Which actions can a Business Rule take without scripting?

If the Advanced checkbox on a Business Rule is left cleared, the platform presents the “Actions” interface rather than the script field. In this basic-rule interface the only two operations ServiceNow allows are:
1. Set one or more field values on the current record.
2. Show an informational, warning, or error message to the user. Any other operation—querying other records, writing to the system log, or generating an event—requires GlideRecord, gs.log(), gs.eventQueue(), or similar scripting APIs, which are available only when Advanced is selected. Therefore, the single valid, script-free combination is “Set field values and add message”.

A. Querying the database needs GlideRecord scripting; impossible in the non-advanced interface.
C. Writing to the system log requires gs.log()/gs.info() scripting; not available without Advanced.
D. Generating events needs gs.eventQueue scripting APIs; cannot be configured from the basic Actions interface.

1. ServiceNow Product Documentation, “Business rules – Create or edit a business rule”, San Diego release, section ‘Advanced check box’, paragraph 3: “When Advanced is not selected, a business rule can only set field values or add a message.”

2. ServiceNow Fundamentals Participant Guide (Rome), Module 6 “Process Automation”, p. 262: “Basic Business Rules (Advanced = false) are limited to two actions: Set Field Values and Add Message.”

3. ServiceNow Developer Site, Article “Business Rule Scripting”, heading ‘When to use scripting’, note 1: “Operations such as database queries, event generation, or logging require script and therefore the Advanced option.”