Here's how I would do it using GlideAjax:
Script Include:
var AcmeCatalogClientUtilsAjax = Class.create();
AcmeCatalogClientUtilsAjax.prototype = Object.extendsObject(global.AbstractAjaxProcessor, {
//keep the method generic enough so it could be used in multiple places
//the calling function can do specific things based on the results, such as if the user is a VIP or not
getUserManager: function() {
//initialize some variables
var id = this.getParameter("sysparm_id");
var response = {}; //result will be added to this object
response.userIsVip = ""; //set default values
response.managerId = "";
response.managerName = "";
//get the User record if we received a sys_id with the call
if (id) {
var user = new GlideRecord("sys_user");
//can we find the record?
if (user.get(id)) {
response.userIsVip = (user.getValue("vip") == "1"); //will return "true" or "false"
response.managerId = user.getValue("manager");
response.managerName = user.manager.getDisplayValue();
}
}
return JSON.stringify(response);
},
type: 'AcmeCatalogClientUtilsAjax'
});
And the Catalog Client Script:
function onChange(control, oldValue, newValue, isLoading) {
//ignore when we first load the form
if (isLoading) {
return;
}
//clear the user details if the User field is cleared
if (newValue == "") {
g_form.setValue("manager", "");
g_form.setValue("is_vip", "");
return;
}
//display the User's manager when an actual User record is selected
var ga = new GlideAjax("AcmeCatalogClientUtilsAjax");
ga.addParam("sysparm_name", "getUserManager");
ga.addParam("sysparm_id", newValue);
ga.getXMLAnswer(showUserManager);
// Callback function to process the response returned from the server
function showUserManager(response) {
var result = JSON.parse(response); //transform the JSON string to an object
g_form.setValue("is_vip", result.userIsVip);
g_form.setValue("manager", result.managerId, result.managerName);
}
}
