Ensuring KB Articles Always Point to the Latest Version with a Fix Script

[ronro2]

Hello!

I had a problem in ServiceNow based on the custom table 'x_vgll_decom_decommission_task'. There is a field called link_to_knowledge of type HTML which contains a link to a KB article. I needed to change it so that it always links to the latest version.

I got help to create a script for the links in a flow editor action activity in ServiceNow. This is how the working script looks:

var knowledgeArticlesStr = fd_data.action_inputs.decommission_template.knowledge_article;
if(knowledgeArticlesStr){
  var knowledgeArticlesArr = knowledgeArticlesStr.split(',');
  var instance = gs.getProperty('glide.servlet.uri');
  var html = "";

  knowledgeArticlesArr.forEach(function(kbId){
    var kbGr = new GlideRecord('kb_knowledge');
    kbGr.get(kbId)
    if(kbGr.isValidRecord()){
      html += '' + kbGr.getValue('short_description') + '<br>';
    }
  });
  return html;
}
/*
**Access Flow/Action data using the fd_data object. Script must return a value. 
**Order number is offset by +1 in Error Handling Section.
**Available options display upon pressing "." after fd_data
**example: var shortDesc = fd_data.trigger.current.short_description;
**return shortDesc;
*/

Here is an example of how a working link (which always shows the latest version) should look: /kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0032662 

The flow script however, does not update the links for already created records. HTML links for already created activities (x_vgll_decom_decommission_task) hold the old link ending.

So field 'link_to_knowledge' in already created activities needs to be updated so it works like the flow script I showed above, so that they always point to the latest version of KB articles (links that also follow the article itself and not the article's version sys ID). This is how the html link-ending of old recods look: 

/kb_view.do?sys_kb_id=3ff586583db41e94f90a3403050af66f&preview_article=true

I tried this fix script to update all records, but it is not working:

(function() {
    var taskGR = new GlideRecord('x_vgll_decom_decommission_task');
    taskGR.addNotNullQuery('link_to_knowledge');
    taskGR.query();

    var updatedCount = 0;
    while (taskGR.next()) {
        var link = taskGR.getValue('link_to_knowledge');

        // Försök hitta sys_kb_id i länken
        var match = link.match(/sys_kb_id=([a-f0-9]{32})/);
        if (match && match[1]) {
            var oldSysId = match[1];

            // Hämta kb_knowledge-posten baserat på det sys_id
            var kbGR = new GlideRecord('kb_knowledge');
            if (kbGR.get(oldSysId)) {
                var articleNumber = kbGR.getValue('number');
                if (articleNumber) {
                    // Bygg ny länk med sysparm_article istället för sys_kb_id
                    var newLink = 'https://example-prod.example.se/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=' + articleNumber;

                    // Uppdatera fältet
                    taskGR.setValue('link_to_knowledge', newLink);
                    taskGR.update();
                    updatedCount++;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    gs.print('Fix script done. Updated records: ' + updatedCount);
})();

Keep in mind the fix script is in the Global scope, while the table and flow is in a custom application scope. And that the fix script should 'link_to_knowledge' where links exists and not where they are empty.

Thanks in advance! 

[J Siva]

Hi @ronro2 
You need to check few things.

Since, "link_to_knowledge " is a HTML filed, "=" in the URL will be stored as =
So, you need to update your regex pattern.

I've tried your scipt by changing few things & it worked. PFB

     var updatedCount = 0;
     var taskGR = new GlideRecord('x_vgll_decom_decommission_task');
     taskGR.addEncodedQuery('link_to_knowledgeISNOTEMPTY');
     taskGR.query();
     while (taskGR.next()) {
         var link = taskGR.getValue('link_to_knowledge');
         // Försök hitta sys_kb_id i länken
         var match = link.match(/sys_kb_id=([a-f0-9]{32})/);
         if (match && match[1]) {
             var oldSysId = match[1];

             var newLink = this.getKBNumber(oldSysId);

             // Uppdatera fältet
             taskGR.setValue('link_to_knowledge', newLink);
             taskGR.update();
             updatedCount++;
         }
     }


     gs.print('Fix script done. Updated records: ' + updatedCount);

     function getKBNumber(id) {
         gs.info("Inside function: " + id);
         // Hämta kb_knowledge-posten baserat på det sys_id
         var kbGR = new GlideRecord('kb_knowledge');
         if (kbGR.get(id)) {
             var articleNumber = kbGR.getValue('number');
             if (articleNumber) {
                 // Bygg ny länk med sysparm_article istället för sys_kb_id
                 var finalLink = 'https://plexus-prod.vgregion.se/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=;' + articleNumber;
                 return '<p><a href="' + finalLink + '" rel="nofollow">' + finalLink + '</a></p>';
             }
         }
     }

Try this and let me know.
Regards,
Siva

[ronro2]

Hey @J Siva I'm thankful and it's on the right path, but this is the outcome of your fix script for old records: 

It should instead look like this: 

[J Siva]

Ahh ok got that. I've modified the return statement to update the text as article short description. Try that.

var updatedCount = 0;
     var taskGR = new GlideRecord('x_vgll_decom_decommission_task');
     taskGR.addEncodedQuery('link_to_knowledgeISNOTEMPTY');
     taskGR.query();
     while (taskGR.next()) {
         var link = taskGR.getValue('link_to_knowledge');
         // Försök hitta sys_kb_id i länken
         var match = link.match(/sys_kb_id=([a-f0-9]{32})/);
         if (match && match[1]) {
             var oldSysId = match[1];

             var newLink = this.getKBNumber(oldSysId);

             // Uppdatera fältet
             taskGR.setValue('link_to_knowledge', newLink);
             taskGR.update();
             updatedCount++;
         }
     }


     gs.print('Fix script done. Updated records: ' + updatedCount);

     function getKBNumber(id) {
         gs.info("Inside function: " + id);
         // Hämta kb_knowledge-posten baserat på det sys_id
         var kbGR = new GlideRecord('kb_knowledge');
         if (kbGR.get(id)) {
             var articleNumber = kbGR.getValue('number');
             if (articleNumber) {
                 // Bygg ny länk med sysparm_article istället för sys_kb_id
                 var finalLink = 'https://plexus-prod.vgregion.se/kb_view.do?sysparm_article==' + articleNumber;
                 return '<p><a href="' + finalLink + '" rel="nofollow">' + kbGR.short_description+ '</a></p>';
             }
         }
     }

[ronro2]

@J Siva  😞