The Difference Report

Scope: This report can be used when the source and target servers are the same type (e.g. two ServiceNow instances).

The Difference Report (available from the Report menu in the Design View), can be used to compare the field definitions between tables on Source and Target servers.  By default, the target table is compared with the table with the same name (if it exists) on the Source server. The differences identified include:

- missing fields on either target or source server.

- different field lengths

- different field types

- different default values

- different min/max values (for integer fields)

- different mandatory / non mandatory property

- different allowed values for enum fields

The tables/forms can either be added to the report from the full server list (using the Add Target Forms button), OR added from the current project (using Add All from Project)

If you choose the Add All from Project button and one or more tables are mapped with different names between source and target, then the following dialogue appears:

Select the option that best meets your requirements, then click OK to continue.  Note, the default option in this case is to only report on differences between matching fields, not fields missing on source/target forms.

If instead you choose the Add Target Forms button, use the filter options at the top to restrict the list of forms by name prefix, type or whether they are mapped or not like this:

After selecting the required forms, or using the Add All from Project button, the report definition window is displayed like this:

Use the Global Report Options to select whether you want to compare fields by matching field name or by matching field ID.  (For ServiceNow instance comparison, only the Match Field By Name option is available).

By default the Field Difference Options are all applied.  These include fields that are on the source form but missing from the target, fields that are on the target form but missing from the source and fields where differences in field properties are identified between source and target.

To make changes to the Field Difference Options, select one or more forms from the list then use the Apply Report Option settings to modify each value as follows:

A dash (-) leaves that option unchanged

A tick sets the option on

A blank sets the option off.

Use the Apply to Selected button to apply the changes to the selected records.

To Save the current Report Definition, use the Save Definition button.

To Load a previously saved definition, use the Load Definition button.

To create a new definition from scratch, use the New Definition button (current definition will be overwritten).

Once you have finished selecting the options you want for your report, click on the Execute button to generate the report output.  The report output is displayed in a separate tab like this:

A separate row is displayed for every field where a difference is identified.  To Filter the results, use the Filter Results button.  The filtering options are displayed like this:

You can use the Difference Report Filter to filter the output by server (source or target), Difference Type (missing, Allowed Values etc), Location (form name and field) or Value (the value relating to the difference).

Additionally you can enter a text value for the Type, Location or Value to restrict the output to records that either contain, start with, are equal to, or are not equal to the text entered in each case.

To Save the results to a CSV file for future reference, use the Save Results button.  By default, the output is saved in the Reports/Difference Reports  folder under the current project.  The CSV output file includes the following information:

Server (Source or Target)

Difference Type (Missing Field, Allowed Values etc)

Location Description

Target Value

Source Value

Related Target Form

Related Source Form

Related Field

To load a previously saved Difference Report CSV file, use the Load Results button.

Viewing Difference Results in the current project mapping list

To view the difference results on the current project, select the View in Project checkbox in the report results window above.  Forms/Tables and Target Fields that are different to the corresponding Table/Form/Field on the Source server will be identified with the (!) icon in the Form Mapping and Field Mapping lists.  The (!) icon is shown on the left of the Form Mapping Lists like this:

Clicking on any of the (!) icons displays details of the differences for that form mapping like this:

The (!) icon is also shown on the Field Mapping List like this:

Clicking on the (!) icon displays more information on the difference identified for that field like this: