Unable to view PDF attached with ServiceNow table records

Question

I am able to successfully attach PDF file with ServiceNow table record using GlideSysAttachment API and attachment.write() function in script, however whenever I download and try to open same, I get the error shown in below screenshot.

Code snippet

(function execute() {
    try{
          var rec = new GlideRecord('incident');
          var attachment = new GlideSysAttachment();
          var incidentSysID = incident.number;
          rec.get(incidentSysID);
          var fileName = 'Test_Incident.pdf';
          var contentType = 'application/pdf'; // Also tried with contentType as 'text/pdf'
          var content = pdf_content;
          var agr = attachment.write(rec, fileName, contentType, content);<br>
          gs.info('The PDF attachment sys_id is: ' + agr);
    }catch(err){
         gs.log('Got Error: ' + err);
         gs.info(err);
    }
})()

I also tried "AttachmentCreator" with ecc_queue within script but same error occurs. Below is code for it.

(function execute()
    {var attCreator = new GlideRecord('ecc_queue');
    attCreator.agent = "AttachmentCreator";
    attCreator.topic = "AttachmentCreator";
    attCreator.name = "Test.pdf" + ":" + "text/pdf"; 
    //Also tried, "Test.pdf:application/pdf"
    attCreator.source = "incident"+":"+ incident.number; 
    // Record Table name and sys_id of the particular record
    var content = pdf_content; // pdf_content is any string variable
    var stringUtil = new GlideStringUtil();
    var base64String = stringUtil.base64Encode(content);
    var isValid=GlideStringUtil.isBase64(base64String);  
    var base64String= gs.base64Encode(content);
    gs.info("Is valid base64 format in ecc_queue ? "+ isValid);
    attCreator.payload = base64String; //base64 content of the file
    attCreator.insert();
})()

I am able to attach and view excel and word files with similar scripts without any issues. I have checked system properties for attachments but everything looks fine. I am able to view the PDF file uploaded from UI to particular table records however not the one I attach via REST API or scripts.

I have also tried sending encoded data as bytes, base64 or simple string but nothing seems to work. I don't get any errors and attachment id is returned each time on creation of attachment.

After modifying my code slightly for above functions w.r.t scoped application instead of global; I got some information from logs when I debug:

• 05:38:38.411 Security restricted: File type is not allowed or does not match the content for file Test.pdf
• 05:38:38.410 Security restricted: MIME type mismatch for file: Test.pdf. Expected type:application/pdf, Actual type: text/plain
• 05:38:38.394 App:XYZ App x_272539_xyz_ap: Is valid base64 format in ecc_queue ? true

Answer 1

First a comment: This line in your code is accidentally working -- make sure you understand that a task number is not the object sys_id

var incidentSysID = incident.number; // should be incident.sys_id

Next, it's unclear where the PDF content is coming from. IF your complete code is listed, I would expect the errors given as you have noted that pdf_content is "any string variable."

ServiceNow does have a the capability to create a PDF from an HTML argument. Generating a PDF from HTML

Here's a helpful blog post for getting a PDF (Platform generated) of an existing record: Love PDF? PDF loves you too