A table's elements are on compatible columns in helath scan finding servicenow

[Sai142]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to understand a HealthScan finding for an Update Set. The scan result shows: "A table's elements are on compatible columns," but provides no other details.

• What does this finding mean, How can I fix this came for referenced fields?

Any insights or advice would be much appreciated!

[Rafael Batistot]

Hi @Sai142 

the message "A table's elements are on compatible columns" relates to how tables in an extended hierarchy can share the same physical database column. This mechanism is most notably seen with tables that extend the Task table, like Incident or Problem. It is a built-in platform feature that helps manage the underlying data structure efficiently. 

• The platform's table structure: In ServiceNow, tables can extend, or inherit from, one another. For example, the Incident table extends the Task table, and the Problem table extends the Tasktable. This creates a hierarchy where a single, physical database table (e.g., the base Task table) can store common field data for multiple child tables (Incident, Problem, Change Request, etc.).

[Sai142]

Hi  @Rafael Batistot,

Thanks for explaining!

It came as part of scanning update set, how do I fix it? And the field for which it has given is a reference field referenced to relationship table (similar to group members table). Any thing to fixed at relationship table or how is it.

[Rafael Batistot · Accepted solution]

@Sai142 

HealthScan flagged your reference field, not the relationship table.

The issue is usually that the backing column isn’t length 32 (needed for sys_id).

• Fix = ensure the field is defined as:
• Type = Reference
• Reference table = your relationship table 
• Column length = 32

Don’t change the relationship table itself. If column length is wrong → create a new corrected field and migrate data. 

If everything looks fine → re-add the dictionary record to the Update Set (sometimes HealthScan just sees it incomplete).