Usage of GlideRecord.update()

[The SN Nerd]

Hi Community,

The ServiceNow Product documentation for the update function in a GlideRecord is as follows:

As far as I can tell, the reason parameter doesn't seem to do anything despite the documentation.

When I open up the audit history for an update where parameter was called, there is no trace.

Example:

if ( isAnyChildTaskPending() ) {
   grParent.state = PENDING_STATE;
} else {
   grParent.state = WORK_IN_PROGRESS_STATE;
}
if (grParent.state.changesFrom(previousState)) {
   grParent.work_notes = 'Status changed automatically by system to reflect overall status of the request.';
   grParent.update('Automation');
}

There is no trace of the 'Automation' in the audit logs that I can find.

I traced it to the sys_audit record - still no reason.

Does the reason parameter actually do anything?

This could be quite useful for tracing automation to business rules.

Thanks,

Paul

[arron_ubhi]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your post.

Can you confirm if you have added in the "Reason" field to the form layout on the sys_audit table? Based on the screenshot you have provided, I am unable to see the "Reason" field on the form

You can do this via the following:

1. Navigate to sys_audit.list on the navigation bar on the instance

2. Right-click > Form Layout and select "Reason", then click "Save"

Best Regards,

Arron

[The SN Nerd]

Sorry, I should mention that the reason field is empty.

As far as I can remember, adding a parameter to 'update' has never been reflected in the reason field.

Maybe this is a long time bug?

[Zach Biewend1]

This worked perfectly for me. I wasn't aware of this functionality but I'll certainly use it!

var gr = new GlideRecord( 'incident' );
gr.get( 'sys_id', '53adb1e3dbed76005587f7951d961916' );
gr.short_description = 'new';
gr.update( 'solid reason, mate' );

Might be worth a HI ticket at this point...

[The SN Nerd]

I ran your code and confirm it works.

However, my code definitely is not.

I even copied the business rule into a background script and executed it, and the reason field is still empty.