question How do I change the type ahead search from "starts with" to contains? in Developer forum

How do I change the type ahead search from "starts with" to contains?

Nic Omaha — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:37:31 GMT

I have a variable that will automatically do a query for starts with when entering in text. I can enter *"text" and it will do a contains search. How do I make this the default search?

Re: How do I change the type ahead search from "starts with" to contains?

Mark Stanger — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:02:26 GMT

Auto-Complete for Reference Fields - ServiceNow Wiki

Re: How do I change the type ahead search from "starts with" to contains?

Fernando90 — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:03:47 GMT

Hi Nicholas,

If I understand correctly you wish to use a contains (*) search by default on the reference field shown on your screenshot.

You could try following the following steps from the WIKI: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=Auto-Complete_for_Reference_Fields#Contains_Auto-Complete_Search

Disable the glide.ui.ref_ac.startswith system property.
Navigate to User Administration > User Preferences.
Select the preference "'<referenced table>.autocomplete.contains"'.
Set the value field to true.
Log out and log back in to immediately display the updated search.

At step 3 you can create the preference if it does not yet exist, and only apply it for your user if desired.

Is this what you were looking for?

Re: How do I change the type ahead search from "starts with" to contains?

Nic Omaha — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 13:29:28 GMT

Have already done that and it works every where else but here its a bit strange.

Re: How do I change the type ahead search from "starts with" to contains?

matthew_magee1 — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 18:32:09 GMT

Nicholas,

Mark's response is correct. What you need to do is two fold. Part 1:

Open the link he provided: Auto-Complete for Reference Fields - ServiceNow Wiki
Scroll down to the very bottom: Contains Auto Complete Search and follow the instructions to update the User Preferences table

Part 2:

Also, you'll want to check the security rules for the table you are doing a look up on. I was able to use the reference field as an Admin. But when i impersonated a regular user, I wasn't able to see the values? Why you ask? Because the 'read' security rule for the table i was referencing had a role associated with it. Not good.

In my frustration, I mean example, I created a new table which pulls in data from another data source. It has over 3500 records. I wanted the user to be able to go to the reference field and begin typing any value and the reference field would auto-magically list all references w/ the string they typed.

Our of frustration, I stumbled across the auto-complete wiki page above and tried the steps in the last section. I created a new record in the user preferences table and whola, it worked. But as stated, I had to adjust the 'read' security rule for my new created table.

Good luck!

Re: How do I change the type ahead search from "starts with" to contains?

MGanon — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 13:32:32 GMT

https://docs.servicenow.com/administer/field_administration/task/t_ContainsAutoCompleteSearch.html

https://docs.servicenow.com/administer/field_administration/concept/c_AutoCompleteForReferenceFields.html

Re: How do I change the type ahead search from "starts with" to contains?

MGanon — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 18:41:44 GMT

The https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/madrid-platform-administration/page/administer/field-administration/concept/c_AutoCompleteForReferenceFields.html#t_ContainsAutoCompleteSearch document seems to discourage using a CONTAINS auto-correct query. It appears that, since around Helsinki, ServiceNow sets the system to the STARTSWITH query for reference fields with the glide.ui.ref_ac.startswith system property then requiring a user preference for each reference field of each table. Am I reading this correctly?

Re: How do I change the type ahead search from "starts with" to contains?

Adil ELACHIQI1 — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 12:42:53 GMT

Thanks @Fernando90, the "Log out and log back" saved me some time!