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How to enable a reference field to perform "contains" search on columns for autocomplete - Support and Troubleshooting
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KB0715718

How to enable a reference field to perform "contains" search on columns for autocomplete


10868 Views Last updated : Jul 24, 2025 public Copy Permalink English (Original)
  • English (Original)
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KB Summary by Now Assist

Issue

Description


A reference field can be configured to add columns to the autocomplete search so more information can be presented to the users. This article details the steps on how to configure such field to do a 'contains' search for all the columns that are used.

 

Procedure


1. Ensure that the system property "glide.ui.ref_ac.startswith" is set to false.

 

2. Confirm that the reference field has similar dictionary attributes as the following:

ref_ac_columns_search=true, ref_ac_order_by=column_name, ref_ac_columns=column_name1, column_name2, ref_auto_completer=AJAXTableCompleter

 

3. Create the following user preference:

Name: table_name_being_referenced.autocomplete.contains (i.e. sys_user.autocomplete.contains)

System: checked

User: leave this blank

Type: true | false

Value: true

 

4. After the user preference has been created log out and back into the instance for it to take effect

 

Applicable Versions


All versions

 

Additional Information


Auto-complete for reference fields


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