Mass delete Files from records, but leave the records

Question

Dear friends... 
 Any ideas on a way to mass delete files from records but to leave the record itself intact? 
 I actually thought I was doing this succesfully, but was deluding myself... I use a report to ID the records I need, then from that report export do a textjoin to get a string of ID's, then use Postman to do the mass update using that string of ID's: 
 PUT {{url}} g_Registration/MassUpdate (a custom module with file field: data-name =" filename ") 
 
 { 
 "massupdate_params" : { 
 "uid" : [ 
 "a5ee304a-dd33-11ed-927f-0645eac4c674","ID2","ID3"...etc 
 ], 
 
 "filename" : "" 
 } 
 }

But I now realise if I add a new filename 
 "filename" : "newFileName.pdf" 
 the actual file was still there! just with no name. 
 
 The Delete method: DELETE {{url}} g_Registration/MassUpdate... perfectly deletes the entire record. 
 So wondering if there is another way for a mere admin to achieve the same? I was unable to use process definition to remove the file too. 
 If you work for Sugar and see this... if only Data Archiver had some additional functionality to update a record? That'd be cool. 
 Thank for any tips... Luke.

Luke Ridgway · Accepted Answer

Hello Luke, I've found the one I had and I am happy if you use it as a starting point:

Fullscreen 
 Delete Files Collection .postman_collection.json 
 Download 
 
 {
	"info": {
 "_postman_id": "c5b114ed-d0a7-4b13-854f-96b37696c513",
 "name": "Delete Files Collection Copy",
 "schema": "https://schema.getpostman.com/json/collection/v2.1.0/collection.json",
 "_exporter_id": "3279487"
	},
	"item": [
 {
 "name": "Authenticate",
 "event": [
 {
 "listen": "test",
 "script": {
 "exec": [
 "var jsonData = JSON.parse(responseBody);",
 "var access_token = jsonData.access_token;",
 "",
 "tests[\"access_token exists\"] = access_token !== null || access_token !== \"\";",
 "",
 "postman.setEnvironmentVariable(\"access_token\", access_token);",
 ""
 ],
 "type": "text/javascript"
 }
 }
 ],
 "request": {
 "method": "POST",
 "header": [],
 "body": {
 "mode": "raw",
 "raw": "{
 \"grant_type\":\"password\",
 \"client_id\":\"sugar\",
 \"client_secret\":\"\",
 \"username\":\"{{username}}\",
 \"password\":\"{{password}}\",
 \"platform\":\"base\"
}"
 },
 "url": {
 "raw": "{{url}}{{rest_endpoint}}/oauth2/token",
 "host": [
 "{{url}}{{rest_endpoint}}"
 ],
 "path": [
 "oauth2",
 "token"
 ]
 },
 "description": "Retrieving oauth token"
 },
 "response": []
 },
 {
 "name": "Delete Registration File",
 "event": [
 {
 "listen": "prerequest",
 "script": {
 "exec": [
 "// Load the CSV data for the current iteration",
 "const csvData = pm.iterationData.toObject();",
 "",
 "// Extract values using column names",
 "const record_to_delete_id = csvData[\"record_to_delete_id\"];",
 "",
 "// Set variables to use in your request",
 "pm.variables.set(\"record_to_delete_id\", record_to_delete_id);",
 "",
 "console.log(\"Record to Delete ID:\", record_to_delete_id);",
 ""
 ],
 "type": "text/javascript",
 "packages": {}
 }
 },
 {
 "listen": "test",
 "script": {
 "exec": [
 "var jsonData = JSON.parse(responseBody);",
 "",
 "tests[\"Successful DELETE request\"] = responseCode.code === 200;",
 ""
 ],
 "type": "text/javascript",
 "packages": {}
 }
 }
 ],
 "request": {
 "method": "DELETE",
 "header": [
 {
 "key": "oauth-token",
 "value": "{{access_token}}",
 "type": "text"
 }
 ],
 "url": {
 "raw": "{{url}}{{rest_endpoint}}/ddd_Registrations/{{record_to_delete_id}}/file/uploadfile?delete_if_fails=true&platform=base",
 "host": [
 "{{url}}{{rest_endpoint}}"
 ],
 "path": [
 "ddd_Registrations",
 "{{record_to_delete_id}}",
 "file",
 "uploadfile"
 ],
 "query": [
 {
 "key": "delete_if_fails",
 "value": "true"
 },
 {
 "key": "platform",
 "value": "base"
 }
 ]
 }
 },
 "response": []
 }
	]
}

If you want to test, after uploading you'll need to adapt the module names to match your instance module. 
 Then you need to press Run in the collection: Then make sure you have the correct Environment Variables: 
 
 After that you can run one Authenticate request to get the token

After that you can load your .csv with the id's to delete, the column name is defined set as record_to_delete_id but you can change it in the collection code 
 
 This is a successful test: The tests part might be improved as I realised is returning success even if the record doesn't have a file. 
 However I hope this helps as a first draft for you. Let me know how it goes Andr&eacute;