Faster API than GlideRecord? — SNow Underground

What if I told you there was an even more optimized way too get data from a ServiceNow table on the server side besides GlideRecord?

This idea stemmed from my research on how the Table REST API allows you to just select certain fields from the table, and that optimizing your query significantly.

There is a similar trick using GlideAggregate, and just adding each field individually, like you would for counting. Props to Tony DiRienzo for posting this on the Community.

var ga = new GlideAggregate('sys_user');
ga.groupBy('user_name');
ga.groupBy('sys_id'); // This makes sure we get all records, even if there are duplicates
ga.query();

while (ga.next()) {
  // Do what you need to with the user_name field
  var userName = ga.getValue('user_name');
}

In many cases this type of query runs up to 5 times faster, and works better for fewer variables. To expand it, all you need to do is add another groupBy() for each field you need included.

Only caveat here is that you lose the performance gain if you dot-walk in the results.

This is just another great tool to add to a developers toolkit to build ServiceNow applications.