question Dynamically update variable instructions in Developer forum

Dynamically update variable instructions

W Fortune1 — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 16:45:03 GMT

Hi All,

Is there a way to dynamically update catalog variable instructions in a service portal.

I've created a variable set that includes a manager variable, and for 80% of my items it will have the instruction "Line manger of user"

However for the other 20% the text should read "Authorising manager".

I know I could create the variables for each item but I was hoping for a more elegant solution.

Thanks

William

Re: Dynamically update variable instructions

davidpanson — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 16:58:05 GMT

I'm not entirely sure there's enough information to answer you but in general yes you can set a variable value dynamically. You can write a script to set the field value based on another value or parameter.

Re: Dynamically update variable instructions

W Fortune1 — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 17:01:58 GMT

Thanks for the reply but It's not the value I want to change but the instructions.

Re: Dynamically update variable instructions

davidpanson — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 17:20:29 GMT

Oh my mistake. Try checking out these links. I think they may be helpful.

How to set default value as a current month value in a variable on catalog form .

Form administration

Re: Dynamically update variable instructions

W Fortune1 — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:38:46 GMT

Thanks again but I had already looked through those links without finding the answer.

It's not on the form but in the service portal on a widget. I'm able to update the value and the label of a variable dynamically and I was hoping for a similar method for the instructions.

Re: Dynamically update variable instructions

G24 — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 13:29:47 GMT

@W Fortune1 Did you find an answer in the last 7 years? : )

Re: Dynamically update variable instructions

G24 — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 15:01:09 GMT

Yes, there is a way. Here it is:

function onLoad() { var myField = g_form.getField("u_sd_location"); //getField works in portal only, not Platform UI. var myInstructions = "My Happy Instruction Text. " + "For more help, please read the [AnchorTag]"; //Build a URL that includes the URI of the Current Instance (dev, test, prod), and also a link to the Portal knowledge article. var fullURL = "[instanceURI][pagePath][article_id]"; //var instanceURI = gs.getProperty('glide.servlet.uri'); //Works in Server-Side code only, not client-side Catalog Client Script code. var instanceURI = this.location.origin; var pagePath = "/kb_view.do?sysparm_article="; var kbNumber = "KB0010981"; var anchorText = "Knowledge Article"; fullURL = fullURL.replace("[instanceURI]", instanceURI); fullURL = fullURL.replace("[pagePath]", pagePath); fullURL = fullURL.replace("[article_id]", kbNumber); //Now wrap that URI in an HTML Anchor tag. var anchorTag = '<a href="[fullURL]" target="_blank">[anchorText]</a>'; anchorTag = anchorTag.replace("[fullURL]", fullURL); anchorTag = anchorTag.replace("[anchorText]", anchorText); myInstructions = myInstructions.replace("[AnchorTag]", anchorTag); myField.instructions = myInstructions; }

Re: Dynamically update variable instructions

frankcoates — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 10:06:18 GMT

An alternative method is by using a Rich Text Label variable just above the variable you want the text to display for.

Perform the logic in an onLoad or onChange catalog client script, and use g_form.setLabelOf('your_label_variable', 'html_string') to update the label variable's value.

Note: you cannot use a rich text label in a multi row variable set.

function onLoad() { var LABEL_FIELD = "my_label_field_name"; var text = "<p>Hello, World!</p>" g_form.setLabelOf(LABEL_FIELD, text) }