How to create a copy of a table

Overview

Sometimes you want to create a copy of a table for a test case, or you might need to back up data from a rotated shard before it gets truncated.

Although you could create a backup of the table from the backend easily, you would not be able to access it from the instance, whether from a form or a list or from /sys.scripts.do. The application would not be aware that the new table exists because there would be no records in the application metadata tables (sys_db_object, sys_dictioary, sys_documentation, etc.).

This article describes how to create a copy of an existing table so that you can access the copied table from the UI or /sys.scripts.do.

Note: Note that the table will be empty and will not contain data. You have to copy data from the source table as a separate process.

Procedure

1. Go to /sys.scripts.do.

2. Copy the following code and customize it for your environment.

   The first argument is the source table, the table to be copied. The second argument is the new/target table. The third argument is Boolean: set it to false if you don't want to or need to create the indexes. (The creation time will be fast either way as the table will be empty.)

   cpTable('sys_upgrade_history_log', 'u_testcase', true);
    
   function cpTable(strOldTable, strNewTable, bCopyIndexes) {
       var tu = new TableUtils(strNewTable);
       var bNewTableAlreadyExists = tu.tableExists();
       if (bNewTableAlreadyExists) {
           gs.print("WARNING: Target Table " + strNewTable + " already exists!  Please choose a new target table name");
       } else {
           var gr = new GlideRecord(strOldTable);
           gr.initialize();
           var td = GlideTableDescriptor.get(strOldTable);
           var tdNewTable = new TableDescriptor(strNewTable, gr.getLabel());
           var dbo = new GlideRecord("sys_db_object");
           dbo.addEncodedQuery("super_classISNOTEMPTY^name=" + strOldTable);
           dbo.setLimit(1);
           dbo.query();
           if (dbo.next()) {
               tdNewTable.setExtends(dbo.super_class + '');
           }
           tdNewTable.setFields(gr);
           tdNewTable.copyAttributes(td);
           tdNewTable.setRoles(td);
           tdNewTable.create();
           if (bCopyIndexes) {
               tdNewTable.copyIndexes(strOldTable, strNewTable);
           }
       }
   }
   
   

3. Click Run Script.

   The code will create a new table in the instance called u_testcase. You can now access this table via /u_testcase_list.do and from GlideRecord('u_testcase');.

   The output might look like the following example.

   [0:00:01.621] Script completed in scope global: script
   Creating table: u_testcase
   TableCreate for: u_testcase
   DBTable.create() for: u_testcase
   Replication is not enabled on table: u_testcase, not queueing replication table create special db event
   *** Script: Begin ResourceSupport.buildTableResources(u_testcase, undefined)
   *** Script: End ResourceSupport.buildTableResources
   LicensingTableCreateListener: Initializing licensing attrs for table u_testcase
   Time: 0:00:00.615 id: tundra_1[glide.2] for: SELECT sys_storage_alias0.`table_name`, sys_storage_alias0.`element_name`, sys_storage_alias0.`storage_alias` FROM sys_storage_alias sys_storage_alias0  WHERE sys_storage_alias0.`storage_alias` != sys_storage_alias0.`element_name` /* tundra004, gs:329947A4DBAE4700671C51035E9619B8, tx:52c94328dbae4700671c51035e9619cb */ 
   Creating index(es): ALTER TABLE `u_testcase`ADD INDEX (`sys_source_table`) ,ADD INDEX (`update_set`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`) 
   Duplicate index, skipping: u_testcase([sys_source_table]) NONUNIQUE
   Duplicate index, skipping: u_testcase([update_set]) NONUNIQUE
   Redundant index check on u_testcase found redundant index upgrade_history (upgrade_history) NONUNIQUE; caused by new index (upgrade_history,file_name,sys_recorded_at) NONUNIQUE
   Redundant index check on u_testcase found 1 redundant indexes
   Creating index(es): ALTER TABLE `u_testcase`ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `file_name`, `sys_recorded_at`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `order`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `disposition`, `resolution_status`, `changed`, `order`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `resolution_status`, `disposition`, `type_priority`) ,ADD INDEX (`upgrade_history`, `disposition`, `changed`) ,ADD INDEX (`order`) 
   Dropping index(es): ALTER TABLE `u_testcase` DROP INDEX `upgrade_history` 

   If you run the same code again, an error occurs:

   [0:00:00.000] Script completed in scope global: script
   
   *** Script: WARNING: Target Table u_testcase already exists!  Please choose a new target table name