# See what depends on an object

> Before you change, switch off or delete a device, rule or target, see which rules, dashboards and targets depend on it and where its data goes.

Source: https://proxus.io/docs/organize/operational-graph

At the end of this guide you know which objects depend on the one you want to change, and what stops if you switch
it off. Proxus keeps track of how gateways, devices, tags, rules, functions, pipelines, dashboards and targets
connect. You can ask from three places.

## Before you start

- The object exists and you may open it.
- What you see is limited to what your role may read. Objects outside your permissions are counted separately and
  not listed.

## Ask from the object's page

The **Dependencies** action is on the page of a device, a tag, a rule, a function, a dashboard or an outbound
target.

1. Open the object, for example **Connect > Devices** and a device.
2. Select **Dependencies**. On the device page it is in the **…** menu at the end of the toolbar.

*Screenshot: The overflow menu of the device page opened, with Dependencies at the top*

*Screenshot: The Dependencies dialog of MFB_RTM_L1_FILLER showing that one outbound target stops receiving data and one inactive rule is listed separately*

1. The object, its kind and whether the edge runs the configured version (**In sync**).
2. The summary: how many objects a change affects, and in how many kinds of consequence.
3. A group of consequences with its count. Select it to list the objects; select an object to open it.
4. Notes on what is not counted: objects hidden by your permissions, and links that could not be proven.

The groups are named by what would happen:

| Group | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Control stops** | Rules and functions lose their input. |
| **You go blind** | Dashboards and alerts lose their source. |
| **Data stops leaving** | Outbound targets and notification channels stop carrying the data. |
| **Also connected downstream** | Reached from here, with no specific failure. |
| **Inactive now** | Disabled objects: nothing stops now, but they lose this input when switched back on. |

A link is **Proven** when Proxus read it from the configuration, and **Inferred** when it was worked out, for
example from a rule's condition. When links could not be proven, the dialog says how many: check those by hand.
Select **Close** when you are done.

## The warning before a change

When you switch off or delete a device, a tag, a rule, a function, a dashboard or an outbound target, Proxus shows
what depends on it before anything happens. This applies to one object on its page and to several selected in a
list (**Status > Deactivate Selected**, **Delete**).

*Screenshot: The Deactivate anyway? dialog for the rule DOCS_Temperature above 60 °C, listing its dependencies, the acknowledgement box and the Deactivate anyway button*

1. How many objects depend on it and what happens to them.
2. The consequences by group, with counts.
3. Tick the box to confirm you have reviewed the list.
4. **Deactivate anyway** (or **Delete anyway**) is available after you tick the box. **Cancel** leaves everything
   as it was.

Switching off deletes nothing: the dependent objects stop on the next gateway sync and resume when the object is
switched on again. Deleting keeps the historical data already written, but leaves the dependent objects pointing at
something that no longer exists.

## Trace an object

**Organize > Health Checks** has a **Trace an object** tab that shows one object in the middle of its chain.

1. Open **Organize > Health Checks** and select **Trace an object**.
2. Type a device, gateway, rule, function, pipeline or target name in the search box and choose it.

*Screenshot: Trace an object for MFB_RTM_L1_FILLER: it depends on the SYSTEM gateway, its device profile and 12 tags, and feeds SYSTEM INTERNAL DB and a switched off rule*

1. The search box.
2. The verdict: whether the object works, and what it feeds. When the data stops, it says where and why.
3. **Depends on**: what the object needs to work, here the gateway, the device profile and its tags.
4. **Feeds**: what uses the object, and what those feed in turn. Switched-off objects are shown faded.

Each card shows the object's kind and state. Select **Open device** (or the button for the object's kind) to open
it.

## What's next

- [Health Checks](https://proxus.io/docs/organize/health-checks): what is broken across the whole setup.
- [Topology](https://proxus.io/docs/monitor/topology): the same connections drawn as a map.