A single reference field that displays records from two different tables

[beycos]

Hello Everyone, 

in ServiceNow, is it possible to create a single reference field that displays records from two different tables? I want one reference field that shows both departments and groups as selectable options. Is there any supported way to merge multiple tables into one reference source?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

[tejarekanda]

Hi @beycos ,
Use the Document Id field Type , for this use Form Builder.

Configure Dictionary Entry as shown

It Looks Like as show below

If my response helped, mark it as helpful and accept the solution.
Regards.

[iftekhar_mirza]

Hi @beycos,

Out of the box, a reference field in ServiceNow can only point to a single table, so you cannot directly have one reference field that pulls records from multiple tables like Departments and Groups together.

However, there are a few approaches you can consider depending on your requirement:

Option 1: Use a common parent table (recommended if applicable)

If both records can logically belong to a common base table (for example, extending from a shared table), you can:

• Create a reference to the parent table
• Use a reference qualifier to filter specific record types

---

Option 2: Create a custom “mapping” table

Create a custom table (e.g., u_reference_union) that stores:

• Display value
• Reference to Department OR Group
• Type (Department / Group)

Then:

• Populate it via Business Rule / Scheduled Job
• Point your reference field to this table

This gives you a single unified reference list

Hope this helps!
If you found this helpful, please mark it as helpful 🙌
Regards,
Iftekhar

[beycos]

Thank you for your help.

For option 1 : I created a new parent table and tried to make both department and group extend from it. However, ServiceNow shows the error:

“Cannot change what a table extends after it is created.”

This is expected behaviour. In ServiceNow, once a table is created, its Extends table value becomes permanent and cannot be modified later. 

Could you please let me know more information for Option 2 ?? 

Thank you 

Beyza 

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@beycos 

for alternate approach @Mark Manders already mentioned to create custom table containing 2 fields pointing to respective tables, display field as combination of both the fields then use this table in your reference

did you try that?

[Mark Manders]

What's your use case, because creating a custom table to show something may be very expensive (you only have a limited number of custom tables you can have within your license agreement). 

(FYI, the post you are responding to looks like AI generated and doesn't really make sense, as you already saw by 'creating a parent table').