Organisations currently use automated systems to perform a number of incident management, requests, approvals, and business data management operations. Nevertheless, automation implies the existence of clear criteria for the performance of some actions in the event of creation, editing, deletion or access of the record. ServiceNow Business Rules allow developers to automate the process through the activation of the logic on the server side when certain criteria are met. The understanding of the business rule execution process is essential for people who work with ServiceNow development, administration, or testing processes. The process is used for validating, updating, enforcing, or performing other actions without any user involvement.
What Are Business Rules in ServiceNow?
Business Rules are scripts that run on the server side depending on certain settings of time and events. The use of business rules is always related to some task associated with a certain database table, such as the creation or updating of an incident record. In the case where an entity does not want incidents to be closed without providing necessary information about the solution, a Business Rule checks the required fields and stops the process of closing until the required information is provided. Business rules can change the value of the field, ensure data consistency or initiate tasks in case of any changes to records, depending on the settings of the rule. To further know about it, one can visit ServiceNow Training. It includes the table, time, event, and script.
Understanding the Different Types of Business Rules
Various timing types of Business Rules exist in ServiceNow. Each type serves a specific function, and therefore, choosing the correct one is of great importance when creating an efficient application and ensuring data accuracy.
Before Business Rules
Before Business Rules are applied before the database operation is complete. This type of rule is useful when you want to validate or modify your record before saving it. For example, you can populate the field “Department” automatically based on some other value or ensure that all the business requirements are met before creating or updating the incident. You can work with the current record and modify its fields. The changes will be included in the database operation.
After Business Rules
The Business Rules execute after the database operation. They are useful where there is a need to act depending on whether there is saving of the record. For instance, when there is saving of a high priority incident record, then the business rules will create another record based on the incident or update any other record. It should be noted that in regard to the existing record, great care should be taken while updating the record due to recursion after further processing.
Async Business Rules
The Async Business Rules are executed asynchronously after the database operation. This implies that the task does not need to be completed when there is saving of the record. There may be instances of updating other information or processing the information differently. Async execution implies that the task may take some time to complete. It should not be used where there is a need for the result immediately for validation or updating of the record.
Display Business Rules
The Display Business Rules are triggered in case a record is being displayed, such as opening a form. These rules can be used for data preparation for further use by the client scripts through the g_scratchpad object. For example, the rule will obtain the value from the corresponding record and pass it to the client script that controls the form. The Display Business Rules differ from the before and after rules because they do not control the insertion and updating of records in the database.
Understanding of the Business Rules Execution Sequence
Knowing the execution sequence will be helpful in solving unexpected behaviour of the system. This sequence can serve as a good example of a general pattern. However, in reality, the behavior depends on many factors, including the operation type, business rules configuration, transaction context, etc. Many institutes provide ServiceNow courses, and enrolling in them can help you start a career in this domain. Let’s have a look at the business rules execution sequence.
- Step 1: Record operation initiation begins. A record operation starts when a user enters a record in a form, the system inserts new data into the record, or a script changes a record. The system starts processing a corresponding database operation.
- Step 2: Identifying matching business rules. ServiceNow identifies the business rules that match the operation type and are configured against the specific table.
- Step 3: Before rules execution. Relevant rules are applied to validate the data and modify the record before saving it. In case the rule aborts the operation, the database change may be prevented.
- Step 4: Performing the database operation. If the process continues, the system performs the corresponding insert, update, or delete operation.
- Step 5: After rules execution. Relevant rules are applied to execute some server-side logic after the database operation is performed.
- Step 6: Executing async work. Relevant async rules are executed as a separate process in the background.
Understanding Conditions and the Current Object
Usually, Business Rules use conditions that are used to determine whether there are grounds for running their scripts. The purpose of such conditions is to prevent any unnecessary operations. For instance, in one case, a rule will be run when an incident priority is changed to some high-priority value. In the other case, a rule will be run if some particular field is empty.
Current is the object corresponding to the record being processed, while previous allows accessing its old values if possible in the execution context. Comparison of these two objects makes it possible for developers to detect any changes. Hence, the condition to check whether the priority field was changed allows developers to take actions only in the event of some changes, not repeating the same operation each time. Developers should also learn when and how to use current.
Common Business Rule Mistakes to Avoid
A similar mistake that is often committed is to create Business Rules that execute themselves on the same record again and again. Poorly written Business Rules might cause increased activity on the database, transaction lags, and become problematic for debugging. Yet another mistake is to write the rule as an ‘after’ rule when it was expected to be ‘before’. If the goal is just to fill out the field before saving the record, changing the record as part of the ‘before’ rule would be more efficient. Similarly, a ServiceNow Admin course will help the students understand automation and configuration of the platform.
There are several more mistakes to avoid. Unnecessary calling of current. update () within the code of the Business Rules is one of them. It would launch a new transaction and, without any additional conditions, would create an infinite loop of executing the Business Rule. The testing of the Business Rule is as important as its design itself.
How Business Rules Support ServiceNow Careers?
Business Rules are relevant in the roles of the administrator, developer, implementation consultant, and tester. Understanding Business Rules would be helpful for professionals when it comes to problem-solving for automation failures, validation of data processing logic, and improvements in the performance of the application. A structured course for ServiceNow will help the learners learn about scripting, tables, forms, workflows and server-side automation.
For the students interested in quality assurance, there are some aspects in the role of a ServiceNow tester which include validation of the behaviour of the business rule, detection of any regression issues and confirmation that the automation process produces the expected results. Students who are interested in learning about ServiceNow training in Hyderabad must concentrate more on practical learning.
Conclusion
Execution of ServiceNow Business Rule allows the creation of a model that validates records, automates server-side actions and ensures consistency of business data. Using adequate knowledge about the use of before, after, async and display rules makes it possible for the developer to choose an appropriate execution model according to the requirements. Major IT hubs like Hyderabad and Bangalore offer high-paying jobs for skilled professionals. ServiceNow Training in Hyderabad can help you start a career in this domain. Writing conditions and scripting help prevent issues like performance and unexpected behaviour in the future.