Copy attachments from one record to another

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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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Duplicate all attachments from a source record to a target record

Script Include

var AttachmentUtils = Class.create();
AttachmentUtils.prototype = {
    initialize: function() {},
    
    copyAttachments: function(sourceTable, sourceId, targetTable, targetId) {
        if (!sourceTable || !sourceId || !targetTable || !targetId)
            return false;
            
        var sourceAttachments = new GlideRecord('sys_attachment');
        sourceAttachments.addQuery('table_name', sourceTable);
        sourceAttachments.addQuery('table_sys_id', sourceId);
        sourceAttachments.query();
        
        var copiedCount = 0;
        var gsa = new GlideSysAttachment();
        
        while (sourceAttachments.next()) {
            try {
                var newSysId = gsa.copy(targetTable, targetId, sourceAttachments.getValue('sys_id'));
                if (newSysId) {
                    copiedCount++;
                } else {
                    gs.warn('Failed to copy attachment: ' + sourceAttachments.getValue('file_name'));
                }
            } catch (e) {
                gs.error('Error copying attachment ' + sourceAttachments.getValue('file_name') + ': ' + e.message);
            }
        }
        
        gs.info('Copied ' + copiedCount + ' attachments from ' + sourceTable + '/' + sourceId + ' to ' + targetTable + '/' + targetId);
        return copiedCount > 0;
    },
    
    type: 'AttachmentUtils'
};

The critical insight is that GlideSysAttachment.copy() creates a completely independent duplicate — both the attachment record and the underlying file data. Developers who try to manually duplicate by creating new sys_attachment records miss that the binary data lives separately in the platform's file store. This approach queries source attachments and processes them one at a time because you need each source sys_id for the copy operation.

When to use this

Business Rules that need to duplicate attachments when records are cloned or related
Scheduled Jobs that archive or migrate records with their attachments intact
Fix Scripts that need to bulk copy attachments between existing records
Template or parent-child workflows where child records inherit attachments

When NOT to use this

Don't use this in Client Scripts — attachments are server-side resources only accessible via GlideAjax
Don't use this for large attachment sets without considering storage quotas — each copy consumes additional disk space
Don't use this when you only need to reference attachments — use relationship fields instead of duplicating data

Key behaviors and gotchas

GlideSysAttachment.copy() returns the new attachment's sys_id on success, empty string on failure
The copy operation preserves original filename, content type, and file size but generates new sys_id and timestamps
Source attachments remain fully intact and readable — this is duplication, not a move operation
ACL enforcement applies to both source (read access) and target (write access) operations
Large files or high-volume operations can hit transaction timeouts — consider breaking into smaller batches

⚠️

The copy operation can silently fail if the target record doesn't exist or if you lack write access to the target table. Always check the return value and log failures — GlideSysAttachment won't throw exceptions for permission or missing record issues.

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Alternative Approaches

Direct GlideRecord approach

function copyAttachmentsSimple(sourceTable, sourceId, targetTable, targetId) {
    var attachment = new GlideRecord('sys_attachment');
    attachment.addQuery('table_name', sourceTable);
    attachment.addQuery('table_sys_id', sourceId);
    attachment.query();
    
    var gsa = new GlideSysAttachment();
    while (attachment.next()) {
        gsa.copy(targetTable, targetId, attachment.getValue('sys_id'));
    }
}

Use this for simple one-off operations where you don't need return values or error handling.

Trade-offs: No error handling or logging means failures happen silently — harder to debug in production.

API Methods Used

GlideRecord.addQuery()GlideRecord.query()GlideRecord.next()

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