--- sourceDocument: Zurich ServiceNow AI Platform Administration sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/platform-administration Release : - zurich ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Zurich ServiceNow AI Platform Administration ft:clusterId : - platadm bundleId : - platadm workflow : - Platform --- # Configure a table for indexing and searching # Configure a table for indexing and searching {#ariaid-title1} * Release version: Zurich * * Updated July 31, 2025 * * ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 5 minutes to read Enable Zing text indexing for a table to allow users to search its records for string values. Configure the table's text indexing attributes, stop words, and synonym dictionaries to control search behavior. ## Before you begin Role required: ts_admin or admin ## About this task Enabling text indexing for a table allows users to search for string values in records on that table. You can configure attributes, stop words, and synonym dictionaries to control indexing and search behavior for an indexed table. By default, the system creates text indexes for the tables with a Text index record (AllSystem DefinitionText Indexes). For example: * Knowledge-related tables * Core-data-related tables * Connect-related tables * Task table * User table {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__ul_s4w_z2j_1z} Enabling text indexing for a table also enables it for all child tables. If you want to disable text indexing for a child table, see [Remove the text index for a child table](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Z8qxK47E8_Nrid6mGc6CYA "You can remove the text index for a child table if you no longer want the search engine to return results for that child table."). Note: Whenever you create an index table, the system also creates Access Control Roles (ACLs) for new tables. Text indexing can be a resource-intensive task that may take a while to complete. You may notice performance degradation or incomplete search results during index generation. To estimate text indexing duration, you can [view historical text indexing statistics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/2CoGGTglm7yDWwhuH1C1qA "To view text indexing statistics and status, navigate to All > System Definition > Text Indexes ."). Note: New tables created by update set transfers have text indexing disabled, even if it's enabled for the tables included in the update set. To enable users to search tables created by update set transfers, you must manually enable text indexing for those tables. ## Procedure 1. Navigate to AllSystem DefinitionText Index Configurations and select New. 2. In Applies to, select Table. 3. In Table, select the table that you want to configure text indexing for. 4. **Optional:** If you intend to use the table in multi-table searches or if you want to use the BM25 scoring algorithm on the table, upgrade its indexing format to V4. 1. If the value in Format isn't grayed out, select v4, then select Submit and skip to step [5](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/~bX4xmh94WVoO8HkStlWyQ#configure-single-table-for-indexing__configure-indexing). 2. If the value in Format is grayed out, select Submit. The grayed-out value means that the table has already been indexed and needs its indexing upgraded to V4. 3. Navigate to AllSystem DefinitionText Index Configurations and select the table you submitted. 4. Under Related Links, select Show index name record. 5. Under Related Links, select Upgrade to V4 and select Submit. The specified table's indexing is upgraded from V3 to V4. Now, this table can be part of multiple-table indexing and BM25 is used to score the table's relevance score. Optionally, select Show Configuration under Related Linksto show the table indexing format on the Text Index Configuration page. {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__substeps_vm2_fj1_shb} 5. Configure indexing and search attributes on the selected table. 1. Navigate to AllSystem DefinitionText Index Configurations and select the table you configured. 2. In the Text Index Table Attribute Maps related list, select New. Attributes pertain to the way Zing indexes documents and ranks documents returned in search results. 3. On the Text Index Table Attribute Maps form, fill in the fields. {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__table_j2v_fjd_vhb__entry__2} | Field | Description | |-|-| | Table | Table to define attributes for. | | Attribute name | Search engine attribute. For a list of the attributes and valid values, see [Zing index and search attributes](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/m3cO0BIN75PsYFphnBsVwA "The following dictionary attributes either affect the way Zing indexes tables or ranks search results."). | | Value | Value for attribute. | [ ] {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__table_j2v_fjd_vhb} 4. Repeat this procedure to define additional attributes for the table. 5. In the Related Links section, select Generate Text Index. {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__substeps_z4m_5hm_rhb} {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__configure-indexing} {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__configure-indexing} 6. Configure column-level attributes. 1. Navigate to AllSystem DefinitionText Index Configurations and select a table. 2. In the Text Index Column Attribute Maps related list, select New. 3. On the Text Index Column Attribute Map form, fill in the fields. {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__table_s1h_d3d_vhb__entry__2} | Field | Description | |-|-| | Table | Table that contains the column you want to define attributes for. Only tables in the index group and their child tables display. | | Attribute name | Attribute. For a list of the attributes and valid values, see [Zing index and search attributes](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/m3cO0BIN75PsYFphnBsVwA "The following dictionary attributes either affect the way Zing indexes tables or ranks search results."). | | Column | The name of the column in the selected table you want to apply the search attribute to. | | Value | Value for attribute. | [ ] {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__table_s1h_d3d_vhb} 4. Select Submit. 5. Repeat this procedure to define additional search engine parameters for table columns in the index group. 6. In the Related Links section, select Generate Text Index. {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__substeps_o3g_vsm_rhb} 7. **Optional:** Add stop words. Stop words are words that you don't want to index, such as the, a, or an. There is a global list of common stop words, so you only have to add stop words specific to your situation. To see the global list of stop words, navigate in your browser to https://\.service-now.com/ts_stop_list.do. 1. On the Index Stop Words tab, select New. 2. In Index, select the index to add the stop word to. 3. In Word, enter a single word you don't want to index and select Submit. {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__substeps_nlm_jhn_rhb} 8. **Optional:** Add a synonym dictionary. Specifying a synonym dictionary searches on the search term as well as synonyms of the search term, such as car, and its synonym, auto. Zing provides a default synonym dictionary. 1. On the Index synonym Dictionaries tab, select New. 2. In Index, select the index to add the stop words to. 3. In Synonym dictionary, select the synonym dictionary to use on the specified table. To add a dictionary, select New and follow the procedure in [Create synonym dictionaries](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/RhmiRnJyKAkNB86dQ7ItCg "You can create synonym dictionaries to expand Zing text searches with additional search keywords."). {#configure-single-table-for-indexing__substeps_rq1_c3n_rhb} ## Result The list search for text option appears on the list views for the table and its child tables. ## What to do next You can search records on the indexed table using list search in form view. To learn more about using list search, see [List search finds records from the current table](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/OTmgWWzUSDgPwRYedx2eqA "Search records from a table list view."). You can also query the indexed table for string matches using the `GlideRecord.addQuery(name, value)` or `GlideRecord.addEncodedQuery(name, value)` methods with the `123TEXTQUERY321` reserved name. For more information about querying for string matches, see [Querying tables in script](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_UsingGlideRecordToQueryTables&version=zurich&pubname=zurich-api-reference&ft:locale=en-US). **Related concepts** * [Zing indexes punctuation as part of some words](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/cVamCI2jnbxYRHn8dfXTUg "Zing indexes some punctuation marks as part of some words to improve search results for common search terms.") * [Zing indexes some HTML elements](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/D4pafKIGb26H78mnvaY92w "Zing indexes the contents of certain HTML elements to improve document search results. This indexing is addition to the normal indexing by word.") **Related tasks** * [Configure a text index group to search across multiple tables](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/2qgR~PT__DfOm~R3ttk3nQ "Update tables to the V4 indexing format and include them in a text index group to facilitate searching across multiple tables.") * [Regenerate a text index for a table](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/LTuOVC4cpgtXWB_GR8wEpQ "You can regenerate a table text index when you change table stop words or display values.") * [Remove an index](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/sP_nywSjZ2YS2m2XOYmFjQ "You can remove the index for a table if you no longer want the search engine to return results for that table. This procedure also removes the index for all tables that extend the specified table.") * [Remove an index for a specific field](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/t6hTaI~a_Wc5SmBCjVklLA "You can remove the index for a specific field in a table if you no longer want the search engine to return results for that field.") * [Remove the text index for a child table](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Z8qxK47E8_Nrid6mGc6CYA "You can remove the text index for a child table if you no longer want the search engine to return results for that child table.") * [Change the query mode of an indexed table](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/AAztUXWlnNqdz5Ga30qPGg "Set the query mode to specify whether searches on an indexed table must match all or only some of the search terms.") * [Enable indexing of text in multi-row variable sets](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/GwZ7z16dmmof6NRZYrbvvA "Make text from multi-row Service Catalog variable sets searchable in global search.") * [Configure tables to use the Japanese tokenizer](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/oNLau~TU6RJIXlR1jvFr6Q "Improve search results in Japanese language searches by configuring individual tables to use the Japanese tokenizer.") **Related reference** * [Zing index and search dictionary attributes](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/m3cO0BIN75PsYFphnBsVwA "The following dictionary attributes either affect the way Zing indexes tables or ranks search results.") * [Text indexing statistics and status](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/2CoGGTglm7yDWwhuH1C1qA "To view text indexing statistics and status, navigate to All > System Definition > Text Indexes .") ## Fields excluded from text indexing {#ariaid-title2} Text indexing excludes fields that meet certain name, type, attribute, or encryption conditions. User searches don't match or return values from excluded fields. Text indexing excludes a field if it meets any of the conditions in the following table.{#text-indexing-fields-excluded__table_lqx_lgc_bpb__entry__2} | Category | Description | |-|-| | Field name | Text indexing includes the sys_class_name and sys_tags fields but excludes all other fields whose names begin with sys_. | | Field type | Text indexing excludes fields of these types: * Date * Date/Time * Duration * True/False * Workflow {#text-indexing-fields-excluded__ul_mhy_bkc_bpb} For more information on these types, see [Field types reference](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/2XGqovhy2D2LzFjkqFLAbA "These field types are available to administrators when creating fields or changing the type of existing fields."). | | Field attributes | Text indexing excludes fields that have the no_text_index attribute set to true. For more information on this attribute, see [Remove an index for a specific field](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/t6hTaI~a_Wc5SmBCjVklLA "You can remove the index for a specific field in a table if you no longer want the search engine to return results for that field."). | | Field encryption | Text indexing excludes fields configured for Edge Encryption. For more information on configuring fields with Edge Encryption, see [Encrypt fields using encryption configurations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_ConfigureCloudEdge&version=zurich&pubname=zurich-platform-security&ft:locale=en-US). | [ ] {#text-indexing-fields-excluded__table_lqx_lgc_bpb} *[\>]: and then