Count incidents grouped by state

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Sourdough: ServiceNow Monitoring and Analytics

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Instance:sourdoughdev·Version:Yokohama

Instance StateONLINE

System StatusFully Operational

Session Timeout90 minutes

Logged-In Sessions2 (20 active)

Build Nameyokohama-12-18-2024_p1

IP Address10.159.128.43

Instance HealthHealth Score: 90%

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Get a count of incidents grouped by each state value

Script Include

var IncidentCountByState = Class.create();
IncidentCountByState.prototype = {
    initialize: function() {},

    getCounts: function() {
        var stateLabels = {
            '1': 'New',
            '2': 'In Progress', 
            '3': 'On Hold',
            '6': 'Resolved',
            '7': 'Closed',
            '8': 'Canceled'
        };

        var aggregate = new GlideAggregate('incident');
        aggregate.addAggregate('COUNT', 'state');
        aggregate.groupBy('state');
        aggregate.query();

        var results = {};
        
        while (aggregate.next()) {
            var stateValue = aggregate.getValue('state');
            var count = parseInt(aggregate.getAggregate('COUNT', 'state'));
            
            // Use display value if available, fall back to raw value
            var displayValue = stateLabels[stateValue] || 'Unknown (' + stateValue + ')';
            results[displayValue] = count;
        }
        
        return results;
    },

    type: 'IncidentCountByState'
};

var counter = new IncidentCountByState();
var counts = counter.getCounts();
gs.info('Incident counts by state: ' + JSON.stringify(counts));

The critical gotcha with GlideAggregate on choice fields like state: you get the raw integer values (1, 2, 3) not the display labels (New, In Progress, On Hold). ServiceNow doesn't automatically resolve choice field labels in aggregate queries because it would require additional joins that kill performance. Most developers expect getValue('state') to return 'New' but get '1' instead, then spend an hour debugging why their results object has numeric keys.

When to use this

Building dashboard metrics or reporting data where you need counts by category
Creating SLA reports that group incidents by workflow state
Scheduled jobs that need to process summary data without loading individual records
Performance-critical operations where you can't afford to query individual records

When NOT to use this

Don't use this in client scripts — use GlideAjax to call a Script Include that runs this server-side
Don't use this when you need to access other fields from the records — use GlideRecord with proper queries instead
Don't use this inside loops over other GlideRecord results — you'll create N+1 query performance problems
Don't use this on extended tables without understanding inheritance — child table records may not appear in parent aggregates

Key behaviors and gotchas

State values are integers: 1=New, 2=In Progress, 3=On Hold, 6=Resolved, 7=Closed, 8=Canceled
Use getAggregate('COUNT', 'state') not getValue('COUNT') — the latter returns undefined
ACLs still apply — your count only includes records the current user can read
Results include all state values that exist in data, even if no longer in the choice list
Parse the count with parseInt() — getAggregate() returns strings
Domain separation affects results — you only see counts from domains you can access

⚠️

If you have custom state values or modified choice lists, your hardcoded state mapping will be wrong. Query the sys_choice table to build the mapping dynamically, or you'll get 'Unknown' labels for valid states.

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Alternative Approaches

Dynamic state label mapping

var IncidentCountByState = Class.create();
IncidentCountByState.prototype = {
    initialize: function() {},

    getCounts: function() {
        // Build state mapping from choice table
        var stateLabels = {};
        var choices = new GlideRecord('sys_choice');
        choices.addQuery('name', 'incident');
        choices.addQuery('element', 'state');
        choices.query();
        
        while (choices.next()) {
            stateLabels[choices.getValue('value')] = choices.getValue('label');
        }

        var aggregate = new GlideAggregate('incident');
        aggregate.addAggregate('COUNT', 'state');
        aggregate.groupBy('state');
        aggregate.query();

        var results = {};
        
        while (aggregate.next()) {
            var stateValue = aggregate.getValue('state');
            var count = parseInt(aggregate.getAggregate('COUNT', 'state'));
            var displayValue = stateLabels[stateValue] || 'Unknown (' + stateValue + ')';
            results[displayValue] = count;
        }
        
        return results;
    },

    type: 'IncidentCountByState'
};

Use this when you have custom state values or modified choice lists that don't match the standard incident states.

Trade-offs: Requires an additional query to sys_choice, but ensures accuracy with customized choice lists.

API Methods Used

GlideAggregate.addAggregate()GlideAggregate.groupBy()GlideAggregate.getAggregate()

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