Get all attachments for a record

The sys_attachment table deliberately has no foreign key constraints to any specific table — it's a generic attachment store. This means you must filter on both table_name and table_sys_id together. Filter on just table_sys_id alone and you'll get attachments from every table that happens to have a record with that same sys_id — a guaranteed data leak that's impossible to spot in testing but will surface in production.

When to use this

• When you need attachment metadata (filename, size, creation date) for display in lists or reports
• When validating attachment count limits or total size restrictions in Business Rules
• When building custom attachment management workflows that need to process multiple files
• When auditing or cleanup scripts need to identify orphaned or oversized attachments

When NOT to use this

• Don't use this in client scripts — use GlideAjax to call a Script Include instead
• Don't use this when you only need an attachment count — use GlideAggregate with addAggregate('COUNT')
• Don't use this inside loops over other GlideRecords — you'll create N+1 query performance problems
• Don't use this for downloading attachment content — use GlideSysAttachment.get() instead

Key behaviors and gotchas

• The table_name field stores the exact table name, not the label — use 'incident' not 'Incident'
• Both size_bytes and size_compressed are stored as strings — convert to integers for math operations
• ACLs on sys_attachment are separate from the parent record — a user might see attachment metadata but not be able to download files
• Deleted records leave orphaned attachments — the table_sys_id will point to a non-existent record
• Extended table attachments store the base table name — incident attachments on u_custom_incident still show table_name='incident'
• Domain separation applies — attachments in other domains won't appear unless you have cross-domain read access