Check the approval status of a catalog…

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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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Query the approval state of a service catalog request from a Business Rule

Business Rule

(function executeRule(current, previous) {
    var requestSysId = current.sys_id;
    
    var approvalGR = new GlideRecord('sysapproval_approver');
    approvalGR.addQuery('document_id', requestSysId);
    approvalGR.addQuery('table', 'sc_request');
    approvalGR.query();
    
    var hasRejected = false;
    var hasPending = false;
    var approvalCount = 0;
    
    while (approvalGR.next()) {
        approvalCount++;
        var state = approvalGR.state.toString();
        
        if (state == 'rejected') {
            hasRejected = true;
            break; // Early exit on rejection
        } else if (state == 'requested') {
            hasPending = true;
        }
    }
    
    // Determine overall status
    if (approvalCount == 0) {
        gs.info('No approvals found for request: ' + requestSysId);
        return;
    }
    
    if (hasRejected) {
        current.approval = 'rejected';
        current.state = 4; // Cancelled
    } else if (hasPending) {
        current.approval = 'requested';
    } else {
        // All approvals are 'approved'
        current.approval = 'approved';
        current.state = 3; // Closed Complete
    }
    
    current.update();
})(current, previous);

ServiceNow stores catalog request approvals in sysapproval_approver records linked by document_id to the original request. The critical insight: you need to query ALL approval records for a request to determine overall status—a single approved record doesn't mean the request is approved if other approvals are still pending. Most developers make the mistake of checking only the first approval record or assuming state values are strings when they're actually stored as integers with display values.

When to use this pattern

In Business Rules on sc_request when approval state changes and you need to update request status
In Scheduled Jobs that process batches of requests awaiting approval decisions
When building approval dashboards or reports that need real-time status aggregation
In Fix Scripts cleaning up orphaned approvals or correcting approval states after data migration

When NOT to use this pattern

Don't use in Client Scripts—use GlideAjax to call a Script Include that performs this server-side query
Don't query individual approval status in tight loops—batch your requests and use IN queries with addQuery('document_id', 'IN', requestIds)
Don't use when you only need approval counts—use GlideAggregate with addAggregate('COUNT') grouped by state
Don't run this in Before Business Rules on sysapproval_approver—you'll create infinite recursion when updating the request

Key behaviors and gotchas

State field stores integers: requested is 'requested', approved is 'approved', rejected is 'rejected'—use toString() for string comparison
Always include table field in your query—document_id alone can return approvals for other record types with same sys_id
Approval records persist after request completion—don't assume empty results mean no approvals were required
ACLs on sysapproval_approver may filter results based on user context—run elevated if needed with gs.setProperty()
One rejection should immediately fail the entire approval process—use early break to avoid processing remaining records
Domain separation applies to approval records—queries may return partial results in multi-domain environments

⚠️

Never call current.update() inside a Business Rule without checking if you're already in an update operation. Use current.autoSysFields = false; to prevent infinite loops when updating the same record that triggered the rule.

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Alternative Approaches

GlideAggregate for approval counts

(function executeRule(current, previous) {
    var requestSysId = current.sys_id;
    
    var agg = new GlideAggregate('sysapproval_approver');
    agg.addQuery('document_id', requestSysId);
    agg.addQuery('table', 'sc_request');
    agg.groupBy('state');
    agg.addAggregate('COUNT');
    agg.query();
    
    var rejectedCount = 0;
    var requestedCount = 0;
    var approvedCount = 0;
    
    while (agg.next()) {
        var state = agg.state.toString();
        var count = parseInt(agg.getAggregate('COUNT'));
        
        if (state == 'rejected') rejectedCount = count;
        else if (state == 'requested') requestedCount = count;
        else if (state == 'approved') approvedCount = count;
    }
    
    // Same logic as main approach for determining overall status
})(current, previous);

Use when you only need counts per approval state, not individual approval details.

Trade-offs: Better performance for large approval sets, but requires additional queries if you need approver names or timestamps.

API Methods Used

GlideRecord.addQuery()GlideRecord.query()GlideRecord.next()GlideAggregate.addAggregate()

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Check the approval status of a catalog request