You can only delete a document from the Library. Deleting a document from the Outline Editor removes the link between documents, but does not delete the document from the Library. You cannot restore deleted documents in a single-user installation. The Developer alerts you when you delete a document that cannot be restored. 

If you attempt to delete a document from the Library that is used by other documents, you have the choice to delete the selection only or the selection and all related documents. Clicking the View related documents link displays a list of the related documents, their locations, and document type. The related documents list includes the direct and indirect links for each parent document selected. The direct links are the child documents that are linked to the deleted document, and the indirect links are the child documents that are linked to those documents. For example, consider a section that is linked to a topic, whose concept is linked to a web page. Deleting this section with related documents not only deletes the topic, but also deletes the web page linked to the topic. However, the Developer does not delete a document that is also linked to another parent not related to the deletion.

Note: When deleting a parent document with its related documents, the following document types are not included as related documents and are not deleted: sound packages, icon packages, templates, glossary documents, and style sheets. You can delete sound packages, icon packages, templates, glossary documents, and style sheets directly from the Library. When you delete a glossary document, the web page and package documents linked to it are not deleted unless you choose the delete with related option. Although you can create and store additional documents in the System folders, be aware that packages stored in those folders are not included as related documents for many actions, including deletion. When performing an action with related documents, you can use the View related documents link to see which documents are included.

Warning! When you delete a package as a "related document", you delete the entire package and all of the files it contains, even if only one file of a multi-file package is linked to the document(s) selected for deletion.

When you delete a document in the Library that is directly linked to an outline, the document is removed from the outline and a Missing Document link appears in its place. You can delete this link in the outline as well.

Note: You cannot delete a document if it is open in another document editor. For example, you cannot delete a section from the Library that is currently open in the Outline Editor. When deleting an open document, you are prompted to close the document in the other editor.

In some instances, you may have problems deleting a document if it was previously linked to an outline that is currently open in the Outline Editor. If Developer cannot delete the document, close the outline and try deleting the document again.

 Multi-user Considerations

• Documents under version control must be checked in and you must be working online to delete a document from the Library. You can delete new documents that have never been checked in (are not under version control) while working online or offline.
   
  Deleted documents under version control that are used in an outline continue to appear in the outline as broken links. You can either remove these links from the outline or restore the deleted documents as long as the administrator has not purged them.
   
  Deleted documents that have been checked in to the Library can be restored if they have not been purged by your Administrator. New documents that have never been checked in cannot be restored.

To delete a document:

Note: Before deleting a document, you must close it if it is open in a document editor.

1. In the Library, select the document that you want to delete.
    
   You can select multiple documents using the standard Windows selection keys (CTRL+click and SHIFT+click). You can select all items in a folder by choosing Select All from the Edit menu.
    
2. On the Edit menu, choose  Delete.
    
   You can also press DELETE or right-click the document and choose Delete.
    
   The Related Documents dialog box appears when you perform an action on any document that has links to other documents. You can choose to process only the document(s) you selected or to process your selection and all of the related documents.
    
   Click the View related documents link to display a list of the related documents if you are not sure whether you want to include related documents.
    
   After you have made your selection, click OK.
    
   You might also receive a message if some documents could not be processed because of other constraints. You can click OK to close the message box or click the View activity log link to view the results of the action.

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