Database Delete

A Database Delete Task deletes or terminates features in one of the configured databases.

Step 1 (Task name)

Option Description

Task Name

Name of the task.

Create or overwrite Datasource

Select whether to create a new datasource or overwrite an existing one

Datasource Name

If an existing data source is to be overwritten, select the source here.

Click NEXT STEP to continue.

Step 2 (Database)

In this step, the target database for the delete process must be selected.

Select Database

Choose the database in which features will be deleted or terminated.

The system lists the available configured databases. Select the appropriate one from the dropdown menu.

If the required database is not listed, it must first be configured in the administration section.
See Database Management for instructions on how to create and manage database connections.

Validate Connection to Database

After selecting the database, click Validate Connection to Database to verify that the connection is working properly. This validation is optional but recommended.

This step ensures:

  • The database is reachable

  • Credentials are correct

  • The delete task can be executed without connection issues

Once the connection is successfully validated, click NEXT STEP to continue.

Step 3 (Task settings)

In this step, configure how and which features will be deleted or terminated.

Deleting data is irreversible. Consider running the task in preview mode first.

Mode

Option Description Default value

Mode

Defines how features are removed from the database:

  • Terminate: Features are not physically removed but are marked as terminated. This keeps feature history (recommended default).

  • Delete: Features are physically removed from the database.

Terminate
Delete affects a feature together with its contained subfeatures. For Terminate, contained subfeatures can optionally be terminated as well (see Terminate Options below). Terminated features cannot be terminated again; they can only be physically removed.

Terminate Options

These options are only available for VCDB 5 databases and only apply when Mode is set to Terminate.

Option Description Default value VCDB 4 VCDB 5

Terminate with sub-features

If enabled, contained subfeatures are terminated as well. Terminating all subfeatures can take significantly longer than terminating only the top-level feature.

On

No

Yes

Termination date

When enabled, set a termination date using the calendar picker to overwrite the default behavior.

Off

No

Yes

Termination time

When enabled, set a termination time using the time picker to overwrite the default behavior.

Off

No

Yes
The termination date and time define the termination timestamp that is applied to terminated features (and their contained subfeatures, if enabled). If you enable and set these fields, the selected timestamp is applied to all terminated features. If you leave the fields unset, each feature is automatically assigned the timestamp at the moment it is terminated, which can differ between features.
For details, refer to the VC Database documentation on termination metadata.

Delete Options

These settings control performance and processing behavior.

Option Description Default value VCDB 4 VCDB 5

Preview

Run in preview mode. Features will not be deleted or terminated.

Off

Yes

Yes

Deactivate indices and automatically reactivate

If enabled, indices are deactivated before processing and automatically reactivated after the task is finished.

This can improve performance for large delete/terminate operations, but may add overhead for smaller operations.

Off

No

Yes

Log Level

Defines the minimum severity of events that are shown in the task log. All messages of that severity or higher are included.

See Log Level below.

info

Yes

Yes

Feature Validity

If enabled, filter features by their validity in time.

Fields in the UI:

  • Validity Mode: Process Valid, Invalid, or All features.

  • at: If enabled, set Validity Date and Validity Time using the date/time picker. The task checks validity at that point in time.

  • Reference (VCDB 5 only): Select the time reference used for validity checks:

    • Database: A feature version is considered valid if it exists in the database at the selected time (based on the columns creation_date and termination_date).

    • Real World: A feature is considered valid if it is valid in the real world at the selected time (based on the columns valid_from and valid_to).

  • Lenient Validation (VCDB 5 only): Validity checks are strict unless Lenient Validation is enabled. If enabled, treat incomplete validity intervals as valid.

Off

Yes

Yes

Log Level

Defines the minimum severity of events that are shown in the task log. All messages of that severity or higher are included.

The available log levels, ordered from highest to lowest severity, are:

Level Description Default value

fatal

Critical errors causing immediate termination (least output).

error

Non-recoverable errors.

warn

Warnings about potential issues.

info

General operational messages.

Default

debug

Detailed debugging information.

trace

Most detailed logs for troubleshooting.
Use debug or trace for debugging or in support cases.

Metadata

Metadata is written to every feature that is terminated (not physically deleted). These fields are relevant only when Mode is set to Terminate. For VCDB 5 databases, this applies to the terminated feature and, if enabled, its contained subfeatures.

Option Description Default value

Data lineage or origin of features

Lineage of the terminated data (origin information stored with the features).

Updating person

Name of the responsible person performing the termination.

Database user

Reason for update

Explanation of why this termination is being performed.

Filter Options

These options allow restricting the delete operation to a subset of features.

Option Description Default value

Feature IDs

Comma-separated list of feature identifiers to delete/terminate.

Feature Types

One or more feature types to delete/terminate.

Examples (as shown in the UI):

  • Building

  • Bridge

  • CityFurniture

  • CityObjectGroup

  • GenericCityObject

Clicking on Get feature types from database (Get from database) icon restricts selection to feature types that exist in the selected database.

Bounding Box

Spatial filter defined as x_min,y_min,x_max,y_max in EPSG:4326 coordinates (WGS84). The Publisher UI currently supports EPSG:4326 only.

Use Get bounding box from database (Get from database) icon to automatically fill the bounding box with the spatial extent of the data in the selected database.
Click on Edit bounding box (Edit bounding box) icon to open the map editor and draw or adjust the extent.

Off

Bounding Box Mode

Defines how the bounding box filter is applied:

  • Intersects: Process features whose bounding box overlaps the filter bounding box.

  • Contains: Process only features that are fully inside the filter bounding box.

  • On Tile (VCDB 5 only): Process features whose bounding box center lies within the filter bounding box.

Intersects

Count limit

Limit the number of processed features and optionally skip a number of features at the beginning of the result set.

Use:

  • Limit: Maximum number of features to process (default: 1000).

  • Start index: 0-based index of the first feature to process (default: 0).

Off

Expert Filter

Click on (Expert filter) the icon to show the expert filter editor for entering filter expressions directly.

For VCDB 4 databases, the expert filter uses XML query expressions.

For VCDB 5 databases, the expert filter uses JSON-based filter expressions that allow advanced filtering of features.

For more information, refer to the VC Database documentation on Filtering features to delete.

Off
The limit and start index apply to the filtered result set and can be used separately or together. This enables pagination-style delete/terminate operations when working with large datasets.
When using multiple filters, all conditions must be satisfied for a feature to be deleted/terminated.

Click NEXT STEP to continue.

Step 4 (Task schedule)

Option Description

Start Job as soon as possible

Start the job immediately.

Start Job once at given time

Schedule job for a future time.

Repeat Job

Automatic periodic execution of the job.

Publish Job after Completion

Once conversion is successful, the datasource is published automatically.