L.

Cut WBS is a different command. Cut WBS is Edit > Cut / Paste of a WBS element. Oracle sources it as a move. It does not open Merge or Delete WBS Element(s). See Cut WBS.

Copy WBS is a different command. Copy WBS is Edit > Copy / Paste of a WBS element plus Copy WBS Options. See Copy WBS.

Delete Activity is a different command. Oracle Delete an activity: Project, Activities → Edit, Delete → Yes. Tip: "To remove an activity, but maintain the relationship between its predecessor and successor activities, dissolve the activity instead of deleting it." That is not Edit > Delete of a PROJWBS node. See Delete Activity.

Dissolve is a different command. Edit > Dissolve removes an activity and joins its predecessors to its successors. It is not a WBS command. See Dissolve Removes an Activity and Joins Its Predecessors to Its Successors.

Change an activity's WBS assignment is a different command. Oracle Change an activity's work breakdown structure assignment: Project, Activities → Activity Details General tab → WBS field → select the WBS element → Select. That how-to does not print Edit, Delete or Merge or Delete WBS Element(s).

WBS Summary is not this command. WBS Summary is a TASK activity type. It is not a PROJWBS node and not Edit > Delete of a WBS. See P6 Activity Types (Six) — Not MSP Task Type and P6 WBS.

Fill Down is a different command. Edit > Fill Down copies first-selected-row text down a column. See Fill Down Copies First-Selected-Row Text Down a Table Column.

Professional vs EPPM

Professional — the how-to and Merge or Delete WBS Element(s) dialog above. Do not invent a printed item titled Delete WBS.

EPPM web — Working with WBS Elements: if you have the Add/Edit/Delete WBS Except Costs/Financials project privilege, you can add, copy and paste, cut and paste, modify, or delete WBS elements. To add, copy and paste, cut and paste, edit, or delete WBS elements, the grouping Level 1 Field must be WBS.

Delete WBS elements: "If you attempt to delete a WBS that has activities associated with it, you must specify what you want to do with the activities." "To delete both the WBS and its associated activities, select Delete." "To delete the WBS, but reassign its activities to the parent WBS, select Merge." Same planned-resource-allocation note: allocations cannot be merged; they are deleted either way; the two options do not appear when the WBS has planned resource allocations but no activities.

Do not copy Professional Project > WBS / Edit > Delete / Edit Toolbar / Del / Alt-E, L / "Click OK, then click Yes" / Delete Element(s) / Merge Element(s) / the dialog title Merge or Delete WBS Element(s) onto EPPM.

EPPM names Delete and Merge. Professional dialog names Delete Element(s) and Merge Element(s). Quote both. Do not collapse them.

The EPPM Delete section fetched does not print "If you delete a parent WBS element, all elements contained in the parent element are also deleted." Do not invent that it did.

Working with Activities (EPPM): one page prints Row Actions Menu: "Add and delete activities or add, delete, expand, and collapse WBS elements with this menu." Another page of the same doc set prints Context: "Add and delete activities or add, delete, expand, and collapse WBS elements with this menu." Quote both. Do not collapse Row Actions Menu and Context. Working with WBS Elements Delete section fetched does not print Row Actions or Context. Do not invent that it did.

EPPM Cut and Paste: "If you need to move WBS elements to a different project, copy the WBS elements and paste them to the new location, and then delete the original entries." That is Cut's workaround. Do not treat that sentence as this command's how-to. Do not copy the EPPM cannot-cut / cannot-copy lists onto this Delete command.

Primavera Cloud Delete and Reassign a WBS names a Delete WBS dialog (Reassign associated activities and tasks / Delete associated activities and tasks / Delete associated activities only). That is a different product. Do not copy those Cloud options onto P6 Professional or EPPM.

XER

None. Oracle’s project XER map TOC has no DELETEWBS / DELETE_WBS / DELWBS / MERGEWBS / MERGE_WBS table. After the command the PROJWBS row is gone (and its TASK rows are gone, or now point at the parent wbs_id if Merge). Do not invent that Delete creates a new wbs_id. Do not treat a missing PROJWBS row, or a changed TASK.wbs_id, as “the planner used Delete.”

PROJWBS is the WBS node. TASK.wbs_id is the owning WBS. See P6 WBS.

A Viewer parse of one XER cannot reconstruct whether the planner used Edit > Delete of a WBS, never created the node, imported without it, or used Merge versus Delete Element(s).

Microsoft Project

Desktop Project has no WBS table and no Merge or Delete WBS Element(s). Microsoft Create and work with subtasks and summary tasks: "When you move or delete a summary task, Project moves or deletes all of its subtasks. Before you delete a summary task, outdent the subtasks you want to keep."

They are not the same command. P6 Delete WBS is Edit > Delete of a PROJWBS element plus the Merge or Delete prompt Oracle named. Project deletes a summary task (and its subtasks unless you outdent first). Microsoft did not print Delete Element(s), Merge Element(s), or a WBS node distinct from a summary task. Do not invent an analog named outline delete. Do not claim MPXJ can write a real MPP.

Don't

• Treat Delete WBS as Cut WBS, Copy WBS, Cut Activity, Delete Activity, Dissolve, Change an activity's WBS assignment, Add WBS from Template, a WBS Summary activity, Fill Down, or Primavera Cloud Delete and Reassign a WBS.
• Invent a Delete WBS Options dialog, or invent buttons beyond Delete Element(s) / Merge Element(s) on the Professional dialog Oracle named.
• Invent that the Professional how-to printed the dialog title Merge or Delete WBS Element(s), or printed Delete Element(s) / Merge Element(s).
• Invent that Merge Element(s) printed "parent." The how-to says parent WBS element; the dialog page fetched says "to the WBS element."
• Invent that Merge keeps planned resource allocations. Oracle: they cannot be merged; they are deleted either way.
• Invent that the Professional how-to printed the planned-resource-allocation note.
• Invent a DELETEWBS / DELETE_WBS / DELWBS / MERGEWBS / MERGE_WBS XER table, or treat a missing PROJWBS / changed TASK.wbs_id as “the planner used Edit > Delete.”
• Collapse Professional Delete Element(s) / Merge Element(s) onto EPPM Delete / Merge, or copy Professional "Click OK, then click Yes" / the dialog title onto EPPM.
• Copy Professional Edit > Delete / Edit Toolbar / Del / Alt-E, L onto EPPM, or treat EPPM Row Actions / Context delete of a WBS as Edit > Delete.
• Collapse EPPM Row Actions Menu and Context into one invented menu name.
• Invent that EPPM Working with WBS Elements printed Row Actions, Context, or the Professional parent-deletes-children sentence.
• Copy EPPM cannot-cut / cannot-copy lists, or Cut's "copy … then delete the original entries," onto this command.
• Collapse toolbar Del or Delete and hot key Alt-E, L, or collapse Alt-E, L = Delete and Alt-E, L = Select All.
• Copy Primavera Cloud Delete WBS dialog options onto P6 Professional or EPPM.
• Claim a Viewer reconstructed that the planner last used Delete WBS, or Merge versus Delete Element(s), from an XER.
• Map P6 Delete WBS to MSP Delete of a summary task / outdent as the same command.
• Claim MPXJ writes a real MPP.