Develop > Tailoring Best Practices > What is tailoring?

What is tailoring?

Tailoring is any change to the out-of-box system data. Tailoring never changes the actual Service Manager code or program. Service Manager allows you to change almost any record value. The following are examples of tailoring changes you can make by changing the underlying record values.

  • Change the look and operation of forms by changing the form definition in the format table.
  • Change how fields are mapped in the back-end database by changing the value of the field mapping in the data dictionary.
  • Change the workflow of a particular change by changing the values of the underlying phase and task records.
  • Change what records a favorite or view displays by changing the value of the underlying query.

Tip Since tailoring involves changing record values, you should create a back-up of your system data before tailoring your system. Having a backup available gives you the option to revert to a working system should your tailoring changes cause a system outage.

Related concepts

Assumptions
Mapping rights
Array mapping options
Valid data type changes
When are RDBMS mappings added or updated?