Duplicate records in sys_choice table - Production

[Vaibhav Sharma1]

I am looking for assistance on below issue identified in an environment (PROD):

* It has been identified that there are duplicate choices for alm_asset.substatus field on sys_choice table

* These duplicate values have same label & backend name

* However, no gap is seen on front end UI of alm_asset table, we see only unique choices as expected

* Duplicate choices in backend are creating problem for interfaces running with this table

What could be the root cause and how should I investigate?

First of all need to understand if choices are duplicate then how asset table is showing unique values correctly

#CMDB #Asset #ITAM #Assetmanagement

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @Vaibhav Sharma1 ,

This is a common issue when using Choice Action: true in Field Maps, leading to duplicate choices which cause issues in user interface drop-down menus.

Probable Solution:

Navigate to Transform map ->check for which transform map Target table is alm_asset

• In your Field Map, change Choice Action from create to Ignore/reject (as per your requirement).
  • Ignore: Ignores the new value if it doesn't exist, preventing new entries.
  • Reject: Aborts the transformation row if the choice does not exist.
• Use Coalesce: Ensure you are using Coalesce on your import fields to identify existing records.
• Remove Case Sensitivity: Uncheck the "Case sensitive" box in your transform map to ensure that "Value" and "value" are treated as the same entry

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@Vaibhav Sharma1 

did you check they got created by which user and what timeframe?

any import set is loading data which might be creating choices?

[TharaS657398130]

Hello

What you’re seeing is actually possible in ServiceNow — duplicate records in the sys_choice table don’t always show as duplicates on the UI because the platform filters choices at runtime based on things like language, application scope, domain, and sequence/order, so only one “effective” choice is rendered even if multiple identical records exist in the backend. The root cause is usually something like update set collisions, plugin installs (like ITAM/Asset), manual entries, or domain separation creating parallel records with the same element/value/label. To investigate, query sys_choice for name = alm_asset and element = substatus, then compare duplicates across fields like sys_scope, sys_domain, language, and sequence — that will tell you why only one is being picked in UI. Also check if any are inactive or tied to different scopes. For fixing, don’t just delete blindly — identify the correct record (usually global + active + proper sequence), remove or deactivate duplicates carefully, and test because interfaces may be picking a different duplicate than UI.