Creating Applications & Scope Configuration
As an administrator, it is important to understand the platform’s architecture and how it works. In this topic, we will focus on the steps for creating an application. We will dive into naming conventions that help custom applications stay professional, scalable, and conflict-free.
How to create an Application?
To create an application, ServiceNow offers different methods based on the user profile.
- App Engine Studio – For Citizen/ Low Code Developers.
- Guided App Creator – For Admins/ Standard Developers.
- ServiceNow Studio – For Coders/ Advanced Developers.
The above are the recommended methods for creating applications. If you are looking to develop scoped applications using the third method, ServiceNow Studio is ideal.
The major steps include:
Step 1: In the system application, click Studio. (or search studio in Filter navigator)
Step 2: Click the ” Create Application ” button.
Step 3: In the pop-up window, choose either “Start from scratch” or “Import from source”.
Step 4: Define the application details that establish the application identity.
(Tip: Importing from Source control lets you bypass the GAC wizard. Also, ServiceStudio is the modern and recommended way to create scope applications.)
Naming conventions for scopes
The naming prefix in ServiceNow IDE is the unique ID that determines deployment, uniqueness, and file location. There are three major prefixes used for different actions.
| Prefix | Scope | Admin Action | |
|---|---|---|---|
| x_(code)_ | Scoped | Used for standard custom applications. It is required when publishing to the app repository. | |
| u_ | Global | Used when creating custom tables or fields outside the scope. Not ideal for new systems. | |
| sn_ | ServiceNow | It denotes that the artifact belongs to an official scoped application developed by ServiceNow. |
While implementing the naming conventions, there are two things to remember:
- The app name should be short and descriptive. Not more than 40 characters.
- The code part is set by ServiceNow when the instance is provisioned. Admins can not control it.
The naming configurations guarantee that when internal teams install the application, it won’t clash.
Conclusion
As we end this topic, there are two things to remember. First, based on your user profile, you can choose to create applications in different ways. Second, naming standards should be used consistently to ensure scalability and ease of identification of file locations.
If you want to learn more about the different ways of creating applications, enroll now in ServiceNow Admin training with S2Labs.
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