Error When Deleting Data from List in Adobe Campaign Classic (ExecSQL Rights Required)
So here I am, trying to do what should be a basic, routine task in Adobe Campaign Classic: delete data from a list. Not someone else’s list. Not some sensitive system table. My list — user-generated content meant for campaign segmentation, testing, or temporary storage.
But instead of a quick purge, I’m greeted with a permissions wall.
Apparently, because I’m not an admin and don’t have ExecSQL rights, I can’t delete records from my own list — even through the UI. No prompt, no graceful fallback — just an error. And let’s be clear: this isn’t about bypassing security or overreaching into admin territory. This is about cleaning up data I created in the platform, using the standard tools I’m supposed to use.
I might say I’ve never purged lists via the UI — maybe that’s why Adobe hasn’t addressed this issue. But once I did try using the UI for the sake of speed and simplicity, I was rewarded with an “Admin rights required” error.
If you’ve read my other blog posts, you may have come across one particularly “interesting” security issue in Adobe Campaign Classic: it’s possible to temporarily grant admin rights to yourself under certain conditions.
How to Purge a List in Adobe Campaign Classic Using a Workflow
Since there’s no “Delete Data” activity for lists — or maybe there is and I just enjoy doing things the hard way — the trick is to save empty data into the list using the “Replace the list” option, which effectively purges its contents.
- Use Read list activity to load your list.
- Use a Split activity where you either apply a filter condition that will never be true — such as
1=2— or limit the number of records in the query to exactly zero. This ensures that no data is passed forward, allowing you to purge the list by saving nothing into it.
I have activated random sampling where the records are limited to 0
- Use List update activity to update list with empty population set in purge mode (Purge and re-use the list if exists). Also setting database used for storing list table set to default – database of targeting dimension.
How to Purge a List via Script with Elevated Rights in Adobe Campaign Classic
Luckily, there’s a workaround that doesn’t require admin rights or elevated SQL access — and I’ll show you exactly how it works.
If you’re feeling adventurous and want to take a more advanced approach, you can purge the list using the good old SQL TRUNCATE function. But before doing so, you’ll need to elevate your rights to admin.
// escalate rights to admin
var logonEscalationCtx = logonEscalation("admin");
sqlExec("TRUNCATE TABLE grp111");
// revert back to original user
logonWithContext(logonEscalationCtx);How to Find a List’s SQL Name in Adobe Campaign Classic
It’s as simple as navigating to the List in Adobe Campaign, opening the Content tab, and then clicking on Schema at the bottom. There, you’ll see the internal table (SQL) name used by the list.
The only thing left is to avoid making a typo when copying the table name — unfortunately, you can’t copy and paste it directly from the UI.
You could open the XML source to grab it more reliably, but that requires admin access, which you likely don’t have as you landed on this blog.
