How to start or cancel a queued international DNC file

Uploading a DNC list file to VICIdial's International DNC Loader does not automatically start processing it. The file sits in the queue in a READY state until you take one of two deliberate actions: press START FILE to begin loading the numbers into the database, or press CANCEL to remove the file from the queue. Understanding these two controls — and the queue states that result from them — lets you manage the flow of international suppression data without surprises.

The four queue states

Every file in the International DNC Loader queue has one of four statuses at any given time. The status tells you where the file is in its lifecycle and what actions are available for it.

• READY — the file has been uploaded and is waiting for configuration (country code, file action, file layout) before it can be processed.
• PENDING — the file has been fully configured and START FILE was pressed. The background processing script will pick it up and begin loading the numbers.
• finished — the script has completed loading the file. The numbers are now in the country's Internal DNC suppression table and the Lead loader will scrub against them.
• CANCELLED — the file was cancelled by the user. The background script will purge it from the queue table and erase it from the DNC storage folder.

The state transition flow

stateDiagram-v2
  [*] --> READY : File uploaded
  READY --> PENDING : Admin clicks START FILE
  READY --> CANCELLED : Admin clicks CANCEL
  PENDING --> finished : Background script completes loading
  CANCELLED --> [*] : Script purges file from queue and storage

How to start a file

Before you can press START FILE, the file must be in READY status and all three configuration fields must be set: the DNC country code, the DNC file action (PURGE or APPEND), and the DNC file layout format. If any of these are missing or unset, the START FILE button will not trigger processing correctly. Once all three are in place, clicking START FILE sets the file's status to PENDING. From that point, the automated background script takes over — it detects PENDING files, loads the numbers into the appropriate country table, and updates the status to finished when the job is done.

How to cancel a file

If you uploaded a file by mistake, chose the wrong file, or need to reconfigure before loading, you can cancel it while it is still in READY status. Clicking the CANCEL button sets the status to CANCELLED. The background script handles the rest: it removes the entry from the queue table and deletes the file from the DNC storage folder on disk. The cancellation is permanent — a cancelled file cannot be restarted. You would need to upload the file again and configure it fresh.

Tracking progress after pressing START FILE

The queue table on the International DNC Loader page updates as the background script works through the file. You can reload the page to check current status. A file sitting in PENDING for an extended time may indicate the background script is not running — that script must be active for any processing to occur. If files remain PENDING indefinitely, verify that the background processing script is running on the server.

What finished status means for your campaigns

Once the status shows finished, the DNC (do not call) data is live. The lead loader will honor it on the next import — any number from an uploaded DNC file will be suppressed when new leads are loaded for the matching country. Keep in mind that leads already queued in the Campaign hopper before the file was processed are not retroactively removed. The scrub applies at import time. If you need to remove already-imported numbers, that requires a separate cleanup pass against the existing lead records.

For setup guidance on file configuration including country code and layout format, see VICIdial basic lead management tools. For the full picture of bulk admin workflows, read our VICIdial admin bulk tools guide.

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