XML APIs

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated June 16, 2026
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of XML APIs

    XML APIs in ServiceNow allow you to process and encrypt XML payload data by iterating through XML elements and mapping them to specific table fields on the instance. This is achieved by callinggetAsXmlContent()on the request object or a ParameterValue property, which returns an iterable XMLContent object. Using this, you can traverse XML elements, determine their relevance to table fields, and apply encryption rules dynamically through the proxy server.

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    Key Features

    • Iterating XML Content: Use getIterator() or getIterator(String xPath) on XMLContent to get an XMLElementIterator for navigating XML elements.
    • Checking and Accessing Elements: Use hasNext() and next() on XMLElementIterator to safely traverse elements.
    • Field Mapping: The valueFor(String tableName, String fieldName) method maps XML element values to specific table fields and checks if encryption is required based on configured rules.
    • Dynamic Table and Field Handling: Encryption rules can dynamically handle unknown XML structures by iterating over records and fields, using table and field names derived from the request, and delegating encryption decisions to the proxy.
    • Encoded Query Encryption: Tags with a filter="true" attribute are treated as encoded queries and encrypted using encodedQueryFor(tableName), while others are checked normally for encryption.

    Practical Application and Examples

    • Mapping Known Fields: Encrypt specific fields, such as mapping description XML tags to the shortdescription field in the incident table.
    • Handling Unknown Fields: Iterate over all child elements of a record, dynamically determine field names, and apply encryption conditionally based on table and field configurations.
    • Filtering and Encrypting Encoded Queries: Detect tags marked as encoded queries with a filter attribute and encrypt their content accordingly.

    Key Outcomes

    • Enable secure processing and encryption of XML payloads integrated with ServiceNow tables.
    • Provide flexible encryption rules that adapt to variable XML structures and field mappings.
    • Ensure sensitive data in XML requests is encrypted before insertion or processing in ServiceNow instances.
    • Leverage the proxy server’s encryption configurations to automatically skip non-encrypted fields and encrypt only designated data.

    XML APIs can be used after calling getAsXmlContent() on either the request object or a ParameterValue property.

    When using XML APIs to write your encryption rule, you can follow a general format:
    1. Call getAsXmlContent() on the request object or ParameterValue property. This returns an iterable object of the XMLContent underlying class.
    2. Call getIterator() or getIterator(String xPath) on the XMLContent object. This returns an XMLElementIterator object that can be used to iterate over XML elements.
    3. Call the hasNext() method on the XMLElementIterator object to determine whether another element is available.
    4. Call next() on the XMLElementIterator object to return the next XML element. You cannot call next() without first calling hasNext().
    5. Call valueFor(String tableName, String fieldName) on the XML element. This method tells the proxy that the value for this element maps to the specified field in the specified table. The proxy then checks if the field must be encrypted.
      Note:
      To determine if you want to call valueFor(String tableName, String fieldName) on an XML element, you can use the getName() method to return the name of the element.

    Mapping to a known table-field on the instance

    In this example, the XML payload will be processed on the instance to insert records in the incident table. The description field will populate short_description on the incident.

    <data>
        <record>
            <name>'Test Record 1'</name>
            <description>'Test Record 1 Description'</description>
            <tag>critical</tag>
        </record>
        <record>
            <name>'Test Record 2'</name>
            <description>'Test Record 2 Description'</description>
            <tag>security</tag>
        </record>
    </data>

    The following encryption rule action can apply:

    function sampleXmlAction1() {
        var xmlContent = request.getAsXmlContent();
        // This loop iterates over all description tags that match the given path
        var xmlElementIterator = xmlContent.getIterator('data/record/description');    
        while (xmlElementIterator.hasNext()) {
            var xmlElement = xmlElementIterator.next();
            xmlElement.valueFor('incident', 'short_decription');
        }
    }

    This action iterates through the description tags and asks the proxy server to encrypt the values and insert them into incident.short_description on the instance.

    Note:
    This rule finds all description tags within all record tags in the XML payload. If there is only one occurrence of a tag to encrypt, the rule still uses the xPath and iterator structure. However, it iterates only once in the loop.

    Mapping to an unknown table-field on the instance

    In this example, the rule iterates over the record tags, but does not know what tags to expect within the record tag. The only known is that the tags within the record tags match the names of the columns specified in the table URL parameter.

    The rule also specifies that, if the table is incident, then the data in the description tag should be encrypted and stored in the short_description field on the instance.

    function sampleXmlAction2() {
        var xmlContent = request.getAsXmlContent();
        var tableName = request.urlParam.table;
        // This first iterator will iterate over all record elements
        var xmlElementIterator = xmlContent.getIterator('data/record');
        while (xmlElementIterator.hasNext()) {
            encryptFieldsInRecord(xmlElementIterator.next());
        }
    }
    function encryptFieldsInRecord(xmlElement) {
        //Then, iterate over all tags representing fields in the table
        var fieldIterator = xmlElement.getIteratorOverAllChildren();
        while (fieldIterator.hasNext()) {
            var field = fieldIterator.next();
            var fieldName = childElement.getName();
            //if table is incident, then description is encrypted for the short_description field
            if (tableName == 'incident' && fieldName == 'description') {
                field.valueFor(tableName, 'short_description');
            } else {
                //if table is not incident, ask the proxy to check if the given field is encrypted for the given table
                field.valueFor(tableName, fieldName);
            }
        }
    }

    In the encryptFieldsInRecord() function, the valueFor() method is called on a table and a field that are dynamically assigned based on the request. Even though the table and field names can change, the rule asks the proxy to check whether the field in the table must be encrypted based on the encryption configurations defined.

    If the field is not configured for encryption, or if the tag does not match a field in the table, the proxy skips that tag. If the tag matches a field marked for encryption, then the Edge Encryption proxy server encrypts the value.

    Using an encoded query

    In this example, all tags have the filter attribute, which indicates whether the tag contains an encoded query.

    <data>
        <record>
            <name filter="false">'Test Record 1'</name>
            <description filter="false">'Test Record 1 Description'</description>
            <query filter="true">category=1^name=edge</query>
        </record>
        <record>
            <name filter="false">'Test Record 2'</name>
            <description filter="false">'Test Record 2 Description'</description>
            <query filter="true">category=2^severity=3</query>
       </record>
    </data>

    The following encryption rule action can apply:

    function sampleXmlAction3() {
       var xmlContent = request.getAsXmlContent();
       var tableName = request.urlParam.table;
       // This first iterator will iterate over all record elements
       var xmlElementIterator = xmlContent.getIterator('data/record');
       while (xmlElementIterator.hasNext()) {
           encryptFieldsInRecord(xmlElementIterator.next());
       }
    }
    function encryptFieldsInRecord(xmlElement) {
       //this time we want to iterate over all tags representing fields in the table
       var fieldIterator = xmlElement.getIteratorOverAllChildren();
       while (fieldIterator.hasNext()) {
           var field = fieldIterator.next();
           var fieldname = childElement.getName();
           //let's look at the filter attribute, if true, then encrypt as encoded query
           if (field.getAttributeValue('filter') == 'true') {
               field.encodedQueryFor(tableName);
           } else {
               //if it is false then check if the field should be encrypted
               field.valueFor(tableName, fieldName);
           }
       }
    }

    If the filter attribute value is true, the rule asks the proxy server to encrypt the values in the encoded query. If false, the rule asks the proxy to check whether the field should be encrypted.