ServiceNow Glossary: Terms in Plain Language

ServiceNow glossary

Plain-language definitions of the terms you will meet.

Quick answer

A plain-language glossary of the ServiceNow terms you meet in every module: ACL, the access control list that decides whether a user can read, write, create or delete a record or field; Business Rule, server-side logic around a database operation; CI, a configuration item in the CMDB; and more. Use browser find, Ctrl or Cmd-F, to jump to a term.

Common ServiceNow terms in plain language. Use your browser find (Ctrl/Cmd-F) to jump to a term.

ACL

Access Control List, evaluates whether a user can read/write/create/delete a record or field.

Business Rule

Server-side logic that runs before, after or async around a database operation.

CI

Configuration Item, a record in the CMDB representing an asset or service.

CMDB

Configuration Management Database, the single source of truth for IT assets and relationships.

GlideRecord

The server-side API for querying and writing table data.

gs (GlideSystem)

Server-side object for logging, user context and utilities.

IRE

Identification and Reconciliation Engine, dedupes inbound CMDB data.

RITM

Requested Item, a row on sc_req_item created from a catalog request.

Script Include

Reusable server-side function library, callable from scripts and GlideAjax.

sys_id

Unique 32-character identifier for every record on every table.

Transform Map

Maps import staging columns onto a target table, with coalesce to avoid duplicates.

Update Set

Container that captures configuration to move between instances.