Use URL parameters to export table records and convert them into complex data types,
such as JSON, XML, PDF, CSV, and XLS.
Exporting records as complex data types
You can use an HTTP GET request to retrieve records from a table and put
them in a specified format. For example, use the PDF parameter in a
GET request to export records from a table as PDF files; use the
XLS parameter to export records from a table as XLS files. For
example, to retrieve a list of incident records as XLS files, issue an HTTP
GET using the following URL:
https://instance_name.service-now.com/incident.do?XLS. The file returned
is incident.xls. incident.do is basically a
GET that returns a list of the records from the incident table. The
XLS parameter converts those records into XLS files.
The general syntax is:
https://<serviceNow-instance-name>/<table-name>.do?<Data-type-parameter>
URL parameters
The following table shows URL parameters you can use in
GET requests,
filters you can use to filter out unwanted table records in the return, and an indicator of
whether you can
POST the data type directly to a table. The parameter
becomes the extension of the returned file, for example, using the
XLS
parameter returns a file in the form
<table-name>.xls.
Table 1. URL parameters
| Data type |
Parameter |
Valid filters |
Directly POST to table? |
| CSV |
CSV |
sysparm_query, sysparm_view |
Y |
| Excel |
XLS, EXCEL, XLSX |
sysparm_query, sysparm_view |
Y |
| JSON |
JSONv2 |
Various. See JSON
data retrieval API. |
Y |
| PDF |
PDF |
sysparm_query, sysparm_view |
N |
| RSS |
RSS |
sysparm_query, sysparm_view and more. See Limiting results with a
view. |
N |
| XML |
XML, XSD, SCHEMA |
sysparm_query, useUnloadFormat |
N |
For more information about retrieving and converting table records into the JSON file
format, see JSONv2 Web Service.
For more information about retrieving and converting table records into the RSS file
format, see RSS feed
generator.
Converting records to PDFs
For PDF export, there is a distinction between targeting a table and targeting its list. To
generate a PDF of a list of records, suffix the target with _list. To
target a single record, you must specify the sys_id parameter to
identify the record for which you are generating the PDF.
Filters
All URL parameters work with filters that enable you to export a subset of table records.
For example, sysparm_query=active=true in a GET request
exports only active records. The following example exports only active incident records in
an Excel format:
https://instance_name.service-now.com/incident.do?EXCEL&sysparm_query=active=true.
The general syntax is:
https://<serviceNow-instance-name>/<table_list>.do?<Data-type-parameter>&<filter>
Filters include:
- sysparm_query—Filters the data using the encoded query before exporting files, for
example,
sysparm_query=active=true exports only active records.
- sysparm_view—Specify the name of a list view to control which fields are returned. For
example, to return the ESS view, use
sysparm_view=ess.
- useUnloadFormat—Indicates that the XML format returned is an unload format. The unload
format is the same format you get when, from a list in the UI, you select Export > XML >
... You can import unload-formatted XML files back into the tables. To enable the unload
format from a URL, use the
useUnloadFormat=true URL parameter, for
example,
https://instance_name.service-now.com/incident.do?XML&useUnloadFormat=true.
Example GET queries
Table 2. GET request examples
| Data type |
Example query |
| CSV |
https://instance_name.service-now.com/incident.do?CSV&sysparm_query=active=true |
| Excel |
https://instance_name.service-now.com/incident.do?XLS&sysparm_query=active=true |
| PDF |
https://instance_name.service-now.com/incident.do?PDF&sysparm_view=ess |
| RSS |
https://instance_name.service-now.com/incident.do?RSS&sysparm_view=ess |
| XML |
https://instance_name.service-now.com/incident.do?XML&sysparm_query=active=true |
Returned files
GET queries return records from a table in the format specified in the
request. For example, a query that uses the XLS parameter returns a
table record in a file with the .xls extension.
The Content-Disposition header in the response displays the file name and extension of the
returned file. The file name is based on the table you export from, such as incident.xls,
incident.pdf, or incident.xml.
