Configuring the Smartphone Interface

Note: This article applies to Fuji. For more current information, see Mobile Navigation and Configuration at http://docs.servicenow.com The ServiceNow Wiki is no longer being updated. Please refer to http://docs.servicenow.com for the latest product documentation.

Overview

Administrators can define what users can access on smartphones through the smartphone interface. For example, users can be granted access to specific application menus and modules, default home page favorites, online help, and UI policies.

Defining Smartphone Application Menus and Modules

Administrators can define which application menus and modules are available on the smartphone interface application navigator. For example, the screen below shows the INCIDENT and USER ADMINISTRATION application menus.

You can define new application menus for the smartphone interface from the desktop interface. After defining the application menu, you can define modules and assign them to the new application menu.

Defining New Application Menus

1. In the standard browser interface, navigate to System Mobile UI > Navigator Apps.

   

2. Click New.

   

3. Fill in the fields, as appropriate (see table).
4. Click Submit.

Field	Description
Name	Enter a name for the application menu.
Order	Enter a number to specify the order of the menu. For example, an entry of 100 would place this application menu before one with an Order entry of 200.
Roles	Click the lock icon to select the roles for this application menu. Only users with the designated roles can access the modules under this application menu.
Active	Select the check box to activate this application menu.

Note: The new application menu does not appear on the smartphone interface application navigator until at least one module is added.

Defining a New Module

1. On your instance, navigate to System Mobile UI > Navigator Apps.
2. Open the application menu you want to create the new module for.

   

3. Under Modules, click New.
4. Fill in the fields, as appropriate (see table).

   Note: If you are creating a module for a map page, see the procedure specific to map pages.

5. Click Submit.

   

Field	Description
Name	Enter a name for the module.
Order	Enter a number to specify the order of the module within the application menu. For example, an entry of 100 would place this module before one with an Order entry of 200.
Application menu	Displays the application menu from which you accessed this screen. Select a different application menu, if appropriate.
Table	Select the table for this module. Note: The list shows only tables and database views that are in the same scope as the module (starting with the Fuji release).
Updated	Displays the date and time when the module record is updated.
Roles	Click the lock icon and select the roles for this module. Only users with the designated roles can access this module.
Active	Select the check box to activate this module. Only active modules appear in the application menu.
Filter	Create a filter for identifying which fields this module uses from the selected Table.
Path	[Optional] Enter a custom URL for the module. The URL must be in this format: type_of_link/table/parameters.

Defining Default Home Page Favorites

You can configure the default items for the Favorites area of the mobile home page, including the colors and icons used.

1. On the device, define a favorite for a particular module. For example, you could create a favorite for My Incidents.

   
   

2. In the standard browser instance, navigate to System Mobile UI > Home Page Favorites. Notice that My Incidents is displayed.
3. Click My Incidents.

   

   
   

4. To make the My Incidents tag a default for all mobile users, clear the User field.
5. Click Update.

Removing Default Home Page Favorites

To remove default favorites, simply remove them from the Home Favorites list on the standard browser instance.

1. In your desktop instance, navigate to System Mobile UI > Home Page Favorites.
2. Locate the favorite you want to remove.
3. Select the adjacent check box.
4. In the Actions choice list below the list, and select Delete.
5. Click OK to confirm.

Modifying and Creating Online Help

The smartphone interface includes several help screens that can be used as is or modified to suit your users' needs. You can also create new help screens. They can also be localized to support multiple languages.

Note: A basic knowledge of wiki markup is needed for editing the content. For more information, see Wikitext Quick Reference.

Editing the Existing Help Text

The default help screens are organized based on the index file. That file contains links to the other help files and presents those links on the device as a menu. If items are added to or removed from this file, the resulting menu changes accordingly.

1. Navigate to System Mobile UI > Mobile Help.

   

   
   

2. Click the Updated link of the help file you want to edit.

   

   
   

3. Click WikiText.
4. Edit the text and wiki markup as needed.

   

   
   

5. Click Update.

Creating a New Help Screen

1. Navigate to System Mobile UI > Mobile Help.
2. Click New.
3. In the Path field, enter a name for the new help screen; for example, adding_a_shortcut. Spaces are not allowed in the name.

   

   
   

4. Click WikiText.
5. In the editing box, enter the text for the new help screen, using wiki markup to define the formatting.

   
   

6. Click Submit.
7. On the list screen, open the file called index.
8. Click WikiText.

   

   
   

9. Insert a line where you want the new help screen to appear and specify the name of the new page.

   
   

10. Click Update.

    The device shows the new help menu item and help content.

Displaying Localized Help Content

You can edit and translate existing help screens so that help content in multiple languages is available. After help files have been translated, the smartphone interface uses the help screens identified by the user-specific language in the User [user] table.

1. Navigate to System Mobile UI > Mobile Help.
2. Open the help file you want to translate.
3. Translate the existing help text. You can also insert translated images, as needed.
4. In the Language field, select the language of the translated text.
5. Click Update.

Defining Table Titles

Administrators can define unique titles for all tables viewed in the smartphone interface. This can be useful for creating shorter display values to accommodate the smaller screen size of the smartphone.

Defining a New Table Title

1. On your instance, navigate to System Mobile UI > Table Titles.

   

2. Select New.

   

3. Fill in the fields, as appropriate (see table).
4. Click Submit.

Field	Description
Table	Select the table you are defining a title for. Note: The list shows only tables and database views that are in the same scope as the title (starting with the Fuji release).
Fields	Click the lock icon to display the Fields slushbucket. Use the slushbucket to select the fields that display by default when this table is viewed in the smartphone interface.
Updated	Displays the date and time when the table title was updated.
Script	[Optional] Create a server-side script that generates a string to display under the display value on lists. For example, if you are defining a title for My Approvals, the script could display the different approval items below the title.

Enabling UI Policies for the Smartphone Interface

UI policies can be defined to run on forms on the smartphone interface, the desktop UI, or both.

1. In the standard browser interface, navigate to System UI > UI Policies.
2. Create a UI policy that is compatible with the smartphone interface. To ensure this, see Mobile Client GlideForm (g form) Scripting.
3. Configure the UI Policies form to add the Run scripts in UI type field.
4. Select the Run scripts check box.
5. In the Run scripts in UI type field, select Mobile or Both to have the policy run on the smartphone interface.

   The "Run scripts in UI type" field determines where the scripts are executed. It does not control the UI Policy actions. UI Policy actions are always run and cannot be toggled based on the UI. Only the scripts that are set on mobile and desktop will always run both -- not the UI Policy itself.

   
   

6. Complete the fields, as appropriate.
7. Click Submit.

   
   

Enabling Client Scripts for the Smartphone Interface

Client scripts can be defined to run on forms on the smartphone interface, the desktop UI, or both.

1. In the standard browser interface, navigate to System Definition > Client Scripts.
2. Create a client script that is compatible with the smartphone interface. To ensure this, see Mobile Client GlideForm (g form) Scripting.
3. In the UI Type field, select Mobile or Both to have the script run on the smartphone interface.

   You may need to configure the form to add the UI Type field.

4. Fill in the fields, as appropriate.
5. Click Submit.

   
   

Adding UI Actions on the Smartphone Interface

UI actions function the same on the smartphone interface as on desktop interface, but are keyed off a different table: UI Action - Mobile [sys_ui_ng_action]. You can add three kinds of UI actions in the smartphone interface:

• list buttons
• form buttons
• form more items (these are items that display when the user taps the More button)

The lowest number in the Order column identifies the primary button at the top of the form.

Using a UI Action to Redirect to a URL

As part of a UI action, you may want to redirect a user to a URL in the Smartphone interface. For example, you might add links to a form or open a new record after it is created from a UI action.

To redirect a user to a URL from a UI action, use this syntax to define the redirect link:

<source lang="javascript">action.setRedirectURL('incident.do?sys_id=-1');</source>

This functionality works the same as in the standard browser version. For more information, click here.

The mobile interface is a simplified version of the standard interface so not all operations are supported the same way. Using a URL to redirect to a new record with multiple parameters is not supported in the mobile interface.

Defining Devices That Use the Smartphone Interface

1. Navigate to System Properties > UI Properties.
2. Locate Use new mobile user interface if one of these strings (comma-separated) appears in the browser user_agent header (the glide.ui.m_agents property).
3. Enter the types of devices that are directed to the smartphone interface.

   The default list is iPod, BlackBerry, Android, and iPhone.

Disabling the Smartphone Interface

To disable the smartphone interface for all devices and direct all activity to the standard browser UI, clear the glide.ui.m_agents property value.