question Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side in ITSM forum

Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

Mike McCall — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 21:58:53 GMT

I was recently inspired by Chuck Tomasi's post on gs.getMessage() - The Second Parameter, but when I tried to add a second parameter to the client-side getMessage() function, it didn't seem to work.

Does anyone know if the client-side getMessage() function does not accept a second parameter like the server-side gs.getMessage() does?

(If it matters, we're currently on Eureka Patch 7.)

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

sergiu_panaite — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 09:50:11 GMT

Hello Michael,

getMessage(String) on client side uses only one parameter vs gs.getMessage(String, Object) that can use a second parameter.

Regards,

Sergiu

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

kiley — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 20:05:45 GMT

Sergiu could you please explain how you came to that conclusion? I am also curious by Michael's question and the reasoning behind why that is the case.

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

sergiu_panaite — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 07:36:23 GMT

Hi Kiley,

I checked the source code to understand how the function works.

I hope this answers your question.

Regards,

Sergiu

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

Mike McCall — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 21:26:55 GMT

Ah ha, straight from the source! Thanks, Sergiu!

Kiley's second question is a good one, too: is there a particular reason (or reasons) behind limiting the client-side function in this way?

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

sergiu_panaite — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 06:47:00 GMT

Hi Michael,

To be honest, I don't know the exact reason behind limiting the client-side function in this way. But, if I think how ServiceNow platform works, everything is a record in a database, so as soon as you need that object from the database you need to do a server-side call, for which we know the solution: gs.getMessage(String, Object). On the other hand, what would be the advantage of multiple arguments to client-side function without doing a server-call? Can't think of many, at least not for this type of function.

Regards,

Sergiu

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

Mike McCall — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 16:21:17 GMT

I was imagining a reusable message for date range fields. In my Messages, I'd have a record with a Key value of 'Date range - before' and Message value of "{0} must be before {1}."

Then, in my Client Scripts, I could do something like this:

var msgArray = [];


msgArray.push(g_form.getLabelOf('start_date'));


msgArray.push(g_form.getLabelOf('end_date'));




alert(getMessage('Date range - before', msgArray)); //...except the second parameter isn't accepted

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

Jim Coyne — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 04:50:12 GMT

I agree. There could be numerous use cases for the same functionality client-side.

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

gk13 — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 13:01:34 GMT

Even this is a quite old post: While playing around I stumbled across the GwtMessage() function. With that function I was able to retrieve my localized message and also replacing the parameters:

Message Key = {0} must be after {1}

Message = {0} must be after {1}

Call in Client Script:

g_form.showFieldMsg('end_date', new GwtMessage().getMessage("{0} must be after {1}", g_form.getLabelOf("end_date"), g_form.getLabelOf("start_date")),'error');

According to this the function seems not to be documented and should not be used. But even in Madrid it's still used in a couple of ootb code.

HTH

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

Community Alums — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 13:57:03 GMT

Hi All,

There is a way to pass variables to placeholders in the message within getMessage.

Use the withValues function on object returned by getMessage.

Please check the below code.

// Client script example:

function onLoad() {

// get preloaded message

var myMsg = getMessage("Logout"); // Logout

// get preloaded messsage and format

var myMsg = getMessage("The {0} says {1}!");

myMsg = myMsg.withValues(['cow', 'moo']); // The cow says moo!

// get message async

getMessage("Hello World", function(msg) { g_form.addInfoMessage(msg); } ); // Hello World

// get message async and format

getMessage("Good Morning, {0}!", function(msg) { g_form.addInfoMessage(msg.withValues([g_user.getFullName()])); } ); // Good Morning, Fred Luddy!

}

Regards,

Suraj

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

Mike McCall — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 14:33:58 GMT

Ooh, interesting! I'll have to try this out (and swap it in for "Correct Answer" if it works).

Out of curiosity, were you referencing any available documentation to discover this, or did you have to do your own sleuthing/trial-and-error?

The updated server-side documentation is here: legacy GlideSystem on Paris
I believe this is the [official] updated client-side documentation: i18NV3 on Paris

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

Community Alums — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 15:42:15 GMT

Got this from servicenow internal team. I don't know why service now don't update the documentation.

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

eden_shavit — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 12:06:17 GMT

Hi, I have encountered a problem using the withValues function, I get the following error: "getMessage(...).withValues is not a function".
Do you know what can be the reason for this error?

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

karthik ande — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 09:35:40 GMT

getMessage(string) has only one parameter. But there is a way to pass parameters to the string.
For example:
getMessage("Creating new version number {0} and updating in {1}").withValues([variable1, variable2]);
withValues function can be called on getMessage to pass the parameters.

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

Jim Coyne — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 12:21:56 GMT

What is this "withValues" method? It's not a base JavaScript method (that I've found) and does not seem to be documented anywhere by ServiceNow, which brings up the idea of how safe is it to use?

It is a nice way to do the string replacements, but we could just use the "replaceAll" method and feel safe about it. Like:

var message = getMessage("Creating new version number {0} and updating in {1}"); message = message.replaceAll("{0}", variable1); message = message.replaceAll("{1}", variable2);

Not as pretty, but safer?

Re: Second Parameter of getMessage() on Client Side

Mike McCall — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 11:01:00 GMT

I'll leave the current "correct answer" because of semantics: it looks like my original question was whether you could include a parameter or not. 😅

However, I do like this replaceAll approach! (If I had asked the better question--how do I accomplish the string replacement?--I'd probably mark this as the [safest] solution. 🏆)