Moving Existing Field from Incident to Task Table

[dattanarend]

Hi All,

I need some guidance on a design decision regarding field creation across the Task hierarchy.

Currently, we have a custom field “ teams Link” created on the Incident table  which is being used to paste meeting URLs.

Now, there is a new requirement to:

• Have this field available across multiple task-based tables (Incident, Problem, etc.)

• Change the field type to URL

• Ideally keep the same field name

While trying to create the same field on the Task table, I’m getting an error that the field already exists (since Incident extends Task).

I’m considering the following approach:

• Modify the existing field and move it from Incident to Task

• Change its type from String → URL

However, I’m concerned about the impact of this change.

My questions:

1. Is it a good practice to modify an existing field’s table from Incident to Task?

2. What would be the potential risks/impacts ?

3. Would it be better to:

   • Create a new field on Task and deprecate the old one?

   • Or delete and recreate (if feasible)?

4. Any recommended best practices for handling this type of requirement?

Appreciate your suggestions and experiences on this.

Thanks in advance!

[Swapna Abburi]

Hi @dattanarend 

1. It's not recommended to change the table name for an existing field.

2. After field is created, the table name change cannot be done and trying to change it forcefully may corrupt the table and columns.

3. Better option is to create a new field on Task table with same label and different name. This way, system will not throw duplicate entry error.

4. Later, after moving your previous incidents "Teams Link" data to the new field, you can either deactivate or delete the field.

[Tanushree Maiti]

It’s generally not advisable to move a field from the Incident table to the parent Task table if the field is only relevant to Incidents.

While it may be technically feasible, doing so can introduce unnecessary technical debt and potentially impact performance.

Better Approach: Create a new field on Task.

[Anupama Singh1]

Hi @dattanarend ,

Since Incident is already part of the Task hierarchy, the field created on Incident cannot be created again on Task.
Moving an existing field from Incident to Task is not recommended, as it can impact other task records, existing data, reports, and scripts.
Best practice is to:

• Create a new URL field on the Task table
• Copy existing data if needed
• Hide or deprecate the old Incident field for sometime and then can remove it once confirmed safe.

This is safer and avoids unexpected issues in the future.

Hope this resolves your issue 😊Mark  this correct and close the thread if it helped 👍