---
sourceDocument: Xanadu ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/xanadu/platform-administration

 Release :

    - xanadu

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Xanadu ServiceNow AI Platform Administration

ft:clusterId :

    - platadm

bundleId :

    - platadm

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Journal field type

# Journal field type {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Xanadu
* 
* Updated August 1, 2024
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read

There are three types of journal field: journal, journal_list, and
journal_input.  
{#c_JournalFields__table_cgb_nt1_dr__entry__2}

| Journal field types | Description |
|-|-|
| journal | Allow and store input, and display the combined inputs below the input box. Journal fields display in the activity stream in the form and in the list view. |
| journal_input | Allow and store input, but do not display the combined inputs. Journal input fields only display with the record they are associated with, so they do not display in the activity stream on the list view. |
| journal_list | Do not allow or store input; they merely display the contents of other Journal fields upon which the journal_list field is dependent. If a journal_list field is dependent on more than one Journal field, it will chronologically interweave those fields' inputs. The journal_list field does not display content within the activity stream, but rather in a separate block. |
[Table 1. Journal field types]

{#c_JournalFields__table_cgb_nt1_dr} Figure 1. Journal fields on a form

The example image contains the three available journal field types. The first is a journal
field, with its inputs displayed below the field. The second is a journal input field, which
does not show its previous inputs. The third is Journal list field, which is configured to show
the input from the journal input field above it.

## Restricting journal entries sent in a notification {#c_JournalFields__section_rw2_ztt_w1b}

Administrators can control the number of journal entries notifications include with the
following system property.  
{#c_JournalFields__table_wj5_yw1_dr__entry__3}

| Property | Label | Description |
|-|-|-|
| glide.email.journal.lines | Number of journal entries (Additional comments, Work notes, etc.) included in email notifications (-1 means all). | Specifies the number of entries from a journal field (such as Additional comments and Work notes) included in email notifications. A value of -1 includes all journal entries. * Type: integer * Default value: 3 * Location: System Properties \> Email {#c_JournalFields__ul_ekw_cx1_dr} |
[ ]

{#c_JournalFields__table_wj5_yw1_dr}

## Code for getting the contents of a journal field into an array {#c_JournalFields__section_n1c_n5t_w1b}

To put the contents of a journal field into an array so that you can iterate through each
entry, you can use the code in this page.  

    var notes = current.work_notes.getJournalEntry(-1);
    //gets all journal entries as a string where each entry is delimited by '\n\n'
    var na = notes.split("\n\n");

    //stores each entry into an array of strings
     for (var i = 0; i < na.length; i++)                 
      gs.print(na[i]);

## Journal field script values {#c_JournalFields__section_az5_45t_w1b}

The setValue() method is not supported for journal fields. Instead, assign
values in script as in the following example.  

    var now_GR = new GlideRecord('incident');
     
    //query priority 1 incidents in the state of either 'new' or 'active'.
    gr.addQuery('priority', 1);
    var gc = gr.addQuery('state', 1);
    gc.addOrCondition('state', 2);
    gr.query();
     
    while(gr.next())
    {
     
    //print a list of the incident numbers updated
    gs.print(gr.number);
     
    //add an entry to the 'work notes' journal field for each incident
    gr.work_notes = "This is a high-priority incident. Please prioritize.";
    gr.update();
    }

* **[Render journal field entries as HTML](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/4qunFVN8XqhSqjCis6RWqw)**   
  Journal fields can render text enclosed within code tags as HTML.
* **[Journal field display limits](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/3N013Ho2CYikcKaCd1EXPg#c_JournalFieldDisplayLimits)**   
  Journal fields can greatly increase the size of task records because they allow users to enter very large string values.
* **[Enable the text field character counter](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/qk5RJ14Ilf5XjzcT9jdj0Q)**   
  By default, multi-line text fields have a 4000 character limit. To help users see how many characters remain before they reach the limit, you can enable the glide.ui.textarea.character_counter property.