AbstractAjaxProcessor - The newItem() method

[Anish Reghu]

Take a look at this OOTB code:

var AgileAjaxProcessor = Class.create();
AgileAjaxProcessor.prototype = Object.extendsObject(AbstractAjaxProcessor, {
	updateStoryDefect: function() {
		var result = this.newItem("result");
		var storySysId = this.getParameter('sysparm_story_sys_id');
		var defectSysId = this.getParameter('sysparm_defect_sys_id');
		var gr;
		
		try {
			if (!storySysId)
				throw new Error('sysparm_story_sys_id is missing');
			
			if (!defectSysId)
				throw new Error('sysparm_defect_sys_id is missing');
			
			gr = new GlideRecordSecure('rm_story');
			
			if (gr.get(storySysId)) {
				gr.defect = defectSysId;
				if (gr.update()) {
					result.setAttribute('status', 'success');
					result.setAttribute('message', 'story.defect has been updated successfully');
				} else {
					throw new Error('unable to update story ' + storySysId);
				}
			} else
				throw new Error('story record ' + storySysId + ' does not exist');
		} catch (err) {
			result.setAttribute('status', 'failed');
			result.setAttribute('message', err.message);
		}
	},
	
	type: 'AgileAjaxProcessor'
});

A simple script include that accepts a valid Story sys_id, fetches the record and assigns a valid defect record in the Defect reference field.

But where is the return statement?

The script include doesn't return a value!

THE KEY lies in this line of code:

var result = this.newItem("result");

When the client does:

var ga = new GlideAjax('AgileAjaxProcessor');
ga.addParam('sysparm_name', 'updateStoryDefect');
...
ga.getXML(function(response) {
    var result = response.responseXML.documentElement;
    var status = result.getAttribute("status");
    var msg = result.getAttribute("message");
});

The responseXML is automatically populated from the items you created on the server using:




this.newItem("result").setAttribute("...");

This is the designed behavior of AbstractAjaxProcessor, and you don’t need to manually return anything unless you’re using getAnswer()/getXMLAnswer().

When You Do Need a Return Statement

• If you're using getXMLAnswer(), you must explicitly return inside the server method, which becomes the "answer".           

// return <string>

return "Success!";

To summarize:

If you're building a full XML tree using this.NewItem(), No 'return' is needed — the framework handles it. Think of this.NewItem(), as writing into a reply envelope that ServiceNow automatically seals and sends to the client for you.

Regards,

Anish Reghu
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