User Guide > Map Connectors > Source and Target Map Connectors > ServiceNow
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ServiceNow
ServiceNow provides a cloud based service model that helps companies manage various digital workflows (like IT workflows, employee workflows, and customer workflows), removing email and spreadsheets from the process to streamline the delivery of services. It replaces manual transactions with a service experience designed for everyone in the enterprise.
ServiceNow is a single mode connector that provides source and target connections to ServiceNow services.
Note:  The traditional ServiceNow connector has been renamed to ServiceNow Multimode in DataConnect 12.1 and later versions, to better align capabilities with other Multimode connectors. When you load an existing Map that was created when ServiceNow referred to a multimode connector, the target will automatically select ServiceNow Multimode connector
Connector Parts
Connector parts are the fields you configure to connect with a data source or target. The fields that are available depend on the connector you select.
For a list of all parts for source connectors, see Specifying Source Connector, Parts, and Properties.
For a list of all parts for target connectors, see Specifying Target Connector, Parts, and Properties.
Specify the following connector parts on the Source/Target tab to connect with ServiceNow:
Connector Part
Description
ServiceNow Instance
(required) Name of the ServiceNow instance.
User
(required) User ID to access the ServiceNow application.
Password
(required) Password to access the ServiceNow application.
Source Table
OR
Target Table
(required) Table that you want to configure within the connector. You must have appropriate permissions for this table.
Apart from this you must also have appropriate security permissions for specific system tables that the connector uses to obtain table metadata:
• sys_db_object: Used to collect table-level metadata such as inheritance.
• sys_dictionary: Used to collect field-level metadata including name, alias, length, data type, and so on.
• sys_glide_object: Used to collect information about data types including names, base types, and so on.
Note:  The connector uses the ServiceNow REST APIs, which are active by default. These APIs provide the ability to perform create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) operations on existing tables (Table API) using REST interfaces.
Connector Properties
You can specify the following source (S) and target (T) properties:
Property
S/T
Description
Batch Size
S
Number of source records that the connector caches before processing them in a map.
Default value is 100.
Encoded Query String
S
ServiceNow URL-friendly query string which specifies the criteria to filter the returned records. For more information, see the following link:
http://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/utah-platform-user-interface/page/use/using-lists/concept/c_EncodedQueryStrings.html.
Use Display Values
S/T
When this property is set to True, it returns string display values for all fields. If it is set to False, it returns the raw data types and values for all fields, including GUIDs of records in external tables.
Default value is True.
Note:  ServiceNow data will not be retrieved for Journal Input type fields (like comments and comments_and_work_notes in the incident table) when the Use Display Values property is set to False. The entries for these fields are stored in a separate table (sys_journal_field). Retrieving the data for these fields would require performing separate queries for each field of the type Journal Input which would have a significant performance impact on queries. The best way to include the contents of Journal Input fields is to set the source connector’s Use Display Values property to True. If that is not possible, then the map must be designed to perform the separate queries manually in events to set the values.
Flush Frequency
T
Number of records buffered in memory before being written to the ServiceMix target connector. Default is 0 (all records are written at once). If you are inserting many records, then changing the default to a higher value may improve performance.
Batch Response
T
The file to which CRUD operation results are written. The format is one entry per record, indicating success or failure. If operation fails, information about cause of failure is returned. Default is to not write a batch response file.
Multiple Records Max Size
T
Sets the number of insert records that the target connector will send in a single request to ServiceMix. Default is 100.
Note:  This option is ignored if the Insert Multiple Web Service Plugin has not been installed in the ServiceMix instance.
Field Requirements
Many fields within ServiceNow have limitations or restrictions. Within Map Designer, visual indicators and tool tips are provided to help identify which fields have specific requirements. For example, when mapping data from a source to a ServiceNow target, the Target Field Expression cells on the Mapping tab will be gray if the field is either not updateable, or not creatable and cannot be mapped, and red if the field is required and must be mapped. A cell without color indicates there are no limitations or requirements from ServiceNow. These fields can be mapped if desired.
Supported Output Modes
ServiceNow connector supports the Append output mode. For more information, see Target Output Modes.
Supported Data Types
ServiceNow fields can be any of the 150 defined types, but all of them are derived from a set of scalar types (with the exception of complex fields). The ServiceNow connector exposes all types as one of the following basic types:
• STRING
• FLOAT
• INTEGER
• LONG
• DECIMAL
• DATE
• DATETIME
• TIME
• BOOLEAN
• GUID - Globally Unique Identifier (handled as a 32-bit character string)
Performance Notes
Dynamic queries against multiple ServiceNow system tables are performed to build the source schema for the map during design (when you connect to a chosen table). Since this operation is very expensive and time-consuming, the connector is configured such that the engine provides the source schema to the connector during execution.
The connector primarily uses the ServiceNow REST Table API to perform various CRUD operations. This API is efficient for read operations, but it is not designed to handle multi-record update operations. This means that inserts, updates, or deletes must be sent one record at a time to ServiceNow instances. This results in very slow performance. The connector attempts to overcome this by using the SOAP table API when possible. The SOAP API is used:
• If the administrator of the ServiceNow instance has installed the Insert Multiple Web Service plug-in, the connector sends multiple records in a single request to ServiceNow. The number of records sent is defined by the Multiple Records Max Size property.
• To delete multiple records in the target table based data mapped to key fields in the target table.
All update operations are performed one record at a time if the "sys_id" field is mapped. If other key fields are mapped instead of sys_id, then an additional query must be performed in order to obtain the sys_id field of all records to be updated.
Limitations
Table-level operations (create, drop, clear, and create index) are not supported due to lack of client-side API support.
Last modified date: 07/26/2024