I have had a few customers delete products from the catalog even though the products have been referenced in orders (or worse, in orders that are still in process).


As you can imagine this creates all kinds of havoc.



So this is a plea to either remove the dependency between LineItem and Product (i.e. make the LineItem include a complete snapshot of the product at the time), or prevent the merchant from deleting products (and product variations) that are in use, or at the very least put up a big scary confirmation:




This product/choice/input/modifier is used in X orders that are still in process. Deleting it now is a VERY BAD idea. Please use inventory to hide this choice or mark the product inactive.



Do you want to continue?




I believe they are deleting the products to prevent accidental orders. Apparently the existing dials (active, inventory) do not work or they are not understood adequately.

I believe a bunch of us discussed this many months ago. It started to get heated, but I believe the developer types conferred with me that a snapshot should be saved with an order, which would permit the the relationship with the item to be severed.