If a CodingField or ExtraDataField has been used but is no longer needed, clearing the field name will deactivate the field.
Example
While the example shown is in the Complaint Handling module, similar steps can be applied to configurable fields in any module.
A CodingField and an ExtraDataField have been added to Complaints. The fields are no longer used, so they need to be removed.
Click Configure <module-name>
Click Configure <module-name> Fields
Click “Edit” on the CodingField or ExtraDataField
Clear the Name field of the CodingField or ExtraDataField.
For CodingFields, the list of valid values may be cleared, but it is not required.
Blanking out the field name does not remove the field's existing values for each item (e.g. Complaint) in the database. If a previously used configurable field is disabled and then re-enabled for another purpose, the previous values will be shown in the new field. Use the Administrative Update for Field Values function to initialize the values for the new field.