Created Timestamp in record history (history -> list) does not show the actual date and time of the update - Support and Troubleshooting

Created Timestamp in record history (history -> list) does not show the actual date and time of the update Description  When adding the 'Created' field to the 'Audit History' related list on a record to see when the record was created, it does not show the expected time of when the update was done; It is not the value of the sys_audit record that was created for the update to the field.

Cause The 'Created' field reflects the creation time of the history record. Not the created time of the underlying audit record / the time of the update. As per the documentation; "The system generates history set records when a user requests to view an audited record's history.

If the record is on an audited table, a history set is generated when the record is inserted. A user must view a record for the system to create or update a history set for that record."

Additionally, this part in the documentation says: "The system limits History Set and History records by: • Having the table cleaner delete History Set records that have not been updated in 30 days. • Using table rotation to rotate between four History tables every seven days. This means the system drops History records that are older than 28 days. Should someone need historical information again at a later date, the system can regenerate it from auditing source records."

So after some time the history records get cleaned, but are automatically rebuilt when a users opens the record again. The Created timestamp then reflects the (new) creation of the history record and not the creation time of the underlying audit record.

Resolution Instead of relying on the Created field to see when the update was done, use teh 'Update time' field. That field reflects the actual time when the update was done (ie the creation time of the underlying audit record). Together with the 'Update Number' field, this can be used to see the updates in the correct sequence of events