User Guide > Map Connectors > Source and Target Map Connectors > ServiceNow Multimode
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ServiceNow Multimode
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 Multimode is a multimode connector that provides target connections to ServiceNow services. This connector allows you to work with multiple tables at one time using one map.
Note:  This connector appeared in DataConnect 12.0 and earlier versions as the ServiceNow connector. When you load an existing Map that was created when ServiceNow referred to a multimode connector, the target will automatically select ServiceNow Multimode connector.
You can quickly setup a multimode connector using the multimode wizard. For more information, see Setting Up Multimode Target Connector Using Multimode Wizard.
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. Multimode connectors are target only connectors. For a list of all parts for target connectors, see Specifying Target Connector, Parts, and Properties.
Specify the following connector parts on the Target tab to connect with ServiceNow:
Connector Part
Description
ServiceNow Instance
Name of the ServiceNow instance.
User
User ID to access the ServiceNow application.
Password
Password to access the ServiceNow application.
Schema Selector
Shows a list of target tables from where you can select a table to define a schema.
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 target properties:
Property
Description
Flush Frequency
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
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
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.
Use Display Values
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.
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 Operations
ServiceNow Multimode connector supports insert, upsert, update, and delete operations.
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