Preview predicted changes

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Preview Predicted Changes

    The Preview Predicted Changes feature for the Xanadu release, updated on August 1, 2024, allows ServiceNow customers to view potential record changes during an upgrade. It identifies records that may be altered, including those predicted to be skipped due to customizations, thereby helping customers prepare for upgrades effectively.

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    Key Features

    • Total Record Changes: Displays a list of records expected to change during the upgrade, including those predicted to be skipped.
    • Customization Skips: Predicts records that will not be upgraded to preserve customizations, enabling proactive management of these scenarios.
    • Upgrade Preview Form: Accessed via the "View preview details" link to see related lists and their statuses.
    • Predicted Disposition Actions: Categorizes predicted actions for each record, such as Insert, Update, Reverted, Predicted Skip, and others, explaining how the upgrade will affect each record.
    • Priority Levels: Assigns a priority from one to five based on the importance of the file types, helping customers focus on critical records first.
    • Resolution Status: Indicates whether a conflict has been reviewed, resolved, or if action is needed, giving clarity on how to proceed with each record.

    Key Outcomes

    Using the Upgrade Preview feature, customers can anticipate and address potential issues before the upgrade, ensuring that customizations are preserved and conflicts are resolved. This preparation helps prevent disruptions during the upgrade process, leading to a smoother implementation of new features and updates.

    Use the previewed changes table to view the list of total records that are predicted to change when the upgrade occurs.

    Preview skipped list prediction

    The Total record changes also includes records that are predicted to be skipped due to various reasons. The most common reason is due to customization. The reason an upgrade skips customizations is to avoid overwriting your customizations. Upgrade Preview attempts to predict which records will be skipped when the actual upgrade occurs. It predicts skips due to customizations, and some of the other more complex scenarios as well. It is possible to use Upgrade Preview to address these predicted customization skips before the upgrade occurs, which can prevent that skip from happening.

    Click View preview details link on the Previewing version card. The Upgrade Preview form appears along with the following related lists details.

    Table 1. Related lists details
    Field Description
    File name Record that has been flagged for reconciliation.
    Predicted Disposition Action predicted to be performed on this file during the selected upgrade:
    • Predicted Insert: The system is predicted to insert a new record.
    • Predicted Update: The system is predicted to update this record.
    • Reverted: This record was reverted to the base version, and won’t be skipped on the next upgrade.
    • Predicted Skip: The system won't change this record in order to preserve customizations.
    • Predicted Skip (Manual Merge): The system won't change this record because updating it requires manual intervention.
    • Predicted Skip (Apply Once): The system is predicted to skip this record because it had already applied an update from an xml file in the apply once folder.
    Priority Priority that has been assigned to resolve the conflict. Values range from one to five, with one representing the highest priority.
    Note:
    ServiceNow prioritizes the skipped records based on the importance of the file types. The prioritization is done as follows:
    • Priority 1 (highest priority): UI pages, UI macros, and more
    • Priority 2: Business Rules, Security ACLs, and more
    • Priority 3: Reports and more
    • Priority 4: Form Sections, Choice Sets, and more
    • Priority 5 (lowest priority): other
    Resolution Ways to resolve a conflict.
    • Not reviewed: Conflicted files that have not been reviewed yet
    • Reviewed: Reviewed but no action has been taken yet
    • Review not needed: Review of the skipped files are not required
    • Reviewed and Retained: Left customizations in place without update from upgrade
    • Reviewed and Reverted: Customizations discarded, record updated according to the upgrade version
    Plugin Plugin containing the record
    Related record Record that the changelist entry applies to