Normal values
Summarize
Summary of Normal values
Normal values in ServiceNow provide a standardized way to replace ambiguous or variant field values with a single, consistent value. This is essential when field values come from multiple sources, such as automated Discovery entries, external imports, or manual user inputs, which often result in multiple formats or spellings of the same value. For example, different CPU type entries like "E3350 (Intel)" and "Xeon L3350" can be consolidated into a normal value like "Xeon" to improve data consistency.
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Key Features
- Aliases: Define known variant values that directly map to a normal value. Aliases are best for short lists of known variants and are processed first in normalization jobs and queries.
- Rules: Define conditions (such as regex patterns) to identify variant values for normalization. Rules are useful for large or complex sets of variants and are processed after aliases.
- Normalized Queries: Administrators can enable normalization on queries so that filters and searches use normalized values internally while displaying original raw values in the UI for user clarity.
- Scripting Support: Scripts that insert, update, or query records automatically apply normalization, ensuring consistency regardless of how data is manipulated.
- Coalescence: Redirects references from multiple variant records to a single record based on a normal value, simplifying data relationships and reducing duplicates.
Practical Application
ServiceNow customers can create and manage normal value records by:
- Defining a normal value that acts as the canonical representation of a field value.
- Specifying aliases to cover known variants that should be converted to the normal value.
- Creating rules for broader or pattern-based normalization needs.
- Testing the normalization setup before applying to existing records to avoid unwanted data changes.
- Enabling normalization on queries to improve filtering and search accuracy while maintaining user-friendly interfaces.
Benefits
- Eliminates duplicate or inconsistent field values, improving data quality.
- Enables more effective and simpler search queries and business logic conditions.
- Ensures consistent data insertion and updates through automated script normalization.
- Improves data relationships via coalescence, reducing complexity in record references.
A normal value replaces similar but ambiguous field values with one standard value.
Field value variations
- Automated entries made by Discovery.
- Automated entries made by importing records from external systems or files.
- Manual entries made by users.
- E3350 (Intel) 4.5.2234
- Intel Xeon 5.4.554
- Xeon L3350
- L3350
- Duplicate CPU types
- Poor search results
- Complex queries and conditions to apply business logic
Creating a normal value record solves these issues by consolidating on one standard value such as Xeon.
Identifying variations with aliases and rules
Each Normal value record specifies how to identify variations of a normal value using a combination of aliases and rules.
- Aliases
Aliases are known variations of an input value that normalization converts to the normal value. Use aliases when there is a short list of variant values.
For example, you could create a normal value Xeon that has these aliases.- E3350 (Intel) 4.5.2234
- Intel Xeon 5.4.554
- Xeon L3350
- L3350
Whenever a normalization data job or normalized query sees a field value matching an alias, it automatically replaces the field value with the normal value. Normalization data jobs and queries process aliases before rules.Note:Aliases are logically equivalent to rules using the [is] operator in a condition where [Field name][is][Alias value]. For example, the sample aliases are equivalent to these rules: [CPU Type][is][E3350 (Intel) 4.5.2234] OR [CPU Type][is][Intel Xeon 5.4.554] OR [CPU Type][is][Xeon L3350] OR [CPU Type][is][L3350]- Rules
Rules specify the conditions under which normalization replaces an input value with the normal value. Use rules when there are a large number of possible variant values, or when you must create complex conditions.
For example, the normal value Xeon could have this rule.
[CPU Type][matches regex][.*\bxeon\b.*]
Whenever a normalization data job or normalized query sees a field value matching a rule, it automatically replaces the field value with the normal value. Normalization data jobs and queries process rules after aliases.
Rules and aliases can be combined to normalize a field. Make sure to test your normalization methods before applying them to all the existing records in the database.
Normalized queries
An administrator can configure normalization to apply to queries issued against normalized fields in lists. Select the Normalize query check box on the Normalization form to enable this functionality. In a list containing normalized values, Filters and breadcrumbs using the original (raw) value for the normalized field in the query condition.
The filtered list returns records with the normal value substituted for the raw value. However, the breadcrumbs for the filter display the original query conditions.
Scripting and normalization
Scripts that update or insert records into the database (GlideRecord) are normalized automatically when field normalization is applied. For example, if a script to insert a CI record contains a CPU type of Xeon L3350, the script is normalized to insert the CI with a CPU type of Xeon instead. Scripts that query the database for normalized field values (using the conditions of equals or not equals) can be configured to return the normal value (such as Xeon) rather than the original (raw) value.