---
url: /process-functions/hierarchy-ungroup.md
description: Removes an element from under one parent in a hierarchy.
---

# hierarchy.ungroup

Removes an element from under one parent in a hierarchy. It's the reverse of [hierarchy.group](/process-functions/hierarchy-group).

What happens to the child depends on where else it sits:

* **Under other parents too:** it's only removed from the parent you name, and stays under the others.
* **A leaf with no other parent:** it leaves the hierarchy. If it isn't in any other hierarchy, it becomes an orphan.
* **A parent with no other parent:** it's left detached, with its children still under it. A detached parent isn't saved, so it and any parents below it are lost when the dimension is next loaded from disk, for example after a server restart, and the leaves below it become orphans.

::: tip Removing a parent
This function is meant for leaf elements. To remove a parent from a hierarchy, use [hierarchy.unwind](/process-functions/hierarchy-unwind), which removes it and everything below it.
:::

The child must be directly under that parent. Elements at the top level of a hierarchy can't be removed this way; use [hierarchy.unwind](/process-functions/hierarchy-unwind) for those. To remove a leaf element from the dimension altogether, including from every hierarchy, use [element.delete](/process-functions/element-delete).

[hierarchy.removeChild](/process-functions/hierarchy-removechild) does exactly the same, but returns `true` or `false` instead of a message.

```js
hierarchy.ungroup(dimension, hierarchy, parent, child)
```

## Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `dimension` | `string` | The dimension's name. |
| `hierarchy` | `string` | The hierarchy's name. |
| `parent` | `string` | The parent element's name. |
| `child` | `string` | The child element's name. |

## Returns

An empty string when it succeeds, or an error message saying why it failed, such as when the dimension, hierarchy, parent or child can't be found, or the child isn't directly under that parent.

## Examples

```js
hierarchy.ungroup("Account", "Profit and Loss", "Total Revenue", "600010");
```