Knowledge article ID vs sys ID

[Les1]

for knowledge articles, in the XML one does not find "sys ID" mentioned but rather the field "article ID" 

can anyone elaborate around this construct as it differs from other record types where usually Sys ID is found on the xml as well as when exporting records.

i'm trying to test some article imports from one servicenow instance to a different customer instance in which the issue of LIKE article numbers or LIKE sys ID would be things to contend with.

in my tests thus far, i took an article xml for an existing article, then altered the ARTICLE ID to see what it does when importing, but it simply updated the existing article instead of making a duplicate as i would have expected. So this indicates that article ID is not the unique identifier but rather the sysID still is but sysID does not show in the xml or in exporting the article to excel.

thanks for your help

[Appli]

Hi Les, just curious how exactly did you extract XML from knowledge record to get article_id inside? When I do the same (Export -> XML or Show XML) in my PDI of Orlando release, I do not see this field there.

Thank you

[Les1]

the UI action when either clicking the context menu while on the article record, or hitting "show xml"   provides an xml file that has article id as seen in the screenshots before.

my PDI is hibernating but i'll check that in a moment - so you're saying when you do a show xml on a knowledge article it does not show article ID?  is it showing sys ID instead?

[Appli]

Hi, correct, in my PDI of Orlando release it does not have article_id; sys_id is there

Also checked table dictionary entries, article id field does not exist there either

Looks to be some customization or so

Hope it helps

[Les1]

That is really wierd. i'm seeing the same in my PDI but on our company instance, the created by for "article id" is "system" so doesnt appear to be a custom field

[Appli · Accepted solution]

Ok, after installing Knowledge Management Advanced plugin, this article_id field appeared as both dictionary entry in the table and in XML for knowledge record. However sys_id is also in the list. Made a quick test:

- exported published KB article to XML, article ID and sys_id are there and they are the same

<article_id>c85cd2519f77230088aebde8132e70c2</article_id>
    <sys_id>c85cd2519f77230088aebde8132e70c2</sys_id>

- unpublished article, modified it, published again (as v2) and exported to XML

<article_id>c85cd2519f77230088aebde8132e70c2</article_id>
    <sys_id>6bce8f422f2a201003bd5e072799b65b</sys_id> 

It seems article_id always refers to the original version of the article record while sys_id - to the current (latest) one.

Hope it helps