Course Prerequisites
Introduction to Mobile Apps:
Understand mobile apps and their features.
Complete "Mobile: Introduction."
Assumes general knowledge and terminology of mobile.
Applications from Previous Courses:
Use applications from "Mobile: Create an Application" and "Mobile: Create and Apply List Screens."
If not available, use provided update sets.
Utilize Your Instance:
Complete activities using "Go To Your Instance" in the course banner.
Testing Configurations:
Use Beth Anglin or Tyree Courrege for testing.
Log in as admin and impersonate Beth or Tyree.
Download Mobile Apps:
Download apps on the testing device from the app store or via mobile device management.
Utilize Update Sets:
Save configurations using update sets throughout the training.
Rebuild applets and configure settings if the instance is reclaimed.
Review and Bookmark:
Bookmark the Mobile Icons ServiceNow docs page.
Check icon availability to avoid question marks.
If missing applications or configured list screen, use provided update sets:
End-Users-Apps-Mobile-Application.xml (2.9 MB)
Work-Orders-Mobile-Application.xml (1.8 MB)
End-User-With-ListScreen.xml (3 MB)
Note: Screenshots may differ based on OS and app versions.
Next: Click "Why This Course" to learn about the goals for this lesson.
Before Beginning
Lesson 2 of 7
Working Offline:
Mobile Agent app supports offline access.
Users can continue work, make updates, and resolve tasks without data or WiFi.
Administrator Notes:
Configure system properties related to offline access.
Enable SG Offline Support plugin.
Configure offline mode behavior.
Next: Learn how to enable offline access in ServiceNow and within the mobile device.
Enabling Offline Access Within Mobile App Builder
Lesson 3 of 7
Enabling Offline Access in Screens and Launcher Screens:
Enable in screen settings during creation or afterward.
For screens with additional screens, enable for each.
Toggle "Available offline" to enable.
Ensure both the screen and assigned launcher screen are available offline.
Enable Action and Navigation functions in function properties.
Activity: Enable and test offline functionality.
Start by logging into the Mobile Agent app and navigate to the End User Apps Mobile launcher screen. Tap around. Then enable offline mode by tapping "Download Cache" in the Offline menu item in Settings and toggle on Offline Mode.
Enable offline access for:
End User Apps Mobile launcher screen
Incidents list screen
Incidents list screen's Details screen
Edit function
Test again. Log out and back in to test updates.
Lab-EnableOffline.pdf (76.3 KB)
Turning On Offline Mode
Lesson 4 of 7
After configuring offline mode within Mobile App Builder, it can be enabled from within the mobile app.
It is suggested to always test the configuration of offline screens to ensure that the appropriate items are accessible offline, including all dependencies. For instance, if a screen uses functions or has related lists, it is important to check that all necessary functions and related lists are also accessible offline.
Go Offline
Log in to Mobile Agent.
Go to Settings.
Tap Offline.
Tap Download Cache to download the data needed for the offline applets.
Toggle on Offline Mode.
Once in offline mode, a banner appears at the top of the screen indicating the app is offline. Only the screens, launcher screens, and functions that were enabled for offline access will be accessible. All others will be greyed out.
Going Offline
Going Offline
After going offline, confirm that the launcher screens, screens, including segments, and functions that are expected to be available offline are available offline.
Make some edits to confirm the changes are being saved and applied after going back online.
Notes on Data and Changes
Keep in mind the following notes when using offline mode.
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Accessing data offline requires both configuration within the instance, and preemptively downloading data and selecting to go offline within the app.
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If scheduled offline caching is enabled for the instance, a work schedule is assigned for the user, and Enable is toggled on under Background Downloading, the data will be automatically downloaded at the start of the agent's scheduled work day. It can be updated prior to going offline tapping Update Cache.
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Make sure the data is downloaded or the cache updated prior to losing service as the app will be unable to complete the task if there is not service. Downloading the data too early may mean the data is out-of-date when offline.
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Keep in mind that changes made within ServiceNow after the data is downloaded will not be part of the downloaded cache unless the cache is updated before going offline.
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Cached changes expire in 48 hours, so be sure to complete changes and go back online within that timeframe. This timeframe can be adjusted by an administrator in system properties.
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If a cache expires or fails to sync, those changes will not be committed to the records.
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If a conflicting change is made to the record while offline and in an online environment (e.g., a change is made on a mobile device that is offline and within the record in the Now Platform), the change made in the online environment (e.g., the Now Platform) will be retained, and the conflicting change while offline will be discarded.
Going Back Online
Once back in an area with WiFi or mobile data, the app can go back online, which will initiate updating any records that were changed while offline.
Changes made while offline will be notated with an offline icon.
Offline Indicator for Added Content
Offline Indicator for Added Content
To go online:
From within Mobile Agent, go to Settings.
Go to Offline.
Review the changes that will be applied to the records under Outbox.
Toggle the Offline Mode switch.
Review changes were applied.
Going Online
Going Online
Activity
Test the process of going offline, making changes, and going back online using the screens and functions that were configured for offline in the last section.
Lesson 5 - Scheduled Offline Caching
Scheduled Offline Caching
Lesson 5 of 7
Scheduled offline caching is useful in ensuring that the available data is downloaded onto the device prior to the device going offline.
Work Schedule
For the scheduled offline cache to execute, the logged in user needs to have a work schedule assigned within the ServiceNow instance. The Agent Schedule plugin is required to configure work schedules.
The work schedules are configured with Agent Schedule > Work Schedule.
The plugin comes preconfigured with defined schedules, which can then be applied to a user using the New button. Only users with an assigned schedule can utilize the scheduled offline cache. Learn more about assigning a work schedule to a user on the Create a work schedule for an agent or technician ServiceNow docs page.
Keep in mind that additional schedules can be configured as needed. For details on configuring Schedules, see the Create a schedule to use with the agent calendar ServiceNow docs page.
Agent Work Schedules
Agent Work Schedules
System Properties
In addition to the users having a work schedule assigned, the scheduled offline caching needs to be enabled on the instance. This is accomplished using the glide.sg.offline.scheduled_download.enabled system property (sys_properties.list).
To enable incremental cache downloads, glide.sg.offline.incremental.enabled also needs to be enabled in the System Properties. This refreshes the cache at incremental time periods. The default settings are for the cache to update within 1 minute of changes made to relevant records, and no more than 3 times per hour.
There are additional properties that can be configured for a customized experience. See the Scheduled offline caching ServiceNow docs page for details.
Enable Scheduled
Enable Scheduled
Enable Background Downloading
In order for the scheduled jobs to execute at the start of the user's work day, Background Downloading needs to be enabled within the Mobile Agent app.
Navigate to Offline within the app, and toggle on Enable under Background Downloading. The scheduled jobs will automatically execute.
If the data should only be downloaded when the device is on WiFi, also enable the WiFi only toggle. Otherwise the data will be downloaded on both WiFi and mobile data.
Scheduled Jobs
Once the work schedules are configured, system property enabled, and background downloading enabled, the scheduled jobs can run. The jobs run at the start of the user's work day per their schedule.
Two jobs run:
Populate Agents Daily Schedule Table - This job runs once daily for all users with background downloading set to true.
Scheduled Download of Offline Payload - This job creates an event for the first payload of the day in the [mobile_offline_payload_gen_queue] table.
Essentially, at the start of the agent's work day, the job runs, and the data is downloaded to the logged in device.
If the incremental downloads are enabled, this is then updated as needed.
If updates do not appear to be happening as expected, navigate to sys_sg_incremental_result.list in the Now Platform to confirm that there are updated records that should be triggering the updated downloaded.
Lesson 6 - Knowledge Check questions
Success!
Lesson 7 of 7
Great job!
You have completed the training and are ready to use offline access in Mobile Agent.
Learn more about mobile development by:
Continuing with other trainings in the Mobile Development Essentials on demand series
Reviewing the ServiceNow Product Documentation site
You may now exit the course module.