Here's my attempt. It's actually fairly simple and heavily based on Mark Stanger (Crossfuze)'s "Outlook-style Module Counts" ServiceNowGuru article - http://www.servicenowguru.com/system-ui/outlook-style-module-counts/. In fact, I used it to generate the Module part of the solution.
There are 3 parts to it:
1. UI Script:
Name: Custom - SMTP Server Problem Warning
Active: Checked
Global: Checked
Script:
if (window.name == "") addLoadEvent(u_smtpServerProblemWarning);
function u_smtpServerProblemWarning(message){
if (message != undefined) {
//add a warning about the SMTP server
var options = {}; //create a new object to store all of the message attributes
options.type = "error";
options.text = "<span style='font-weight:bold;color:red;'>" + message + "</span>";
options.sticky = true;
new NotificationMessage(options);
}
}
This will display the UI Notification message. I was going to make it a little more generic, maybe another day...
2. Script Include:
Name: u_RecordCount
Active: Checked
Client callable: Checked
Script:
var u_RecordCount = Class.create();
u_RecordCount.prototype = Object.extendsObject(AbstractAjaxProcessor, {
recordCount: function() {
//Perform a query based on the table and query passed in
var result = 0;
var count = new GlideAggregate(this.getParameter("sys_table"));
count.addAggregate("COUNT");
count.addEncodedQuery(this.getParameter("sys_query"));
count.query();
if (count.next()) {
result = count.getAggregate("COUNT");
}
return result;
}
});
This is used to return the number of records in a particular query, used by the Module below. It is based on the ModuleCount Script Include from Mark's article, but uses GlideAggregate instead.
3. Module:
Title: Email - SMTP Status
Order: 200
Application menu: System Properties
Link type: HTML (from Arguments)
Active: Checked
Arguments:
<img src='/images/send.gifx' oncontextmenu='return showModuleContext(event, "8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c")'/><span id='modCount8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c'></span>
<script>
refreshNumber8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c();
function refreshNumber8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c() {
//Set the module title and link
var mod8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c = gel('modCount8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c');
//Only construct the link if it does not exist yet
if(!gel('8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51clink')){
var menu_link = document.createElement('a');
menu_link.id = '8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51clink';
menu_link.innerHTML = "Email - SMTP Status";
menu_link.title = "";
menu_link.href = 'sys_properties_list.do?sysparm_userpref_module=8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c&sysparm_query=name=glide.smtp.status%5eEQ%5e&sysparm_view=';
menu_link.target = 'gsft_main';
menu_link.className ='menu';
menu_link.onclick = function() {refreshNumber8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c()};
mod8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c.appendChild(menu_link);
}
//Query for the count of records for the module
var count = new GlideAjax('u_RecordCount');
count.addParam('sysparm_name', 'recordCount');
count.addParam('sys_table', 'sys_properties');
count.addParam('sys_query', decodeURI('nameSTARTSWITHglide.smtp.status%5evalue=Cannot%20connect%5eEQ'));
count.getXML(u_displayModuleCount8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c);
}
function u_displayModuleCount8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c(response){
var answer = response.responseXML.documentElement.getAttribute('answer');
var menu_link = gel('8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51clink');
if(answer > 0){
menu_link.innerHTML = "<font color='Red'>Email - SMTP Status - Problem</font>";
top.u_smtpServerProblemWarning("Problem detected with the SMTP Server");
}
else {
menu_link.innerHTML = "<font color='Green'>Email - SMTP Status - OK</font>";
}
window.setTimeout('refreshNumber8867cceddc6e2100dc62facef0cff51c()', 900000);
}
</script>
The code for the module was generated by Mark's solution and then I modified it in a couple places for it to work independently.
The basic idea is the Module is HTML with some script included. The script calls the Script Include to see if there are any System Properties where the name is "glide.smtp.status" with a value of "Cannot connect". If there is, the function in the UI Script is called to display the message to the admins.
The UI Script is loaded for everyone, but it does not really do anything. It just makes the function available and is only called by the code in the Module. Nice thing about that is the Module can be protected by roles so it will only be loaded for users with the "admin" role. I had to load the function via the UI Script becuase the UI Notification would not work from within the Navigator.
The code in the module will run on initial login, whenever the Navigator is refreshed and every 15 minutes. You can change that on the window.setTimeout line of the module, right at the bottom (in milliseconds).
If the AJAX call returns a value > 0, the module title is changed and the message is displayed.
The only thing that I did not address is the "doesn't harass the admins" part. Clicking on the module will show the system property - I guess you could change the text slightly so the messages are not continuously triggered. That's what I've been doing while testing. I see you had something where you would check records to see if the admin acknowledged the message already. Problem with that is the records would have to be cleared for them to get notified in case of a future issue.
The idea is actually kinda neat, BUT the big problem is there would have to be at least 1 admin logged in to see the message. A better solution would be to use a Web Service to alert the admins independently of the app. Maybe fire off a text message or an email somehow using some external means.
Works fine in Dublin, seems to work OK in Eureka (but you might want to remove the image at the top of the HTML for the module if using UI14). Have not tested in other versions.
I've attached XML files for the 3 records.
