Generating Web tier URL queries

Search for	Example	Results
A single word	`cat`	Topics that contain the word "cat". You will also find its grammatical variations, such as "cats".
A phrase. You can specify that the search results contain a specific phrase.	`"cat food"` (quotation marks)	Topics that contain the literal phrase "cat food" and all its grammatical variations. Without the quotation marks, the query is equivalent to specifying an OR operator, which finds topics with one of the individual words instead of the phrase.

Search for	Operator	Example
Two or more words in the same topic	`AND` `and` `+` (plus symbol) `&` (ampersand)	`cat AND dog` `"cat food"+milk` `"cat food"&"dog food"`
Either word in a topic	`OR` `or` `\|` (pipe)	`cat OR dog` `cat \| dog`
Topics that do not contain a specific word or phrase	`NOT` `not` `!` (exclamation point)	`NOT cat` `! dog`
Topics that contain one string and do not contain another	`^` (caret)	`cat ^ mouse`
A combination of search types	`( )` parentheses	`cat + (dog \| mouse)` `cat \| dog + (! mouse)`

If you have installed a Web tier, you can have Service Manager server generate URL queries to your Web tier that display specific records in your applications. You can use these generated URL queries to programmatically send links to your users when records are opened, updated, or closed. Service Manager offers the following out-of-box methods for generating valid Web tier URL queries.

Create custom JavaScript that uses the makeSCWebURL method. You can invoke your custom JavaScript from a macro or RAD expression.

Create custom notification records that use the Web tier URLs defined in the system information record.

When a user clicks on a generated URL query (link), Service Manager requires the user to log in before displaying the requested data, although the user can bypass the login screen if you have enable trusted sign-on on the Web tier.

By default, the Service Manager server secures Web tier URL queries by including a unique hash key in the URL. This unique key prevents people from modifying the URL and attempting to access restricted parts of your system. If the URL query does not match the unique hash key, Service Manager displays a warning message in the log file.

If you want to generate URL queries outside of Service Manager you can disable the unique hash key using the querysecurity parameter. Disabling this parameter in the Service Manager initialization file allows the server to accept URL queries without a unique hash key. If you disable the security hash, access to tables is controlled by the Document Engine. To restrict access to tables through the Document Engine, you must enable security features such as format control or application profiles that restrict access at the operator level.

Web tier URL format

Service Manager requires generated web tier URLs to use the following format.

http://myserver.mydomain.com:myport/SM/index.do?ctx=docEngine &file=incidents&query=incident.id=%22SD1001%22 &queryHash=89472347&action=&title=Interaction%20;SD1001

URL portion	Required?	Description
http://myserver.mydomain.com:myport/SM/index.do	Yes	This portion of the URL specifies the web tier host name, port, and web client connection to use. Use index.do to have users connect to the standard web client. Use ess.do to have users connect to the self-service web client.
ctx=docEngine	Yes	This portion of the URL specifies that Service Manager use the Document Engine to fulfill the query.
&file=incidents	Yes	This portion of the URL specifies the table you want to query for records. You must use the file name for the table as specified in the database dictionary.
&query=incident.id=%22SD1001%22	Yes	This portion of the URL specifies the Service Manager query you want to use to search for records. You must URI encode the query string to prevent special characters from invalidating the URL. For example, use %22 instead of quotation marks.
&queryHash=89472347	No	This portion of the URL specifies the optional hash key used to encode the URL query. The hash key prevents users from modifying the URL query to view other portions of Service Manager. You can only include a hash key if you generate the URL from the makeSCWebURL method.
&action=	No	This portion of the URL specifies the Document Engine action you want the URL query to perform. By default, the URL query performs a search operation.
&title=Interaction%20;SD1001	No	This portion of the URL specifies the optional title of the query. You must URI encode the query string to prevent special characters from invalidating the URL. For example, use %20; instead of a space.

URL portion

Required?

Description

http://myserver.mydomain.com:myport/SM/index.do

Yes

This portion of the URL specifies the web tier host name, port, and web client connection to use. Use index.do to have users connect to the standard web client. Use ess.do to have users connect to the self-service web client.

ctx=docEngine

Yes

This portion of the URL specifies that Service Manager use the Document Engine to fulfill the query.

&file=incidents

Yes

This portion of the URL specifies the table you want to query for records. You must use the file name for the table as specified in the database dictionary.

&query=incident.id=%22SD1001%22

Yes

This portion of the URL specifies the Service Manager query you want to use to search for records. You must URI encode the query string to prevent special characters from invalidating the URL. For example, use %22 instead of quotation marks.

&queryHash=89472347

This portion of the URL specifies the optional hash key used to encode the URL query. The hash key prevents users from modifying the URL query to view other portions of Service Manager. You can only include a hash key if you generate the URL from the makeSCWebURL method.

&action=

This portion of the URL specifies the Document Engine action you want the URL query to perform. By default, the URL query performs a search operation.

&title=Interaction%20;SD1001

This portion of the URL specifies the optional title of the query. You must URI encode the query string to prevent special characters from invalidating the URL. For example, use %20; instead of a space.

Related concepts

Related tasks

Related references