This blog describes what is happening behind the screens with the following scenario:
1) A user opens a form containing a record
2) The user makes some modifications to the content
3) The user submits the form
4) The user waits until the form is returned to them
The flow below describes the exact order in which the various scripts are executed in this scenario. In many cases you will find that the order is obvious, but in some cases it is good to be aware about the details. I have experienced a few situations where ServiceNow seemed to display some "odd" behavior, that in the end could be explained by examining the flow below.
A couple of things that I found interesting while getting the exact order of all the steps:
* Setting values in g_scratchpad in a Display Business Rule makes them available in ACLs
* It is nice to know that g_scratchpad remains available all throughout the client work, until the submit. This means that is can also be submitted to track things that are happening in the client
* Data Policies and Workflows trigger at Before Business Rule order number 1000. Especially with Data Policies, it is important to be aware that there can be an interaction between the Business Rules that you do before and the checks performed by Data Policies
* Flows seem to happen after the commit to the database, unlike workflows.
Different colors indicate different types of ServiceNow artifacts.
"Scratch" means that there is access to g_scratchpad. Please be aware that g_scratchpad is dissolved once the form is submitted, so the g_scratchpad from the second Display Business Rule starts again empty.
