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Reference field is not showing the expected display value when selected or it appears blank - Support and Troubleshooting
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KB0693859

Reference field is not showing the expected display value when selected or it appears blank


26536 Views Last updated : Aug 24, 2022 public Copy Permalink English (Original)
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KB Summary by Now Assist

Issue

A reference field is not showing the expected display value when selected or it appears blank.

Cause

It could be due to one of the following reasons:

  1. There is more than one field in the dictionary fields for that table where the display field has a value of true.
  2. There is a dictionary override on the field.

Resolution

  1. The field in the dictionary for the table in question or a parent table has been set so that the display field is checked. You can only have one field per table set to display true. This is the field that will be used for the value for any reference fields that use this table.
    • For example, if the first_name field was set to display true on the sys_user table that means that any reference fields against sys_user would show the first name for the display value of that reference field. The first step is to confirm that the right value is marked as display=true for the target table your reference field is pointing to (not the table the reference field is part of).
  2. The second place you can affect the display value for a reference field is with a dictionary override. These are stored in the sys_dictionary_override table. You can see all the records that would affect the display value of a table using the following URL:
    • /sys_dictionary_override_list.do?sysparm_query=display_override%3Dtrue
    • Remember to look for entries that are for the table your reference field is pointing to (not the table the reference field is part of). This would include parent tables for the target table as well.

Related Links

  • Dictionary overrides

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