This is once again stressing the fact how IMPORTANT concepts are.
Look at the statement inside the while loop, looks ok?
We are printing the incident number, hence 'gr.number' right?
Yes, 'grInc' here is a GlideRecord object.
BUT... Wait!
When you do the dot-walk, we easily tend to forget OR overlook the fact that we have still not accessed the value, we still are ONE STEP AWAY.
gr.getValue('number');
BUT WHY? The number field holds the record number in it.
YES, but we did not query the value of it, rather we queried it's placeholder - the 'GlideElement' object.
GlideRecord --> GlideElement --> <Element_value>
that tiny fact we conveniently ignored?
Hence, .getValue(), makes a perfect sense, as well!
Now, why do we tend to confuse?
var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
gr.query();
gr.next();
gs.info(gr.number); // This logs: the incident number.
But try doing the
gs.print(typeof gr.number);
It logs the output 'object' - the GlideElement object.
The answer is auto type casting i.e. automatically invokes the .toString() method implicitly, which makes us believe that gr.number is a string value. No, it is not.
💡- Safe bet - Use .getValue() (Best Practice) - WHY?
-
It’s explicit, readable, and guaranteed to return a string
-
When comparing, pushing to arrays, or sending in REST calls, you avoid ambiguity
-
Some complex field types (like references or choices) may behave inconsistently without getValue()
| When | Use |
|---|---|
| Always want the raw value | gr.getValue('field') |
| Comparing or using in logic | gr.getValue() |
| Displaying to logs/UI | gr.getDisplayValue() |
| You know it’s okay | gr.field.toString() |
Regards,
Anish
