question Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields in ITSM forum

List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

jonathanstewart — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 17:24:39 GMT

Looking for a way to display additional information about a user record in a lookup beyond the name of the user. I have many users that have the same name but other distinguishing characteristics that would help users make the correct selection.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

Alikutty A — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 17:32:42 GMT

Hi Jon,

You can update the attributes field in the dictionary of your reference field to perform an auto complete search on lookup.

Add this in the attributes

ref_auto_completer=AJAXTableCompleter,ref_ac_columns_search=true,ref_ac_columns=last_name;first_name;user_name;email,ref_ac_order_by=name,ref_ac_display_value=false

The field would be searched against the highlighted columns on your table (last_name;first_name;user_name;email)

Thanks

Please Hit like, Helpful or Correct depending on the impact of the response

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

Michael Ritchie — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 17:33:00 GMT

Yes this is definitely possible. Here are some instructions I had put together for some peers of mine. This use case was to use employee ID as a search criteria, but you don't have to do that.

Use Case: I would like to search for callers by several attributes and not just by their name. OOB the user can click the magnifying glass beside the reference field and search that way, but it requires extra clicks and time. Fortunately ServiceNow can display other data on the Type Ahead popup and that data is also searchable!

Notice above I am not only showing the employee's name, but also the first and last name as well as the employee number of that user.

· You can also set it up where you search all the columns you are displaying. This comes in handy if the users want to be able to search on first name, last name, or employee ID all in the same field. Also notice above, I typed in "111" and it searched both the employee ID column and presented several results where the employee number starts with "111". I could have also typed in "smi" to get the same results.

· This especially comes in handy with locations and wanting to search for a city or state or location code/number.

This is also very easy to configure with the steps below:

Now I mentioned above to make sure the "number" field is a string value, the reason I mentioned this is because if you want to allow searching in all columns it must be a string type column. Numbers, email, etc aren't searchable.
To set this up, you personalize the dictionary on the particular field — this is done on a field by field basis so you may need to do this multiple times. So for example, to make the above work for the incident caller, right click on the Caller label and choose Personalize Dictionary. Then:
- Make sure you are on the Advanced View — under Related Links you may see "Advanced view" so click that if it shows up.
- On the Advanced view you will see a field called Attributes. OOB the value of this field is: ref_contributions=user_show_incidents
- You will need to add a few new attributes which are always separated by commas, then paste in the following:
- ref_ac_columns_search=true,ref_auto_completer=AJAXTableCompleter,ref_ac_columns=first_name;last_name;employee_number
  - Here is an explanation on what these mean:
    - ref_contributions=user_show_incidents — this shows the UI Macro that shows all the caller's incidents
    - ref_ac_columns_search=true,ref_auto_completer=AJAXTableCompleter — these allow the searching to happen
    - ref_ac_columns=first_name;last_name;employee_number — this is how you set what additional columns appear. In this example I am showing the first and last name and employee number. You must enter the database column name, not the label. You can certainly add additional ones by separating them with a semicolon.
The end result Attributes value will be:
ref_contributions=user_show_incidents,ref_ac_columns_search=true,ref_auto_completer=AJAXTableCompleter,ref_ac_columns=first_name;last_name;employee_number

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

jonathanstewart — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 17:48:57 GMT

Would this approach also translate to the service portal view in addition to the view in the main instance?

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

Michael Ritchie — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 18:11:12 GMT

Yes shows up a little differently. I have first name, last name, email and location

Platform UI:

Service Portal:

Please mark any of these posts helpful or the correct answer to your question.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

jonathanstewart — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 18:15:07 GMT

So I make sure I understand the scope here. This change would occur on each form that needs to be configured this way. It is not something that could/would be done globally. Is that right?

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

Michael Ritchie — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 18:29:42 GMT

Its done on a field by field basis. So you would need to follow the steps in my original post for each user field you want this to work on, including variables in your service catalog.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

edwajs — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 19:43:28 GMT

You can specify the attributes on a field by field basis, as has been shown. You can also put the attributes on the sys_dictionary record for sys_user.collection to make them a default for the table. The individual field attributes/catalog variable attributes would override these table-specific settings.

You should also be aware that if you put a reference decorator on some of these fields, it can alter or suppress the behavior of these reference attributes, depending on the release.

Because the Service Portal is a different UI and is intended to be device-agnostic, it may behave or present information differently.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

roryr1 — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 21:25:31 GMT

Hi Michael,

We are currently using this for several reference variables and is working great. Do you know if/how this can be applied to a List Collector variable on the User Table?

I see that there are only 2 attributes for List Collector but wondering if there is a workaround>

Thanks!

Rory

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

Michael Ritchie — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 21:38:03 GMT

Rory, I had never tried it on a list, but I updated the Watch List with the same attributes and it works:

Edit: I just tested on a record producer variable and viewed it via ServicePortal and it worked there as well.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

jonathanstewart — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 21:45:08 GMT

I was not able to find what you are referencing at the dictionary level.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

edwajs — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 21:53:32 GMT

Here is a screenshot of the sys_user record, no field, type is collection.

This is the master sys_dictionary record for the sys_user table. It shows the default attributes for sys_user, including the reference completer attributes which are the defaults for reference fields to the sys_user table. This includes glidelist data type fields, and it should also apply by default to catalog reference variables and list collector variables.

There was a bug back in Berlin where these collection attributes did not apply to catalog variables, but I think that was corrected several years ago.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

jonathanstewart — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 22:03:23 GMT

Thanks the screenshot helped me find the right place for the dictionary. However, it seems to only apply within the platform and not available in the service portal. I am missing a step?

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

edwajs — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 22:22:33 GMT

I don't think you are missing anything, Jonathan.

As I stated in my original update, the Service Portal is effectively a new UI and it does not always support legacy product features.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

Michael Ritchie — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 22:41:31 GMT

See post 7 above. One was from the service portal. It's of a record producer where I added the attributes to a variable.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

roryr1 — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 22:58:59 GMT

Thank you for your quick response. Just to confirm, this is a Catalog Item. Not to sure how to apply Watch List. I will dig further but wanted to acknowledge your response...thanks againg

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

edwajs — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 23:02:05 GMT

Hi Rory,

The Catalog Variable equivalent of a glidelist field is a List Collector variable where you specify a GlideList attribute.

This converts the List Collector from the slushbucket format into a GlideList format.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

edwajs — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 23:14:34 GMT

Yes, based on your example I expect Service Portal is supporting the field or variable attributes, but not supporting the general collection attributes.

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

ibhavya — Wed, 31 May 2017 08:31:42 GMT

Hi Michael,

I have made the changes as suggested however i do not see it working on the field in portal.Can you please help me check if am missing something,screenshots below:

Thanks,

Bhavya

Re: List attributes beyond name for user reference fields

amlanpal — Wed, 31 May 2017 08:48:32 GMT

Hi michael.ritchie ,

Just a follow up question to clarify my idea on this in deep. Is it possible to accommodate ref_ac_columns attribute in the UI Page?

I'm using <g:ui_reference/> tag in the UI Page, similar to this examples . Is it possible to to add the same feature, what ref_ac_columns attribute provides on field (Reference type) level, in the UI Page when the user wants to search out by typing something apart from the Display value of the table?

I have gone through the OOB UI Macro 'ui_reference' which doesn't include the same attribute. As per Chuck's reply in this thread, Field attributes on UI Page , UI Page might not support all attributes. But is there any workaround of the same? Or am I missing any?

Thanks in Advance!