Inconsistent Line Break Behavior in System UI Messages (sys_ui_message) – Clarification Needed

[Mohamed_009]

We have observed inconsistent behavior with line breaks in System UI Messages (sys_ui_message) in ServiceNow.

• In one scenario, line breaks are not displayed unless <br> tags are explicitly added in the message text.
• In another scenario, line breaks are rendered correctly even without using <br> tags.

Due to this inconsistent behavior, it is unclear what the recommended or correct approach is when defining UI messages.

Could anyone help clarify:

1. What causes this difference in behavior?
2. Is using <br> tags the recommended best practice for multiline messages in ServiceNow?

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @Mohamed_009 

refer this KB: KB1005865 Unable to translate if the 'sys_ui_message' if the key has '\n' it from VA Designer. 

Can you try with this resolution:

Resolution

• The gs.getMessage call sends the text correctly.
• To get a new line to work in scriptable form, you need to add another escape character in the script.

For example :

• Suppose if the sys_ui_message has the key with 'hello \n world' the script portion to get a hit on this key needs to be 'gs.getMessage('hello \\n world');
• This will hit that desired 'sys_ui_message' and this is not designer behavior but the platform.
• The same behavior is expected when running in background scripts on the platform.

gs.getInfo(gs.getMessage('hello \\n world'))

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@Mohamed_009 

share screenshots where are these messages rendered and how you configured those