# Why does NotebookDelete fail on cells with Copyable set to False? Bug?

Bug introduced in 9.0 or earlier and fixed in 10.3

Consider this:

NotebookWrite[EvaluationNotebook[],
Cell["Foo", "Text", Copyable -> False, CellTags -> "example"]];
NotebookFind[EvaluationNotebook[], "example", All, CellTags];
NotebookDelete[];


Execute that. You'll hear a beep, and the generated cell does not disappear. The Help menu's "Why the beep?" command helpfully explains that

"The material you tried to copy had the option Copyable->False set, preventing it from being copied to the clipboard."

Wait, what? I was trying to delete, not copy. The cell has Deletable->True by default.

My question is: Why does NotebookDelete fail on a cell for which Copyable->False? It doesn't copy. (I checked. With Copyable->True, the delete succeeds, and my system clipboard contains what it previously had, not the deleted cell.)

Is this perhaps a bug? (I'm using Mathematica 10.2.0.0 on OS X.)

• It's the same in v9. Seems weird. Manual delete fails too (Edit -> Clear or the Delete key) I'd ask support about it ... – Szabolcs Aug 11 '15 at 20:37
• Okay, I just submitted something. I'll post again if/when I hear a response. Thanks. – ibeatty Aug 11 '15 at 20:41
• I have received a short and simple response from Wolfram tech support, informing me that they have "filed a bug report with the development team" and stating that "hopefully it would be improved in future release." So yes, I guess that makes it a bug. – ibeatty Aug 12 '15 at 20:06
• Newbie meta-question: Does acknowledgement of a bug count as an "answer" that I should post as such (and accept)? – ibeatty Aug 12 '15 at 20:07
• I think it's okay if you post an answer and mention the response you got from support. It will prevent the system from periodically bumping this post to the top as "unanswered". I added the bug-header for the sake of searchability. – Szabolcs Aug 12 '15 at 20:21