Question 1

What is Instance in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Each customer (and each dev / test / prod environment) gets its own URL like company.service-now.com. Code and data live inside the instance — there's no shared codebase across customers.

Question 2

What is Table in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Tables can extend each other (Incident extends Task extends... ). Dot-walking lets you traverse references like incident.caller_id.email without a JOIN.

Question 3

What is Form & List in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

A List shows many records as rows; a Form shows one record with all its fields. Both are auto-generated from the table definition and customizable per view.

Question 4

What is Application Scope in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Scoped apps prevent name collisions and protect their internals. The global scope is the legacy, unrestricted namespace — avoid it for new code.

Question 5

What is Update Set in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Captures config records (business rules, UI policies, etc.) so you can move them dev → test → prod. Data records are NOT captured — use a data import or fix script for that.

Question 6

What is GlideRecord in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Primary way to read/write tables in scripts: new GlideRecord('incident'); gr.addQuery('active', true); gr.query(). Supports dot-walking, encoded queries, and CRUD.

Question 7

What is GlideAggregate in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Like GlideRecord but for SUM/COUNT/AVG/MIN/MAX grouped by fields. Far cheaper than looping a GlideRecord in JS.

Question 8

What is Client Script in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Types: onLoad, onChange, onSubmit, onCellEdit. Use g_form, g_user. Avoid GlideRecord here — use GlideAjax.

Question 9

What is Business Rule in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

When: before/after/async/display. Use 'before' for validation/derived fields, 'async' for non-blocking work.

Question 10

What is UI Policy in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Prefer over client scripts for visibility logic — easier to audit, faster to load.

Question 11

What is Script Include in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Define as a class (Class.create()) or function; call from business rules, scripted REST, GlideAjax (client-callable=true).

Question 12

What is Reference Field in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Stores sys_id; lookup table set in dictionary. Enables dot-walking like u_request.requested_for.email.

Question 13

What is Encoded Query in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Example: active=true^priority=1^ORpriority=2. Copy from breadcrumb; reuse in scripts via addEncodedQuery.

Question 14

What is sys_id in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Primary key across all tables. Always sys_id-based references — never display value.

Question 15

What is Now Experience UI in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Built on web components / Seismic. UI Builder is the visual designer; older UI16 still ships for back-of-house pages.

🧱 PLATFORM BASICS

Term Glossary