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02-21-2022 01:00 AM
How to convert Reference field to Single Line text field ?
Please provide any examples..
Thanks
Ram
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02-21-2022 01:07 AM
Hi,
Hopefully you only need to do this for fields that you have created as changing a OOTB reference field to a string can cause huge problems. As that field could be being used in other scripts/business rules/flows/etc
In any case, one way to do it is the following:
Right click on field name "task"
Select configure dictionary
Change type from Reference to String
Result:
If this field is brand new and hasnt been populated before in any records then this is an okay solution.
If this field is populated already in the system by some records, you must be careful as you could lose data that was stored in this field as a reference.
In that case, you should create a duplicate field with the string type and run a background/fix script to copy the reference's display value (.getDisplayValue) into the text field
But as per your customers question - "Is this possible?", answer is yes
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02-21-2022 01:03 AM
Hi,
why to convert?
what's the business requirement?
Regards
Ankur
Ankur
✨ Certified Technical Architect || ✨ 9x ServiceNow MVP || ✨ ServiceNow Community Leader
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02-21-2022 01:09 AM
Thanks for your response , Client didn't tell any business requirement,
in the meetings client was requested , is it possible in ServiceNow?
Thanks
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02-21-2022 01:15 AM
yes you can convert the type but remember it would lead to data loss if the field already holds some value in it
Be careful on that part.
OR
better create new reference field and deactivate the string one
Regards
Ankur
Ankur
✨ Certified Technical Architect || ✨ 9x ServiceNow MVP || ✨ ServiceNow Community Leader

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02-21-2022 01:07 AM
Hi,
Hopefully you only need to do this for fields that you have created as changing a OOTB reference field to a string can cause huge problems. As that field could be being used in other scripts/business rules/flows/etc
In any case, one way to do it is the following:
Right click on field name "task"
Select configure dictionary
Change type from Reference to String
Result:
If this field is brand new and hasnt been populated before in any records then this is an okay solution.
If this field is populated already in the system by some records, you must be careful as you could lose data that was stored in this field as a reference.
In that case, you should create a duplicate field with the string type and run a background/fix script to copy the reference's display value (.getDisplayValue) into the text field
But as per your customers question - "Is this possible?", answer is yes