@dclarke client scripts don't support view mode, which means netsuite won't call the page init function in view mode. However you have netsuite include the script in view mode and by virtue of including it, it will run the code that is outside of entry point functions. I have only done it in SS2.0, so I am not sure how it will work in SS1.0 which may not have something similar to the form.clientScriptModulePath API, but I mean omething like this

function pageInit() {
  // works fine in edit mode since in edit mode netsuite's code will call this function
}

if (/* figure out if this is view mode and call it yourself */) {
  pageInit();
}