Hide unused CMDB CI tables from selection?

[Marcel H_]

Does anyone know if there is a good way to prevent unused CMDB CI tables from appearing in choice lists where tables can be selected and in the CI Class Manager?

There are a lot of CI classes I know that my org will never use and it makes selection and viewing more cluttered than it needs to be.

[Sandeep132]

Hi Marcel,

You can achieve this by using Principal Class feature available. You can find more information about it here https://docs.servicenow.com/en-US/bundle/vancouver-servicenow-platform/page/product/configuration-ma...

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Sandeep

[Marcel H_]

I've done this, but the result isn't quite what I was hoping for. I'd like to hide the tables for the CI classes from being seen anywhere in the system, especially in the hierarchy display of the CI Class Manager page.

[CMDB Whisperer]

The other thing that may provide additional benefit is going to the Dictionary Entry for the table and setting its Active flag to false.  This will not actually prevent the table from being accessible, but it will prevent many (but not all) methods of accessing that table from the UI.  The same thing can be achieved for individual Columns, not just for Tables.  This shouldn't break anything, as the actual read/write/create/delete operations and business rules should all still be functioning correctly in the back end, and as far as I know this will only prevent the visibility of those data elements in the UI.  There are still some areas such as Filters and Reports (if I recall correctly) where the items may still be visible even after deactivating the Dictionary Entry.

Disclaimers:  You will need to monitor this closely, as ServiceNow updates and releases may cause those items to be reactivated without any notification.  And of course, I don't claim any authority to say which entries should be deactivated, I can only say that I have safely deactivated tables and attributes that I knew would never be used again and have never experienced any technical issues from doing so.  Some assembly required.  Your mileage may vary.  Shake well before using.  Refrigerate after opening.

[Marcel H_]

I was actually wondering if changing the active flag in the dictionary would accomplish that. I'll give it a try and see what the results are. Any tips or pitfalls I should be aware of?