Data Model Explorer

A wholistic view on the data model

As a ServiceNow^® Architect I often need to check interdependencies of tables, find relations or need to check against out-of-the-box standard table hierarchies to, e.g.

• query records efficiently
• find deviations to customize functionality correctly
• estimate the fitness of a plugin or another existing solution for a specific problem
• correctly use dot-walks in Script Includes, Business Rules, Relationships
• build Database Views
• provide a wholistic data model for regulatory reasons

The Now Platform^® offers three options for that: Tables, Tables & Columns and the Schema Map.

All three are slow, every bit of information lays anywhere else you actually need or you simply don’t get the whole picture, as, for example, the Schema Map just focuses on one table and its direct connections to other tables.

Using the Data Model Explorer

I often needed a whole picture (esp. see the third and the last bullet point for that), to continue my work and support my customers and that’s why I built the Data Model Explorer.

The Data Model Explorer allows you to:

• view the logic database structure used by ServiceNow^®
• see logically independent parts
• dependencies from parts to parts
• get a clue of data exchange and dependency

The data world of ServiceNow^®

You can navigate, zoom in, filter and drill-in like you are already used to for map applications.

You have the option to view the Platform out-of-the-box data model (without any plugins installed) for the three current Versions Istanbul, Jakarta and Kingston, as well as for the following Plugins:

• Project Portfolio Suite with Financials
• Human Resources (Core)
• GRC (Audit, Risk, Compliance, UCF Integration)
• Agile Development 2.0
• Agile Development (deprecated/existing customers)
• Event Management
• Test Management
• Field Service Management
• Service Portfolio Management
• Managed Documents

As the plugins are functionally encapsulated, the data model for them only includes the differences from an instances with the installed plugin to an instance without the installed plugin — plus the tables that are referenced or extended.

How does your system look like?

You can easily get a whole picture of your own instance by importing the data model from it. After importing, you are also able to save it to a file and quickly open it later.

There will also be a diff-builder/compare function available later making visible any deviation to previous saved models or out-of-the-box models. This function was already used for creating the plugin data models and will be publicly available soon.