All tutorials / Day 3

Day 3 · Free ServiceNow tutorial

ServiceNow Tables, Records, Fields & Identifiers

Explore tables and records, identify field labels and technical names, and understand how sys_id identifies a record.

By Nayeem · ServiceNow Architect and Certified Technical Architect

Understand the concept

A table defines a type of record, a record represents one item, and fields hold its values. A field label is readable text; the technical name identifies it in configuration and scripts. The sys_id is a record identifier, while a number such as INC0010001 is a human-friendly reference.

A practical business example

A support team has two callers with the same display name. Their user records have different identifiers, so a reference must identify the correct user rather than rely on the displayed name.

What you will learn

• Identify the table behind a form and distinguish a table from a record
• Compare field labels with technical names and inspect reference, system, and journal fields
• Distinguish Number from sys_id and verify that updating a record preserves its sys_id

Step-by-step practice

Use a personal learning instance and suitable permissions. Record your starting configuration before changing it.

1. Open an incident in your learning instance and identify its table.
2. Compare several field labels with their technical names using available configuration tools.
3. Inspect a caller reference and open the referenced user record.
4. Record an incident’s number and sys_id. Update a harmless description and confirm that its sys_id remains the same.

Common mistakes and troubleshooting

Display values are not reliable unique keys. Journal fields also behave differently from ordinary text fields: they collect entries rather than simply replacing a single value.

Does editing a record change its sys_id?

An ordinary update preserves the record identifier. Deleting a record and creating another creates a different record, even when its visible values match.

Watch the lesson

Hands-on lab

Tables Records Fields and Identifiers · Estimated practice: 45–60 minutes. Download the Word document and work through it alongside the video.

Keep learning

Use the ITSM interview questions with examples to practise explaining concepts. For platform reference information, consult the official ServiceNow documentation for your release.