Scripting alert, info, and error messages

---
title: Scripting alert, info, and error messages
description: You can send messages to users as alerts, informational messages, or error messages.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/api-reference/scripts/r\_ScriptingAlertInfoAndErrorMsgs.html
release: australia
product: Scripts
classification: scripts
topic_type: reference
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Explore, Scripting, API implementation, API implementation and reference]
---

# Scripting alert, info, and error messages

You can send messages to users as alerts, informational messages, or error messages.

<table id="table_i1c_k2m_jp"><thead><tr><th>

Script

</th><th>

Result

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

`current.field_name.setError("Hello World");`

</td><td>

Adds `Hello World` below the specified field in a red error message.

</td></tr><tr><td>

`gs.addInfoMessage("Hello World");`

</td><td>

Adds `Hello World` at the top of the browser window in a blue info message.

</td></tr><tr><td>

`gs.addErrorMessage("Hello World");`

</td><td>

Adds `Hello World` at the top of the browser window in a red error message.

</td></tr><tr><td>

`gs.print("Hello World");`

</td><td>

Writes `Hello World` to the text log on the file system but not to the sys\_log table in the database.

</td></tr><tr><td>

`gs.log("Hello World");`

</td><td>

Writes `Hello World` to the database and the log file.**Note:** gs.log can adversely affect performance if used too frequently.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table><table id="table_wbp_cfm_jp"><thead><tr><th>

Script

</th><th>

Result

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

`alert("Hello World");`

</td><td>

Displays a window with `Hello World` and an **OK** button.**Note:** Rather than use JavaScript alert\(\), for a cleaner look, you can display an error on the form itself with thee showFieldMsg\(\) and hideFieldMsg\(\) methods. For more information, see [Display field messages](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/api-reference/scripts/r_DisplayFieldMessages.md).

**Note:** The client script alert option is not available for use with Automated Test Framework \(ATF\).

</td></tr><tr><td>

`confirm("Hello World");`

</td><td>

Displays a window with `Hello World?` and **OK** and **Cancel** buttons.

</td></tr><tr><td>

`g_form.showFieldMsg("field_name", "Hello World", "error");`

</td><td>

Adds `Hello World` below the specified field in a red error message.

</td></tr><tr><td>

`g_form.hideFieldMsg("field_name");`

</td><td>

Hides the most recent message for the specified field.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>You can customize the font size of info and error messages at the top of the screen using two system properties.

|Property|Description|
|--------|-----------|
|css.outputmsg.info.text.font-size|Sets the size for info messages. Default is 11pt.|
|css.outputmsg.error.text.font-size|Sets the size for error messages. Default is 11pt.|

**Parent Topic:**[Exploring scripting](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/api-reference/scripts/c_Script.md)