Data items
Summarize
Summary of Data Items
Data items are crucial for presenting data on screens within your ServiceNow instance. They are queries that retrieve specific data from selected tables, enabling the display of information such as incident lists or change requests.
Show less
Key Features
- Standard Data Items: These return data from a single table without parameters but can include filters to narrow down results. For example, they can be used to query high-priority changes from the change request table.
- Parametrized Data Items: These allow for queries that include parameters, enabling dynamic data retrieval. For instance, they can be configured to show incidents assigned to the logged-in user.
- Relationship Data Items: Essential for creating embedded lists within record screens, these data items connect the main record table to the records displayed in the embedded lists.
- Special Use Data Item Configurations: Includes configurations like Append Encoded Query for navigation from charts to lists and Grouped List Data Items for grouped screens, allowing any data item to be grouped by a specific field.
Key Outcomes
By effectively utilizing data items, ServiceNow customers can create customized screens that dynamically display relevant data, enhance user experience through embedded lists, and facilitate easier data navigation and presentation. This capability ultimately improves workflow efficiency and data accessibility within your organization.
Data items provide the data presented in a screen.
Data items are queries on a selected table that bring back data. Screens, which display data from your instance, get their information from data items. For example, if your application contains a list of incidents, the list would use a data item representing records from the incident [incident] table.
Data item types
There are three different types of data items.
- Standard data items
A standard data item is used to return data from a single table. A standard data item does not include parameters, but can include a filter to return a set of results from the queried table. For example, a standard data item could query all high priority changes from the change request [change_request] table.
- Parametrized data items
A parametrized data item is used to perform a query containing one or more parameters to return data. Parameters are used to pass in variables to your queries. For example, you could use a parameter to include the value of the logged in user so that you can show a list of all incidents assigned to that user.
- Relationship data items
Relationship data items are necessary for embedded lists. Embedded lists are lists that can be embedded within a record screen. Record screens can have one or more embedded segments. An embedded list is a type of segment that can be embedded. When you configure an embedded list, it's important to be familiar with the original record screen table. It's also important to understand the table that contains the records that appear in the embedded list. To create an embedded list, you need a relationship data item. For details about creating a relationship data item, see Configure a relationship data item for an embedded list.
Special use data item configurations
The following data items do not fit into the previous categories, and are used only in the cases detailed in the following sections.
- Append encoded query
To navigate from a single score analytics preview or from a chart screen header function to a list of records, you need to configure a special data item using an instance relative URL. This is a standard data item that uses a different type of condition. Find more information about how to configure an append encoded query in Chart screen.
- Grouped list data item
A grouped data item is used exclusively for a grouped list screen. Any data item, standard and relationship, parametrized or not, can be grouped by a field. Find more info about how to configure grouped list data items at Grouped list screen.