Hi @Suvitha Murugan ,
So you are aiming for a setup where user.last_name remains searchable but is not shown in the autocomplete dropdown. Unfortunately, ServiceNow's autocomplete behavior is tightly coupled to the ref_ac_columns attribute, and there’s no built-in way to selectively hide a column from display while keeping it searchable if it's listed in ref_ac_columns.
Recommended Configuration
ref_auto_completer=AJAXTableCompleter
ref_ac_columns=user;user.email;user.user_name
ref_ac_columns_search=true
ref_ac_search_fields=user.last_name
- ref_ac_columns: Controls what is shown in the dropdown. Exclude user.last_name here.
- ref_ac_search_fields: Allows searching by user.last_name even though it’s not displayed.
- ref_ac_columns_search=true: Enables multi-column search across the listed fields.
Why ref_ac_display_value=false Doesn’t Help
That attribute only hides the default display value (usually the name field), not individual columns. It doesn’t affect visibility of fields listed in ref_ac_columns.
Alternative (if you must keep user.last_name in ref_ac_columns)
If you're using a custom UI or GlideAjax logic, you could:
- Post-process the autocomplete results to strip out last_name before rendering.
- Use a custom formatter or UI policy to mask the column visually (e.g., CSS or DOM manipulation).
But these are workarounds and not supported natively in platform configuration.
If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.
Best,
Anupam.
