Category: Server-side JavaScript

Say you want to delete a million rows from a Data Extension in Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC). Doing that with the SFMC Web Services can be a pain. One alternative is to utilize Server-Side JavaScript (SSJS) and a Landing Page.

I built a landing page that posts to itself and runs this pruneRows() function. I configured a Data Extension that contains the keys to delete. The script retrieves all of the rows with that key, deletes them and updates the DE of keys with the results.

You may have to experiment with the number of Row Keys to retrieve at a time. If the number is too high, the landing page will time-out. In my scenario, I found that processing 50 at a time worked well (line #8).

For further reading:

• Server-Side JavaScript
• Data Extension SSJS Functions
• Landing Pages

Server-side Script (SSJS) Activities are a hidden gem of the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. They’re useful for a wide range of applications. I ran into a scenario where I wanted to run an Automation programmatically — if it’s not already running.

It was way harder than it needed to be. Hope this saves you some frustration:

The retrieve is for getting the ObjectID and Status of the Automation, which you then use to check to see if it’s running and then invoke a Perform if it isn’t.

The frustrating part of this was that the ObjectID is not a retrievable property of the Automation Object (unlike Status). It’s only returned in the result-set of a successful Retrieve.

I’d suggest testing this script in a CloudPage until you get it working and then move it to the Script Activity.

For further reading:

• Accessing API Functions Using the Function Object
• SFMC API Objects
• Automation Object