Multi-tier structure (nested tiers)
Summarize
Summary of Multi-tier structure (nested tiers)
In ServiceNow CPQ, users can create intricate, multi-tier layouts by nesting tiers using a layout CSV file. This allows for organized field presentation through various display types, such as tabs and expandable sections, enhancing the user interface's flexibility and clarity.
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Key Features
- Nesting Tiers: Allows for the inclusion of various tiers within other tiers to create complex layouts.
- Display Types: Supports different display types for tiers, including tabs and expandable sections, which help in structuring the configuration interface.
- CSV Format: Utilizes a specific CSV format to define tier displays, enabling users to customize how information is presented.
Key Outcomes
By leveraging nested tiers, ServiceNow customers can achieve a structured and visually appealing configuration interface that improves user experience. It’s important to note that, as of May 23, 2023, nesting is not supported in the Layout Wizard or layout editor, but users can still modify the display type of existing tiers. Additionally, to display fields outside the bottom tier, an intermediary tier of the BasicContainer type can be used, facilitating better layout management.
Create complex, multi-tier layouts in ServiceNow CPQ by nesting tiers in other tiers using a layout CSV file. Define tier display types—such as tabs, expandable sections, and basic containers—to organize fields and achieve flexible, structured, and visually clear configuration interfaces.
In ServiceNow CPQ, there are two basic container types: tiers and column sets. This article focuses on the top-level container (tiers) and how to achieve more complex layouts by nesting different types of tiers.
The basic CSV format for a single-tier structure looks like this:
The tier definition defines the visual display of a level of tier, not just one particular tier. So in this case, all three tiers (tab1, tab2, and tab3) are defined as the Tab display type. This creates a simple structure where each tier in the CSV file appears as a tab.
However, different types of tier display types may sometimes be nested in another tier. The simplest example is a two-tier structure. Letʼs build off of our first example and nest some expandable sections in one of our tabs.
Notice how the nested tier is defined. The tier definition row path is “layout/tiers/tiers”, indicating that a tier that is below another tier in the path should be defined as an expandable section. You can then see that on rows 3 and 4, the tier “exsect1” is placed below the tier “tab1” in the path. This displays for the end-user like so:
You can extrapolate this pattern to create deeper tier structures, declaring more and more nested definitions. However, note that you cannot have multiple tier definitions at the same level. For example, the tiers in the first image shown below are valid, but the tiers in the second image are not valid, because the component display type for /layout/tiers/tiers is both ExpandableSection and VerticalTab.
Valid tiers:
Invalid tiers:
Displaying fields outside the bottom tier
A common use case of nested tiers may be to have a bottom layer nested inside a top layer tier, with some general fields displayed outside the bottom tier. This can be achieved by using an intermediary tier of the BasicContainer display type. This structure might look like this for the end user:
The layout CSV file is structured like so: