How to create a copy of a table - Support and Troubleshooting

How to create a copy of a table Issue Sometimes you want to create a copy of a table for a test case, or you might need to back up data from a rotated shard before it gets truncated.

Although ServiceNow could create a backup of the table from the backend easily, you would not be able to access it from the instance, whether from a form or a list or from /sys.scripts.do . This is because the application would not be aware that the new table exists as it also requires associated records in the application metadata tables ( sys_db_object, sys_dictioary, sys_documentation , etc.).

This article describes how to create a copy of an existing table so that you can access the copied table from the UI or /sys.scripts.do . Please note that the 'new' table will be empty and will not contain data. You have to copy data from the source table as a separate process.

CAVEAT: This script does not work for CMDB tables.

Resolution Before New York release: Navigate to /sys.scripts.do .

Copy the following code and customize it for your environment.

The first argument is the source table, the table to be copied. The second argument is the new/target table. The third argument is Boolean: set it to false if you don't want to or need to create the indexes. (The creation time will be fast either way as the table will be empty.)

cpTable('sys_upgrade_history_log', 'u_testcase', true); function cpTable(strOldTable, strNewTable, bCopyIndexes) { var tu = new TableUtils(strNewTable); var bNewTableAlreadyExists = tu.tableExists(); if (bNewTableAlreadyExists) { gs.print("WARNING: Target Table " + strNewTable + " already exists! Please choose a new target table name"); } else { var gr = new GlideRecord(strOldTable); gr.initialize(); var td = GlideTableDescriptor.get(strOldTable); var tdNewTable = new TableDescriptor(strNewTable, gr.getLabel()); var dbo = new GlideRecord("sys_db_object"); dbo.addEncodedQuery("super_classISNOTEMPTY^name=" + strOldTable); dbo.setLimit(1); dbo.query(); if (dbo.next()) { tdNewTable.setExtends(dbo.super_class + ''); } tdNewTable.setFields(gr); tdNewTable.copyAttributes(td); tdNewTable.setRoles(td); tdNewTable.create(); if (bCopyIndexes) { tdNewTable.copyIndexes(strOldTable, strNewTable); } } }

Click Run Script .

The code will create a new table in the instance called u_testcase . You can now access this table via /u_testcase_list.do and from GlideRecord('u_testcase'); .

The output might look like the following example.

[0:00:01.621] Script completed in scope global: script Creating table: u_testcase TableCreate for: u_testcase DBTable.create() for: u_testcase Replication is not enabled on table: u_testcase, not queueing replication table create special db event *** Script: Begin ResourceSupport.buildTableResources(u_testcase, undefined) *** Script: End ResourceSupport.buildTableResources LicensingTableCreateListener: Initializing licensing attrs for table u_testcase Time: 0:00:00.615 id: tundra_1[glide.2] for: SELECT sys_storage_alias0.`table_name`, sys_storage_alias0.`element_name`, sys_storage_alias0.`storage_alias` FROM sys_storage_alias sys_storage_alias0 WHERE sys_storage_alias0.`storage_alias` != sys_storage_alias0.`element_name` /* tundra004, gs:329947A4DBAE4700671C51035E9619B8, tx:52c94328dbae4700671c51035e9619cb */ Creating index(es): ALTER TABLE `u_testcase`ADD INDEX (`sys_source_table`) ,ADD INDEX (`update_set`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`) Duplicate index, skipping: u_testcase([sys_source_table]) NONUNIQUE Duplicate index, skipping: u_testcase([update_set]) NONUNIQUE Redundant index check on u_testcase found redundant index upgrade_history (upgrade_history) NONUNIQUE; caused by new index (upgrade_history,file_name,sys_recorded_at) NONUNIQUE Redundant index check on u_testcase found 1 redundant indexes Creating index(es): ALTER TABLE `u_testcase`ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `file_name`, `sys_recorded_at`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `order`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `disposition`, `resolution_status`, `changed`, `order`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `resolution_status`, `disposition`, `type_priority`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `disposition`, `changed`) ,ADD INDEX (`order`) Dropping index(es): ALTER TABLE `u_testcase` DROP INDEX `upgrade_history` If you run the same code again, an error occurs:

[0:00:00.000] Script completed in scope global: script *** Script: WARNING: Target Table u_testcase already exists! Please choose a new target table name New York and subsequent releases: Navigate to /sys.scripts.do .

Copy the following code and customize it for your environment.

The first argument is the source table, the table to be copied. The second argument is the new/target table. The third argument is Boolean: set it to false if you don't want to or need to create the indexes. (The creation time will be fast either way as the table will be empty.)

cpTable('sys_upgrade_history_log', 'u_testcase', true); function cpTable(strOldTable, strNewTable, bCopyIndexes) { var tu = new TableUtils(strNewTable); var bNewTableAlreadyExists = tu.tableExists(); if (bNewTableAlreadyExists) { gs.print("WARNING: Target Table " + strNewTable + " already exists! Please choose a new target table name"); } else { var gr = new GlideRecord(strOldTable); gr.initialize(); var td = GlideTableDescriptor.get(strOldTable); var tdNewTable = new SNC.TableRotationBootstrap(strNewTable, gr.getLabel()); var dbo = new GlideRecord("sys_db_object"); dbo.addEncodedQuery("super_classISNOTEMPTY^name=" + strOldTable); dbo.setLimit(1); dbo.query(); if (dbo.next()) { tdNewTable.setExtends(dbo.super_class.name + ''); } tdNewTable.setFields(gr); tdNewTable.copyAttributes(td); tdNewTable.create(); if (bCopyIndexes) { tdNewTable.copyIndexes(strOldTable, strNewTable); } } }

Click Run Script .

The code will create a new table in the instance called u_testcase . You can now access this table via /u_testcase_list.do and from GlideRecord('u_testcase'); .

The output might look like the following example.

Creating table: u_testcase TableCreate for: u_testcase DBTable.create() for: u_testcase Replication is not enabled on table: u_testcase, not queueing replication table create special db event *** Script: Begin ResourceSupport.buildTableResources(u_testcase, undefined) *** Script: End ResourceSupport.buildTableResources LicensingTableCreateListener: Initializing licensing attrs for table u_testcase Creating index(es): ALTER TABLE `u_testcase`ADD INDEX (`sys_source_table`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`) ,ADD INDEX (`update_set`) [0:00:13.170] DBTable.create of: u_testcase [0:00:14.839] Table create for: u_testcase Duplicate index, skipping: u_testcase([sys_source_table]) NONUNIQUE Duplicate index, skipping: u_testcase([update_set]) NONUNIQUE Redundant index check on u_testcase found redundant index upgrade_history (upgrade_history) NONUNIQUE; caused by new index (upgrade_history,order) NONUNIQUE Redundant index check on u_testcase found 1 redundant indexes Creating index(es): ALTER TABLE `u_testcase`ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `order`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `resolution_status`, `disposition`, `type_priority`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `file_name`, `sys_recorded_at`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `disposition`, `changed`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `disposition`, `resolution_status`, `changed`, `order`) ,ADD INDEX (`order`) Dropping index(es): ALTER TABLE `u_testcase` DROP INDEX `upgrade_history` Altering storage table [sh$sys_cache_flush]: ALTER TABLE sh$sys_cache_flush ADD `sh$context` VARCHAR(32) , ADD `sh$operation` VARCHAR(40) , ADD `sh$change_count` INTEGER , ADD `sh$first_recorded` DATETIME , ADD `sh$last_recorded` DATETIME , ADD `sh$sequence` VARCHAR(40) , ADD `sh$first_txn_id` VARCHAR(32) , ADD INDEX `mnixgjyj_source_primary`(`sys_id`) *** Script: Begin ResourceSupport.buildTableResources(sh$sys_cache_flush, undefined) *** Script: End ResourceSupport.buildTableResources