Preview predicted changes

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Preview Predicted Changes (Release version: Yokohama)

    ThePreview Predicted Changesfeature in the Yokohama release helps ServiceNow customers anticipate the total records that are expected to change during an upgrade. It provides insight into which records will be inserted, updated, skipped, or reverted, allowing customers to prepare and reduce potential issues during the upgrade process.

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    This preview is particularly valuable for managing records that have customizations, as the upgrade will often skip these to avoid overwriting customer changes. The feature predicts these skips and enables proactive actions to address them before the actual upgrade.

    Key Features

    • Upgrade Preview Form: Accessed via the "View preview details" link, it displays detailed information about predicted record changes in the upgrade.
    • Predicted Disposition Types: Indicates the system’s expected action for each record:
      • Predicted Insert: New records to be inserted.
      • Predicted Update: Existing records to be updated.
      • Reverted: Records reverted to the base version, ensuring no skips on the next upgrade.
      • Predicted Skip: Records preserved to maintain customizations.
      • Predicted Skip (Manual Merge): Records requiring manual intervention for updates.
      • Predicted Skip (Apply Once): Records skipped because updates were already applied from the apply once folder.
    • Priority Levels: Conflicted records are prioritized from 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest) based on file type importance (e.g., UI pages have highest priority, others lower).
    • Resolution Status: Tracks the review state of conflicts, including statuses such as Not Reviewed, Reviewed, Review Not Needed, Reviewed and Retained, and Reviewed and Reverted.
    • Plugin and Related Record Information: Identifies the plugin containing the record and the specific record affected by the change list entry.

    Practical Benefits

    ServiceNow customers can use this feature to:

    • Understand which records will be impacted by an upgrade and how.
    • Identify and resolve conflicts related to customizations before upgrading.
    • Prioritize resolution efforts based on the importance of the records involved.
    • Reduce upgrade risks by proactively managing skipped records and manual merges.

    By leveraging the previewed predicted changes, customers can achieve smoother upgrades with minimized downtime and customization conflicts.

    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