Lookup Fields

Lookup fields are drop-down fields that retrieve values from other fields/configurations. The fields/configurations from which the values are retrieved are called reference entities.

While configuring a lookup field, you can configure criteria to filter the allowed values from reference entities. The criteria can be configured with static values or dynamic values.

ServiceDesk Plus Cloud supports two types of lookup fields:

Lookup fields - Users can select a single value for the field from the listed reference entity values.
Multi-Lookup fields - Users can select multiple values for the field from the listed reference entity values.

Learn about Lookup Fields:

Supported Modules and Reference Entities
Creating a Lookup Field
Supported Variables for Configuring Dynamic Criteria
Using Lookup Fields
Manage Lookup Fields

Supported Modules and Reference Entities

The supported modules and their corresponding reference entities are discussed below.

Supported Module	Supported Reference Entities	Maximum number of Lookup Fields
Requests	Department, requester, site, status, technician, user, vendor, and custom modules.	10 with a combined sub-limit of 3 for user lookup fields (requester, technician, user)
Changes	Department, group, requester, site, technician, user, and custom modules.	10
Projects	User and custom modules	5
Releases	Department, group, requester, site, technician, user, and custom modules.	10
Problems	Department, group, site, technician, user, status, Asset, CMDB, and custom modules.	10
Assets	Department, site, user, and custom modules.	5
CMDB	Department, region, site, requester, technician, user, vendor, technician groups, and custom modules.	60 with a sub-limit of 6 per hierarchy
Purchase	Department, site, technician, vendor, and custom modules	10
Contract	Department, site, technician, vendor, and custom modules	10
Custom Modules	Custom module, CMDB, asset, department, site, status, requester, technician, user, vendor, group, impact, level, mode, priority, product, region, and urgency.	60

Only a single reference entity can be configured for a lookup field.

Create Lookup Fields

Based on the modules, you can create lookup fields when configuring additional fields or you can also create and add them directly when configuring templates or custom modules.

Modules	Supported Options
Requests	Request additional fields Incident templates Service templates
Changes	Change additional fields Change templates
Releases	Release additional fields Release templates
Problems	Problem additional fields Problem templates
Projects	Project additional fields Project templates
Assets	Asset additional fields
CMDB	CI Type template
Purchases	Purchase additional fields
Contracts	Contract additional fields Contract templates
Custom modules	As fields when configuring custom modules

Create Lookup Fields for Requests, Changes, Problems, Releases, Projects and Assets

Go to Setup > Customization > Additional Fields.
Use the drop-down on the page to choose the module for which you want to create a lookup field: Request, Change, Release, Project or Asset.

Click New Field and set the field properties as explained below and click Save.

Field Properties	Explanation
Field Name	Add a unique field name.
Field Type	Set the field type as Lookup Field. To create multi-lookup fields for CMDB and custom module, click here.
Reference Entity	Choose your preferred reference entity from the drop-down.
Criteria	Configure criteria to filter out the values from the reference entity to retrieve only a subset of values for the lookup field. Choose the field, condition, and value. You can either choose a static value or a dynamic value using the supported variables. When multiple criteria are configured, decide how the criteria should be taken into account using AND or OR operators. Sort the order of the criteria using the Drag Handle beside them. Drag a criteria over the indentation space below another criteria to define sub- criteria. You can configure up to 10 criteria.
Do not allow deletion of Field Values	Choose if you want the values of reference fields to be marked as Not for further use when deleted instead of removing them permanently.
Description	Describe the usage of the lookup field briefly.

Alternatively, you can create lookup fields when configuring incident, service, project or change templates. On the Add/Edit Template form, drag the Lookup Field from the New Fields tab on the right pane to your preferred section of the template and follow the steps discussed above as applicable.

Create Lookup Fields for CMDB and Custom Modules

For CMDB, go to Setup > Customization > CMDB > CI Types.
For custom modules, go to Setup > Developer Space > Custom Modules.

Create a new CI type or custom module. You can also edit an existing CI type or custom module.

On the Add/Edit form, go to the Fields section.
Drag Lookup or Multi-Lookup field from the right pane to the canvas.
Set the field properties as explained below and click Save.

Field Properties	Explanation
Field Name	Add a unique field name.
Field Key	The Field Key value is auto-generated based on the Field Name value. However, you can modify it as required. Field key is written in snake case and pre-fixed by ref_ automatically.
Field Type	The field type is auto-selected as Lookup Field or Multi-Lookup Field.
Reference Entity	Choose your preferred reference entity from the drop-down.
Is Unique Field	Select this option if you want the field to hold only a unique value.
Is Mandatory Field	Select this option if you want to make this a mandatory field. Supported only for custom modules.
Criteria	Configure criteria to filter out the values from the reference entity to retrieve only a subset of values for the lookup field. Choose the field, condition, and value. You can either choose a static value or a dynamic value using the supported variables. When multiple criteria are configured, decide how the criteria should be taken into account using AND or OR operators. Sort the order of the criteria using the Drag Handle beside them. Drag a criteria over the indentation space below another criteria to define sub- criteria. You can configure up to 10 criteria.
Do not allow deletion of Field Values	Choose if you want the values of reference fields to be marked as Not for further use when deleted instead of removing them permanently.
Description	Describe the usage of the lookup field briefly.

Supported Variables for Configuring Dynamic Criteria

When configuring criteria for filtering lookup fields, you can choose static criteria that does not change based on the forms or dynamic criteria that can change based on other fields in the form. The dynamic criteria can be configured with the help of variables and it is limited to certain fields. The available variables are listed below.

Supported Variable	Description
$(logged_in_user)	Filters based on the currently logged-in user
$(logged_in_user.department)	Filters based on the currently logged-in users' department
$(logged_in_user.groups)	Filters based on the currently logged-in users' group
$(logged_in_user.department.site)	Filters based on the currently logged-in users' site
$(logged_in_technician.sites)	Filters based on sites associated with the currently logged-in technicians

Apart from these variables, you can also include variables for system fields such as $(department), $(site), $(impact_details), etc along with user-defined fields. The user-defined fields are identified using their respective field keys. For example, the field with the field key UDF_REF1 would have $(udf.fields.udf_ref1) as its variable.

Manage Lookup fields

To manage Requests or Assets lookup fields:

You can manage lookup fields in requests and assets from the additional fields list view page of the respective modules.

Go to Setup > Customization > Additional Fields.
Choose your preferred module: Requests or Assets.
Click beside a field and select Edit or Delete.

To manage CMDB and Custom Modules lookup fields:

Go to the Edit CI Type or Edit Custom Module forms respectively.
To edit a lookup field, hover over the field and click Edit.
To delete a lookup field, hover over the field, click Delete. This removes the field from the specific CI type or custom module only. To delete it permanently, hover over the field under the Available Fields tab on the right-side pane, click Delete.