The spUtil API provides utility methods to perform common functions in a Service Portal widget client script.

These functions include:

For additional information on widgets, see Service Portal widgets.

spUtil - addErrorMessage(String message)

Displays a notification error message.

Table 1. Parameters
Name Type Description
message String Error message to display.
Table 2. Returns
Type Description
void

Example

spUtil.addErrorMessage("There has been an error processing your request")

spUtil - addInfoMessage(String message)

Displays a notification info message.

Table 3. Parameters
Name Type Description
message String Message to display.
Table 4. Returns
Type Description
void

Example

spUtil.addInfoMessage("Your order has been placed")

spUtil - addTrivialMessage(String message)

Displays a trivial notification message.

Trivial messages disappear after a short period of time.

Table 5. Parameters
Name Type Description
message String Message to display.
Table 6. Returns
Type Description
void

Example

spUtil.addTrivialMessage("Thanks for your order")

spUtil - createUid()

Create a unique identifier.

Table 7. Parameters
Name Type Description
None
Table 8. Returns
Type Description
String A unique 32 character ID.

spUtil - get(String widgetId Object data)

Embeds a widget model in a widget client script.

The callback function returns the full widget model. For additional information on widgets, see Service Portal widgets.

Table 9. Parameters
Name Type Description
widgetId String Widget ID or sys_id of the widget to embed.
data Object Optional. Name/value pairs of parameters to pass to the widget model.
Table 10. Returns
Type Description
Object Model of the embedded widget.

Example

Without data passed.

spUtil.get("widget-cool-clock").then(function(response) {
  c.coolClock = response;
});

Example

With data passed.

spUtil.get('pps-list-modal', {title: c.data.editAllocations, 
  table: 'resource_allocation', 
  queryString: 'GROUPBYuser^resource_plan=' + c.data.sysId, 
  view: 'resource_portal_allocations' }).then(function(response) {
    var formModal = response;
    c.allocationListModal = response;
  });

spUtil - getHeaders()

Retrieves all headers to use for API calls.

Table 11. Parameters
Name Type Description
None
Table 12. Returns
Type Description
Object All headers to use for API calls.

spUtil - getHost()

Returns the complete host domain.

Table 13. Parameters
Name Type Description
None
Table 14. Returns
Type Description
String The complete host domain, for example hi.servicenow.com

spUtil - getPreference(String preference, Function callback)

Executes the callback with User Preference response by passing the preference name.

Table 15. Parameters
Name Type Description
preference String Name of the preference.
callback Function Define the callback function.
Table 16. Returns
Type Description
void

spUtil - getURL()

Returns the current service portal URL information.

Table 17. Parameters
Name Type Description
None
Table 18. Returns
Type Description
String Current service portal URL.

spUtil - format(String template, Object data)

Formats a string that contains variables.

Use this method as an alternative to string concatenation.

Table 19. Parameters
Name Type Description
template String String template that contains values for variable substitution.
data Object Object containing the values for the variables defined in the template string.
Table 20. Returns
Type Description
String String containing the variable values instead of the variable nomenclature.

Example

spUtil.format('An error ocurred: {error} when loading {widget}', {error: '404', widget: 'sp-widget'})

Output:

'An error occurred: 404 when loading sp-widget'

spUtil - isMobile()

Checks if the current client is a mobile device.

Table 21. Parameters
Name Type Description
None
Table 22. Returns
Type Description
Boolean Flag that indicates whether the current client is a mobile device.
Valid values:
  • true: Current client is a mobile device.
  • false: Current client is not a mobile device.

spUtil - parseAttributes(String attributes)

Parses the comma-separated attributes within a specified string.

Table 23. Parameters
Name Type Description
attributes String String containing comma separated attributes, such as the Attributes field of a dictionary record.
Table 24. Returns
Type Description
Array Array of objects containing the parsed attributes.

Example

function getRefQualElements() {
  var refQualElements = [];
  if (field && field.attributes && field.attributes.indexOf('ref_qual_elements') > -1) {
    var attributes = spUtil.parseAttributes(field.attributes);
    refQualElements = attributes['ref_qual_elements'].split(';');
  }
  return refQualElements;
}

spUtil - recordWatch(Object $scope, String table, String filter, Function callback)

Watches for updates to a table or filter and returns the value from the callback function.

Allows a widget developer to respond to table updates in real-time. For instance, by using recordWatch(), the Simple List widget can listen for changes to its data table. If records are added, removed, or updated, the widget updates automatically.

Note: When passing the $scope argument into the recordWatch() function, inject $scope into the parameters of your client script function.
Table 25. Parameters
NameTypeDescription
$scope Object Scope of the data object updated by the callback function.
table String Watched table.
filter String Filter for fields to watch.
callback Function Optional. Parameter to define the callback function.
Table 26. Returns
Type Description
Promise Return value of the callback function.

Example

//A simple recordWatch function.
spUtil.recordWatch($scope, "live_profile", "sys_id=" + liveProfileId);

//In a widget client script
function(spUtil, $scope) {
  /* widget controller */
  var c =this;

  // Registers a listener on the incident table with the filter active=true, 
  // meaning that whenever something changes on that table with that filter, 
  // the callback function is executed.    
  // The callback function takes a single parameter 'response', which contains 
  // the property 'data'. The 'data' property contains information about the changed record. 
  spUtil.recordWatch($scope, "incident", "active=true", function(response) {
        
    // Returns the data inserted or updated on the table 
    console.log(response.data);   
    
    });
}

spUtil - refresh(Object $scope)

Calls the server and replaces the current options and data with the server response.

Calling spUtil.refresh() is similar to calling server.refresh(). However, when you call spUtil.refresh(), you can define the $scope object.

Table 27. Parameters
Name Type Description
$scope Object Scope defined for the update.
Table 28. Returns
Type Description
Object Updated options and data objects.

spUtil - scrollTo(String selector, Number time)

Scrolls to the element with the specified selector, over a specified period of time.

Table 29. Parameters
Name Type Description
selector String Selector to scroll to.
time Number Time taken to scroll to the specified selector.

Unit: Milliseconds
Table 30. Returns
Type Description
void

spUtil - setBreadCrumb(Object $scope, Array breadcrumbs)

Updates the header breadcrumbs.

Table 31. Parameters
Name Type Description
$scope Object Scope defined for the table.
breadcrumbs Array Conditions used to create the breadcrumb filter.
Table 32. Returns
Type Description
void

spUtil - setPreference(String pref, String value)

Sets a user preference.

Table 33. Parameters
Name Type Description
pref String Preference name
value String Preference value
Table 34. Returns
Type Description
void

spUtil - setSearchPage(String searchPage)

Updates the search page.

Table 35. Parameters
Name Type Description
searchPage String Name of the search page.
Table 36. Returns
Type Description
void

spUtil - update(Object $scope)

Updates the data object on the server within a given scope.

This method is similar to server.update(), but includes a $scope parameter that defines the scope to pass over.

Table 37. Parameters
Name Type Description
$scope Object Scope defined for the update.
Table 38. Returns
Type Description
Object Updated data object.

Example

The following example includes a P1 widget that watches for changes to the state field and uses a filter to watch all active P1s and let the callback function determine whether to refresh the data. The data.changes property contains an array of any updated fields. If the state of any fields have changed, the data is updated in the widget.

var q = "priority=1^active=true^EQ";
spUtil.recordWatch($scope, "incident", q, function(event, data) {
   if (data.changes.includes("state")) { // only update if state was updated.
      spUtil.update($scope);
   }
});