Activity definition form

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Activity definition form

    The Activity Definition form in ServiceNow enables you to define and report on specific steps within your business processes by selecting fields and values to visualize on process maps. This helps you track and analyze changes and activities that occur in your records, providing insights into process flows and transitions.

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    Key Features

    • Field Selection: Choose the specific table field whose data you want to visualize in the process graph.
    • Type Options: Select the type of values to mine, including:
      • Field Values (Default): Standard field values based on audit history.
      • Date Time: Uses actual record date/time values, shown as grouped nodes.
      • Compound: Represents changes in multiple field values as a single node from the actual record.
      • Child Attached / Parent Attached: For configurations involving parent-child table relationships, showing when child or parent records are attached during the process.
    • Display Name: Optionally set a custom name for the activity to be shown on the process map.
    • Choose Activity Values: Filter specific values within the selected field to mine, allowing focused analysis (e.g., specific assignment groups).
    • Group Activities: Option to consolidate multiple sequential changes into a single grouped activity node on the process map for clarity (e.g., multiple assignment group changes shown as one change).
    • Grouped Activities Name: Customize the auto-generated name for grouped changes to improve visualization understanding.
    • Activity of Interest: Control whether field changes appear in the analyst workbench; these changes remain usable in contextual conditions even if hidden.
    • Include Empty Start Node: Option to display an empty node on the process graph when the selected field is empty at record creation, highlighting initial state.

    Practical Use and Benefits

    By configuring activity definitions with these options, you gain precise control over what process data is visualized and how changes are represented. This facilitates better tracking of key business process steps, helps identify process bottlenecks or transitions, and improves the clarity of process maps for stakeholders. The grouping and filtering capabilities enable you to tailor the visualization to your specific reporting and analysis needs, making it easier to monitor important changes and activities within your ServiceNow environment.

    Use the Activity Definition form to report on steps that occur within your business process.

    Table 1. Activity Definition form
    Field Specify the field or column from the table whose data you want to view in the process graph.
    Type The type of values you want to mine.

    You have the following values:

    • Field Values (Default): This is the default selection. This option is available whenever you create an activity definition.
    • Date Time: Uses date time value from the actual record rather than the audit history and is displayed as a grouped node on the process map.
    • Compound: One node or process graph representing change in the multiple field value from the actual record rather than the audit history.
    • Child Attached: This option is available when you have selected two tables for table configuration and have set a child-parent relationship. This option is available only for the parent table configuration. In the visualization, you will see when the child was attached in the process.
    • Parent Attached: This option creates a node on the child process representing when a parent record was attached to a child.
    Display Name (Optional) Name to display for this activity. If no name is entered, the activity name displays the value provided for Field.
    Choose activity values

    You can choose to mine specific activity values for the selected field.
    Activity values

    This field is available only if you select the Choose activity values field.

    This field provides a list of values for the selected field that you want to mine.

    For example, you have chosen the Incident table. Now, you want to see records that went through Assignment group Service Desk and Assignment group Database. To see this data, you must select Assignment group as the Field and add Service Desk and Database from List of values.
    Group activities If you select to group activities, the process map reflects the group of changes for the activity as one change item. For example, suppose you configure Assignment group to report on and select group activities.
    • Changes to assignment group occur and list in the audit log as: Group A > Group B > Group C.
    • Result: The data in the process map reflects as one change: 'Assignment group changed'.
    If this option is not checked, the process map reflects records of each instance of change individually. Example: You configure Assignment group to report on, but don't select to group activities.
    • Changes to assignment group occur and list in the audit log as: Group A > Group B > Group C.
    • Result: The process map reflects each individual change made, continuing to reflect the changes as is standard from the audit log: 'Change: Group A > Change: Group B > Change: Group C'.
    Figure 1. Changes are grouped
    Show changes as group
    Figure 2. Changes shown as standard
    Changes shown as standard
    Grouped Activities name Auto-generated name for grouped activities, or you can enter a different name for changes to the field that will reflect in the visualization.
    Note:
    This field is only available when the Group activities field is selected.
    Activity of Interest Whether field changes appear in the analyst workbench.
    Note:
    When this option is selected, field changes don’t appear in the analyst workbench, but can still be used in contextual conditions in transitions or findings.
    Include empty start node Includes an empty node on the process graph when the selected activity definition field is empty at the time of record creation.