How to delete ghost / broken / missing fields from Drupal - Base table or view not found

delete_ghost_file.php

<?php

/**
 * Deletes ghost/broken/missing fields from the file system.
 * 
 * I've recently run into a problem where some deleted fields were not
 * completely wiped out from the system.
 * This was causing the following error every time I tried to delete a
 * piece of content:
 * 
 * Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityStorageException: SQLSTATE[42S02]: Base table
 * or view not found: 1146 Table 'field_my_field' doesn't exist: DELETE FROM
 * {field_my_field}...
 *
 * Or even this one:
 *
 * Drupal\Core\Field\FieldException: Attempt to create a field 'field_my_field'
 * that does not exist on entity type node.
 * 
 * To my luck I have later found that these deleted fields were still present
 * in the following key_value collections:
 * 
 * - entity.definitions.bundle_field_map > node
 * - entity.definitions.installed > node.field_storage_definitions
 * 
 * So removing these fields from the key_value collections did the trick
 * for me and put my site back to work.
 *
 * UPDATE on Sept 7 2020:
 *
 * I've found this snippet to be a helpful resource on getting rid of hard errors
 * when excluding fields through the UI. Although it would help me bypass the hard
 * errors, next time I would try to delete a field I would again see that WSOD.
 *
 * What really fixed the problem for me was this:
 *
 * - First, recreate the fields Drupal is complaining about on the same entity type
 * where they were first created on.
 * - Then, follow the instructions on this Stack Exchange answer:
 * https://drupal.stackexchange.com/a/223114/18445
 * - After that, run cron.
 *
 * That should do the trick.
 *
 * @param string $field_name
 *   The machine name of the "ghost" field that is causing you trouble.
 */
function deleteGhostField($field_name) {
  $bundle_field_map = \Drupal::keyValue('entity.definitions.bundle_field_map');
  $installed = \Drupal::keyValue('entity.definitions.installed');
  
  $bundle_fields = $bundle_field_map->get('node');
  $installed_fields = $installed->get('node.field_storage_definitions');

  unset($bundle_fields[$field_name]);
  unset($installed_fields[$field_name]);

  $bundle_field_map->set('node', $bundle_fields);
  $installed->set('node.field_storage_definitions', $installed_fields);
}

deleteGhostField('field_ordinary_dividends');