How to auto populate reference fields with client scripts

[Lanre Ololade]

How do I write a client script to auto populate a reference field when "requested for/name" field is populated?

[Ian Mildon]

A little more detail would be helpful here.

What is the reference field you are wanting to populate?

What type of field is 'requested for/name'?

Are you wanting this to run onLoad, onChange or onSubmit?

[Brad Bowman]

Hi Lanre,

The complexity of this script depends on what you want to populate in the reference field - what table is it referencing, and how does it relate to the sys_user table that is triggering it?  Assuming Requested for is a reference field to sys_user, the value stored in it will be the sys_id of the selected record on that table - even though the name is displayed.  Likewise, to populate a different reference field, you need to supply the sys_id of the record on the table that this second field is referencing.  If it's a simple lookup, for example the second field is 'Manager' and you want to populate it with the Manager of the Requested for, then you can do this with a getReference as shown below.  If there's more querying that needs to be done to find the record on the second field, then you'll need a GlideAjax call to a script include.  I can provide an example of that if you need it.  For getReference using my example, your onChange Client Script would look something like this

function onChange(control, oldValue, newValue, isLoading) {
  if (newValue == '') {
    return;
  }

  var user = g_form.getReference("requested_for", populateManager);//confirm your field name
}

function populateManager(user) {
  g_form.setValue("manager", user.manager);//confirm your field name and referenced table field name
}  

[Lanre Ololade]

Thanks the response is very helpful.

[Community Alums]

In Catalog Client Scripts click New >select your name  >select your catalog item and Type on load then in Script 

function onLoad()

{

var user = g_form.getReference('requested_for', populateInameinfo);
    function populateInameinfo(user) {
        
g_form.setValue('requested_for_first_name', user.first_name);

g_form.setValue('requested_for_last_name', user.last_name);
     
    }
}

note: requested_for_first_name =  Cataloge item  variable filed First name backend value

requested_for_last_name =  Cataloge item  variable filed Last name backend value

sys_user table first name and last name backend value

first_name

first_name