sysids on tables

[clktester]

Newbie question. 

I understand the sysid is a unique number generated on the record. 

Take the Incident table. I see in two different PDIs the sysid of that table is the same if the PDIs have the same version. But if i upgrade one PDI to say Washington from Vancouver, the sysid of the Incident table changes. Does the sysid for tables SN creates for each app change with each version? If you were uncertain about the version that table was currently on because the admin skipped records when updating, could you use the sysid to find out what version that table stopped at?
Thank you for answering my silly question. 

[Sid_Takali · Accepted solution]

Hi @clktester The sys_id in ServiceNow is a unique identifier for each record in a table, and it remains consistent for that record across different versions of ServiceNow unless specifically altered through a customization or migration process. 

• ServiceNow Core Tables: The sys_id for core ServiceNow tables, such as incident, task, user etc., does not change with version upgrades. The sys_id is tied to the record itself, not the version of the ServiceNow platform. When you upgrade a PDI or any instance, the records and their sys_id's remain intact.
• Custom Tables and Upgrades: Similarly, sys_id's for records in custom tables do not change automatically with version upgrades. Any record created in a custom table retains its sys_id through version upgrades, unless the data is explicitly deleted, recreated, or migrated differently.

The sys_id is designed to uniquely identify records within an instance and is not dependent on the version of the ServiceNow platform. Changes in sys_id would typically only occur due to data migrations, custom scripts, or data imports that alter the records.

Can you use the sys_id to find out what version that table stopped at if the admin skipped records when updating?

• No, you cannot use the sys_id to determine the version of the table. The sys_id is a unique identifier for records and does not carry any versioning information. To determine the version, you need to look at system properties, upgrade history, or other version-specific metadata.

[Mark Roethof]

Hi there,

Would you mind explaining this a bit more? "But if i upgrade one PDI to say Washington from Vancouver, the sysid of the Incident table changes."

When upgrading, the sys_id of an existing table should not change. Never seen that happen. So please explain so we can understand your question correctly.