---
sourceDocument: Xanadu API Reference
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/xanadu/api-reference

 Release :

    - xanadu

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Xanadu API Reference

ft:clusterId :

    - crapiref

bundleId :

    - crapiref

workflow :

    - Creator


---

# Use forms to limit or extend the query response

# Use forms to limit or extend the query response {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Xanadu
* 
* Updated August 1, 2024
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read

On occasion, there is a need to limit the number of field values that a SOAP query
returns.  
You can use a form view to limit the number of field values returned by a SOAP query. Specifying a form view has the effects of:

1. Limiting the response elements to contain only the fields on the view.
2. Specifying reference record field values from referenced fields such as caller_id.email. This causes the value of the caller's email to be returned in the SOAP response.
{#using-forms-limit-extend-query-resp__ol_uvq_k3y_5w}

To enable form views for SOAP queries, configure the com.glide.soap.view
property to contain the name of the view that you want to use for all SOAP query responses.
The default is soap_response. You can also specify the view name as a URL
parameter, sysparm_view=\<view name\>, when making the SOAP call. For
example:

    https://<instance name>.service-now.com/incident.do?SOAP&sysparm_view=ess

By default, if a specified view name does not exist, the response contains all fields.
**Related concepts**   

* [Return the display value for reference variables](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/ghcpgTLmrDFjbwT8JPlfZQ "When you query a record using a get or getRecords function, the instance returns all fields associated with that record. The fields are often reference fields that contain a sys_id for a record on another table.")
* [Clear values from a target instance](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/ibHtp5YxHam~07bgelX3KA "You can pass an empty value through a SOAP parameter to clear the respective value in the target instance.")
* [Retrieve journal entries using direct web services](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/We_rrkdN~9_4C2eEVbCrFQ "To get the contents of a journal field, make a second soap request against the sys_journal_field table to pull the appropriate journal records back for the record in question.")
* [Retrieve choice fields using direct web services](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/UKRQMVoU2VrWpJeY0VWVIw "To retrieve or set choice fields, use the choice Value, not the Label.")
* [Persist an HTTP session across all SOAP calls](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/iS3ozZygbwJT8~rXNxSVcA "In circumstances when a SOAP client makes many calls in a short amount of time, you may want to re-use a single HTTP session for all SOAP calls.")  
**Related reference**   

* [SOAP direct web service API functions](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/ScwF7nQVmMA5sgyQUQvOxg "The standard SOAP API is a set of small, globally defined functions that can be performed on a targeted resource.")