ServiceNow Reporting Tutorial
Summary
TLDRThis video script introduces a new series aimed at teaching viewers to become proficient with the ServiceNow platform through a data-driven approach. Hosted by Jeff Tease, a seasoned software developer, the series focuses on ServiceNow's reporting capabilities, guiding learners through the creation, management, and sharing of reports. The script delves into the database structure, explaining how to utilize the sys_report table and related tables for report generation, scheduling, sharing, and dashboard integration, emphasizing simplicity and practical learning.
Takeaways
- 📚 The video script is for a series aimed at teaching ServiceNow platform usage through a data-driven analysis approach.
- 🔍 The speaker emphasizes that understanding ServiceNow's database structure is fundamental to learning its functionalities.
- 📈 The script focuses on ServiceNow's reporting capabilities, explaining how to create, manage, and share reports effectively.
- 📝 It mentions that reports in ServiceNow are stored as records in the 'sys_report' table, which is the central point for report data management.
- 🗂️ The script outlines four additional tables that support reporting functionalities: 'report_source', 'sys_auto_report', 'report_users_groups', and dashboard-related tables.
- 🔑 Key fields within the report table are highlighted, such as 'sysid', 'title', 'source type', 'table', and 'type', which dictate how reports are generated and displayed.
- 📊 Over 23 types of reports and visualizations are available in ServiceNow, each suitable for different data presentation needs.
- 🛠️ The process of creating a new report involves populating fields in the report table, either through the UI, Studio, or from an existing list view.
- ⏰ Scheduling reports for email involves inserting records into the 'sys_auto_report' table, specifying execution timing and recipient details.
- 📧 Sharing reports with other users or groups is done through the 'report_users_groups' table, allowing on-demand access to the reports.
- 📊 Dashboards in ServiceNow can display reports alongside other widgets, and adding a report to a dashboard involves creating records in related tables.
Q & A
What is the main theme of the new video series by Jeff tease?
-The main theme of the new video series is to teach viewers all they need to know to become experts at using and administering the ServiceNow platform, focusing on a data-driven approach to learning.
What approach does Jeff tease advocate for learning about ServiceNow and its functionality?
-Jeff tease advocates for a data-driven analysis and learning approach, starting by looking at the data and understanding the database structure, as almost everything in ServiceNow is a record in the database.
What is the significance of the 'sys_report' table in ServiceNow's reporting capabilities?
-The 'sys_report' table is significant as it is a system table in ServiceNow's database that stores a record for each report, serving as the primary storage location for all report-related information.
How many tables support the functionality related to reporting capabilities in ServiceNow?
-There are four tables that support the functionality related to reporting capabilities in ServiceNow: 'report_source', 'sys_auto_report', 'report_users_groups', and tables related to dashboards.
What are the different types of reports available in ServiceNow out of the box?
-ServiceNow provides over 23 different types of reports or visualizations out of the box, including lists, bar charts, pivots, trends, line control, spline area, histograms, heat maps, calendars, bubble charts, funnels, pyramids, donuts, pie charts, speedometers, dials, and single score reports.
How can a report be created in ServiceNow using the 'Create New' module in the Reports application?
-A report can be created by populating the necessary fields such as the report name, source type, table, and other relevant fields in the 'Create New' module of the Reports application, and then saving the new record in the 'sys_report' table.
What is the purpose of the 'sys_auto_report' table in ServiceNow?
-The 'sys_auto_report' table is used to schedule reports for automatic execution and emailing to interested users on a recurring basis, storing information such as the report reference, execution timing, recipients, and email details.
How can a report be shared with other users or groups in ServiceNow?
-A report can be shared with other users or groups by using the 'share' functionality in the report interface, which allows for specifying individual users, groups, or making the report globally accessible.
What is the process for adding a report to a dashboard in ServiceNow?
-To add a report to a dashboard in ServiceNow, one can open the report and use the 'add to dashboard' option, then select the desired dashboard and tab for the report display, and finally click 'add' to create the necessary records in the related tables.
What is Jeff tease's philosophy on learning and software development?
-Jeff tease believes that learning about software development should be fun and that we often overcomplicate things. He advocates for simplicity, stating that the best solution is usually the simplest.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to ServiceNow Learning and Reporting
Jeff Tease, a seasoned software developer and technical architect, introduces a new series of videos aimed at teaching viewers how to become ServiceNow experts. He emphasizes a data-driven approach to learning, starting with understanding the platform's database structure. The video focuses on ServiceNow's reporting capabilities, which are crucial for passing the CSA certification or simply becoming adept at data presentation. Jeff explains that ServiceNow's functionality is fundamentally based on its database, with the 'sys_report' table being central to understanding reports. He also outlines the related tables that support reporting features, such as 'report_source', 'scheduled_email_of_reports', 'report_users_and_groups', and the dashboard-related tables.
🔍 Exploring the Report Table and Its Fields
This section delves deeper into the 'sys_report' table, which stores records for each report within ServiceNow. Jeff demonstrates how to access and view the table's records, highlighting key fields such as 'title', 'table', 'type', and 'additional_fields'. He explains the importance of understanding these fields when creating or managing reports. Jeff also shows how to personalize the list view and configure the table to explore all available fields and their attributes, providing insights into the database structure and relationships between tables.
📈 Understanding Report Types and Creation Process
Jeff presents a diagram showcasing the over 23 different types of reports and visualizations available in ServiceNow, explaining when each type is ideal for use. He then guides viewers through the process of creating a new report, which involves inserting a new record into the 'sys_report' table. The video covers setting fields like 'sysid', 'title', 'source type', 'report source', 'table', and 'field name'. Jeff also discusses the three methods of creating reports: using the Reports application, ServiceNow Studio, and from an existing list view, demonstrating each method's steps.
🗓️ Scheduling Reports and Email Distribution
The focus shifts to scheduling reports for automatic execution and email distribution using the 'sys_auto_report' table. Jeff explains the fields within this table and how they facilitate the scheduling process, including specifying the report, users, groups, email addresses, recurrence rate, time of execution, subject, and email body. He demonstrates how to schedule a report via the UI and introduces an alternative method through the 'schedule reports' module, allowing for management and creation of scheduled reports.
📊 Sharing Reports and Adding Them to Dashboards
The final part of the script covers sharing reports with other users and adding them to dashboards for easy access and visualization. Jeff describes the 'sys_report_users_groups' table, which enables sharing reports with specific users or groups. He shows how to share a report globally, by role, or with selected individuals/groups. Additionally, Jeff explains how to add a report to a dashboard, which involves creating records in related tables that link to the 'PA_dashboard' table. The video concludes with a summary of the reporting features in ServiceNow and an invitation for feedback and subscription to the channel for more educational content.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡ServiceNow
💡Data Driven Analysis
💡CSA Certification
💡Database Tables
💡Reporting Capabilities
💡Record
💡Visualization
💡Scheduled Email Reports
💡Dashboard
💡ServiceNow Studio
Highlights
Introduction to a new series of videos aimed at teaching ServiceNow platform expertise.
Emphasis on a data-driven approach to learning ServiceNow's functionality.
The importance of understanding that almost everything in ServiceNow is a database record.
Focus on ServiceNow's reporting capabilities in the video.
Explanation of how to create and manage reports for the CSA certification or expert presentation.
Overview of the platform database tables that support reporting functionality.
Introduction to the 'sys_report' table and its role in storing report records.
Description of four additional tables that support reporting features in ServiceNow.
Jeff Tease's background as a software developer and technical architect.
Belief that learning about software development should be fun and not overcomplicated.
Introduction of the YouTube channel 'ServiceNow Simple' for simplified learning.
Demonstration of how to explore the underlying data model for reporting.
Explanation of the process to create a new report in ServiceNow.
Details on the most commonly used fields when creating reports.
Guide on how to schedule reports to be emailed to users on a recurring basis.
Description of how to share reports with individual users or groups.
Process of adding a report to a ServiceNow dashboard for data presentation.
Conclusion summarizing the video's content on ServiceNow reports.
Transcripts
show me the data that's the theme of a
new series of videos I'm publishing to
teach you all you need to know to become
an expert at using and administering the
servicenow platform you see I'm
convinced that the best way to learn
about servicenow and its functionality
is to start by looking at the data it's
an approach that I call data driven
analysis and learning I was told in my
very first servicenow training session
that when you're working in servicenow
just about everything you see is a
record in the database somewhere and boy
have I learned that that's the truth the
database provides a perfect outline for
learning all about the functionality
that exists within the platform in this
video we focus on servicenow's reporting
capabilities you'll learn all you need
to know about creating and managing
reports to pass the CSA certification
examination or just become an expert at
presenting data in a meaningful way by
the end of this video you'll know all
about the platform database tables that
support the reporting functionality you
know all of the different types of
reports that are available you'll know
how to create and edit reports and
you'll know how to publish and share
those reports to get them in front of
the people that need them show me the
data reports in servicenow show me the
data
hey servicenow simpletons my name is
Jeff tease been a software developer and
Technical architect for over 30 years
I've experienced developing and
designing in lots of different languages
and most recently been spending all of
my time working in servicenow I believe
that learning about it and software
development should be fun and that we
tend to over complicate things the best
solution is usually the simplest that's
why I created the YouTube channel
servicenow simple where I've taught
thousands of people all about servicenow
with a focus on keeping things as simple
as possible if you're new here make sure
you subscribe to the channel as I'm
adding new videos all the time and now
let's get to today's topic reports in
servicenow to begin learning about
servicenow's reporting capabilities
let's have a look at the underlying data
model that supports the functionality
and it's really pretty simple
it all starts with a database table
named sys report and I'll refer to that
as the report Table
this is a system table that's in
servicenow's database that stores a
record for each report that exists
within the instance
when you create a new report or view a
list of existing reports within the
servicenow UI you're inserting or
viewing records in this table in a
second we'll look at the fields that
exist within the report Table that
describe each report but for now just
know that all reports are stored in the
reports table
beyond that there are four other tables
that support the functionality related
to all reporting capabilities
the report Source table provides the
ability to store and reuse what you can
think of as saved queries for retrieving
data from Source tables and populating a
report
each report can have one of these if
desired
the scheduled email of reports table
provides the ability to set up a given
report to execute automatically on a
recurring basis and have it emailed to
interested users a single report can be
set up with zero one or many scheduled
schedule scheduled emails
reports can also be shared directly with
individual users or groups of users via
the report users and groups table
this allows users to access and execute
reports via the UI whenever they like
that's also a one-to-many relationship
and finally a report can be added to one
or more dashboards for displaying
alongside other related data that
capability is made available through a
series of tables and relationships
ultimately ending with the dashboard
table
we'll walk through each of these tables
in more detail in a few minutes but for
now just by analyzing the underlying
data model we can see that servicenow
provides the ability to create and
manage custom reports populate those
reports via reusable stored queries
have reports emailed to users on a
recurring basis and share reports
directly with users groups of users or
via dashboards
now let's focus our attention on the
main report Table
this will teach us all we need to know
in order to create and manage reports in
the platform we'll start by looking at
the fields that exist within the report
Table when I need to do that what I
usually do is I will go to the all menu
and I'll open up the application
navigator and anytime you want to see a
listing of the records that exist within
a table you can enter the table name dot
list in the filter Navigator in this
case the report tables table name is sys
underscore report
and then I'm going to enter dot list and
that will open up a list view of all the
records that exist within the report
Table
we can see here they're listed out and
if we look towards the bottom I can see
that there are 652 records in this table
that means that there are 652 reports
configured in this instance of
servicenow I can also begin to see some
of the attributes that are being stored
for the reports and within the report
Table I can see that there's a field
called title it has the title of the
report there's a field called table and
this is uh populated with the table that
is pop that is populating the data upon
which the report is based here we can
see there is a type field so a report
type and you can begin to see some of
the different types of reports that
exist in servicenow and we'll cover all
of those in a minute and then additional
Fields field name I'll explain to you
what that is here in a bit we can see it
stores who created the report when the
report was updated this is just a small
set to continue to learn more about the
fields that are available within this
table we can click on the gear icon to
personalize this list
in which case we get a listing of all of
the fields that exist within the report
Table
and we can look through this list and
begin to get a very good idea of the
types of things that are being stored
when we create reports and essentially
create records in the report Table one
other way I'll show you to learn more
about the fields within a table is
anytime you're looking at a list View
of the records in a table you can come
up here to any one of the column
headings and click on this context
menu and scroll down and choose
configure table that will actually open
a form for the specific table that we're
looking at in this case it's the report
Table and you can see here's where I got
this is where I learned that the label
of the the report Table is report the
actual name in the database of the
report Table assists underscore report
you can see that it extends a table
application file we don't need to worry
about that at the moment
but down here we can see a related list
of all of the columns that exist within
the report table so the nice thing about
this list is you can sort it you can
Group by you can search for a specific
table but you can also see additional
database level attributes of the field
so for example the field type the
reference if it's a reference field what
table it's referencing this is where I
got my relationships that I put in my my
data model diagram things like the
maximum link the default value
whether or not it's the default display
field and things like that so this is
just another nice handy way of learning
more about a table in the fields that
exist
within that table now I'm not going to
go through all of these fields right now
but I am going to jump over to the
PowerPoint and I'm going to show you a
few of the most commonly used fields
that are used when you create reports
and then we will actually go into the
process of learning how to create a new
report
we saw in the demonstration that the
report Table is made up of 156 different
fields that describe how the report
should behave now I want to step through
eight of the most commonly used fields
and then show you how to create a new
report and populate these fields
first we have the sysid field every
table and service now has this field and
you can think of it as the system
generated unique ID of any record
it's the table's primary key and in this
case it represents the unique ID of a
given report
the title field is a string field that
stores the report title and you'll see
the report title throughout the UI
whenever you're viewing a list of
reports it's usually included on the
output of the report itself
The Source type field is a bit
interesting it's a string field with
valid values of table or data source and
this field tells the platform where to
go for the data I've already mentioned
that reports can be populated from
report Source records that are like
saved queries to use one of those The
Source type field gets populated with
the data source value
otherwise and in most cases The Source
type will be set to table which means
that the table and any filters used to
populate the reporter just stored as
part of the report record itself
the report Source field is the
counterpart to the source type field
when the source type is set to data
source this is the field that specifies
which data source record to use
otherwise and in most cases this Fields
left blank
the table field stores the primary
database table from which the report
data is pulled and the field name field
stores the field within that table table
that the data should be grouped on and
you'll see in our next demonstration why
most reports include a field that is
used for grouping the data
for presentation purposes
the filter field is a special string
type field that tells the platform about
any filtering conditions to apply to
narrow down the data being included in
the report
and finally there's the type field and
that specifies which type of report or
visualization the platform should use
when presenting the report data and to
explain that I'll show you this
nice diagram that lists the different
types of reports available in servicenow
and when each is ideal for use service
now provides over 23 different types of
reports or visualizations out of box
they include lists Box Bar pivots Trends
line control spline area histogram heat
map map maps calendars bubble funnel
pyramid Donuts pie speedometer dial and
single score
each of these might be useful depending
upon your scenario and I'll include a
link in the description box of the video
to this diagram that can help you
explore and determine which report type
might be best for your situation
now let's walk through the process of
creating a new report and remember all
we're really doing here is inserting a
new record into the report Table that we
just talked about
we have three options available for
creating our new report
we can use the reports applications
create new module we can use servicenow
Studio or we can create a new report
from an existing list View and I'll
demonstrate each but let's start by
opening the application navigator and
accessing the reports applications
create new module
and now we simply start populating the
fields which at this point should begin
to look familiar
we'll set the report name and that's
really the title field
and I'll use users by department for the
title of this report
here's that Source type field we spoke
about
I'm going to just leave that as table
I'm not going to use a stored query
and then populate the table field with
the database table that we want to
create our report against
I'm going to use the user table that's
CIS underscore user is the actual name
for this example
now I can click next
to Traverse through each of these tabs
up here or you can also bounce around if
you want
but I'll just go in order
on the type tab you can see
each of the different visualization
types so essentially here we're just
setting that type field
and I'm going to choose the pie chart
for this
now when I click next the tool will
pre-populate a visualization of the
report
looks pretty plain now because it's just
all users
and it takes me to the configure tab
where I can choose my group by field and
several other options you can see here
for this report I'm going to group by
the department
field
clicking next refreshes the report and
also allows me to set some additional
style related properties you can see
those here and there are several of them
remember those 156 fields that exist in
the report Table
you can begin to see how those fields
begin to stack up with all of the
different options that are available for
each of the different report types
I feel good about this report so I'm
going to click save and that's it
we've just inserted a new report record
in the report Table essentially creating
a new report
in servicenow
so let me show you real quickly these
other two options for creating reports
and they're really pretty much the same
thing just different methods of getting
there
if you want to use servicenow Studio you
go to the app Navigator and open up the
studio application it's system
applications studio and Studio opens in
a new tab
and when you use Studio you have to work
within an application scope so you
select the application the report will
be a part of
once you're there
you go to file
create file
choose the reporting section
the report option and then click create
and from here
the tool works exactly the same way it's
just a different way of getting there
and finally the third method of
recreating a report is to start from the
data that will Source the report this is
pretty cool
for example
I can view the records in the user table
by entering CIS user dot list
I can then click the column context menu
for the field I want the report grouped
by it's a department in this case
and then I can select the bar or pie
chart menu item and voila
same place but
this time the fields for the name the
source type the table and the group by
already populated
and you can tweak or change anything
from here
now that we know about reports and how
they get created and managed let's
quickly cover the remainder of the data
model and the related functionality the
rest of this is really all about getting
the reports in front of the eyeballs
that need to see them
let's talk about scheduling first and
what that really means is setting up a
report to automatically execute and get
emailed to an audience on some recurring
basis
the scheduled email of reports table
that sys Auto underscore report is the
table that makes that possible
this table stores a record for every
scheduled email report and includes all
of the fields that we need to know which
report when to execute it and who to
send it to
it has its sysid field or unique
identifier
in the report field that stores a
reference to the sys ID of the report
that's being scheduled
the user's field is a special list type
field that enables a one-to-many
relationship between the scheduled
report and one or more users to whom the
report should be emailed it uses a
reference to the sysid of the user
record in the sys user table
and the group's field does the same
thing as the user field except it stores
references to one or more group records
the email addresses field allows for
sending the report to people that might
not be users of the platform so you can
just think of this as like a list of
manually entered email addresses
the Run field stores a string value
indicating the recurrence rate upon
which the report should be executed and
emailed you can think daily weekly
monthly here or on demand however you
need it the time field tells the report
the time at which the scheduled report
should be executed
the subject field stores the subject of
the email and the introductory message
field stores the actual content body
of the email
and then two more there's a condition
field that allows for writing a script
that sets a condition that must be met
in order for the scheduled email to
execute
and then finally there's a type field
that specifies the type of the
attachment that should be used for the
report whether it's PDF Excel or some
image type
now let's go ahead and schedule our
report for email and remember all we're
really doing here is inserting a record
into the sys Auto report Table
and as always we have a few options for
doing this one way is to just open the
report that we want to schedule and do
it from there to do that
we go to the reports application
View Run module and that opens a list of
all of the reports that
we have access to you can see that
there's some filters here at the top
to display reports created by you
reports that have been shared with you
reports that have been shared globally
or just all of the reports you have
access to
and I'm going to search for the report
title and that was users by Department
and select the report we created to open
it
and here's our report
this is also where you would come to
make changes to a report if you needed
to do that or if you just wanted to run
the report on demand
to schedule the report we'll click on
the sharing icon in the header bar here
and we'll select schedule
now we just populate the fields
remember we're inserting that record
we're going to just populate the fields
using the UI you can name the scheduled
job whatever you like you can see that
the report field
is already populated
I'll populate the user's field with a
couple of users
and I'm going to choose Abraham Lincoln
and Fred Luddy
and I'll also populate the group field
let's say the cab approval group so that
all of the users that are a member of
that group get the emailed report as
well
and I'll include my personal email
I'm going to set the emailed report to
execute monthly let's say on the first
day of each month and we'll leave it
just at midnight
I'm not going to add a condition but you
could do that here by by selecting this
check box and then typing in a script
that sets some condition that must be
met I won't do that for this one
I'll populate the subject of the email
and the email body
I'm going to leave the attachment type
as PDF landscape and click submit and
that is it
we've scheduled our report for email
essentially inserted a new record into
the sys Auto report Table
and real quickly let me show you one
other way to schedule a report
and that is via the report's
application's schedule reports module if
you click that that will open up a list
of all of the reports that are currently
scheduled
we can see that there's only one for
this instance and that's the one that we
just scheduled and from here if you
needed to you could go into that
scheduled report you could make changes
to it you could delete it if you wanted
to or if you wanted to schedule a report
from here
you can just click the new button
to schedule another report
another thing we can do to make our
report available to others is share it
this gives other users of the platform
the ability to open the report and
execute It On Demand whenever they want
the report users and groups table or sys
underscore report underscore users
underscore groups
is the table that makes that possible
this table stores a record for each
individual user or group
that the report is shared with
the table has fields to store the report
being shared and the user or group
to whom the report is being shared
and to make this happen via the UI
we can simply open the report
like we did for scheduling
click the sharing icon again but this
time select share
and here you can see we have options to
share the report globally or globally by
roll
or
we can select individual users
or groups
the last thing I'll cover in this video
on servicenow reports is how to add a
report to a dashboard
dashboards and servicenow enable you to
display multiple performance analytics
reporting and other widgets on a single
screen
the data model that supports dashboards
it is fairly extensive due to the fact
that they can have multiple groups and
tabs and sections and modules I'll do a
separate video covering that but for now
just know that when you add a report to
a dashboard you're essentially creating
a series of Records in related tables
ultimately ending with the dashboard PA
underscore dashboard table
you can add a report to a dashboard a
couple of different ways one way is to
start at the dashboard and then add the
report from there the other way which
I'll demonstrate here is to open the
report like we've done
and click the sharing icon
and select add to dashboard
from there it's simple you just select
the dashboard that you want and the
dashboard tab where you want the report
displayed click add and you've got it
your report will now be displayed as
part of that dashboard
that does it for this video on reports
and servicenow hope you found it helpful
if you did we'd love a thumbs up love it
even more if you'd subscribe to the
channel and provide feedback in the
comments keep your eye out for the next
video and I'll see you in the next one
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