Kaizen #194 : Trigger Client Script via Custom buttons

Kaizen #194 : Trigger Client Script via Custom buttons



Hello everyone!

Welcome back to another interesting and useful Kaizen post.

We know that Client Scripts can be triggered with Canvas buttons and we discussed this with a use case in Kaizen#180. Today, let us discuss how to trigger Client Script when a Custom Button is clicked. Using this, you can execute Client Script when a custom button is clicked.

In this post,


1. Event Details 
2. Supported Pages
3. Use Case - Export Subform Rows to Zoho Sheet in a Single Click!
4. Solution
5. Summary
6. Related Links



Client Script support for Custom Buttons opens up possibilities for automation, personalization, and enhanced user interactions in Zoho CRM when a custom button is clicked.
Here is a detailed walkthrough to help you understand it better.

1. Event Details 

The Button event triggers the Client Script when a custom button is clicked. Each time this event is invoked, the context argument is passed to the Client Script. The context contains information about the page from which the button was clicked.


Click here to know more about Client Script Events.

2. Supported Pages

A Custom Button can be placed in different positions based on the Page.


You can add a  custom button in the Util Menu, in Each Record or in the Mass Action Menu of the List Page.


Also, a Detail Page can have a custom button either In Record or in the Related List. Click here for more details about the different possible positions of a custom button.

The following table lists the supported pages and the corresponding context argument, which provides different details based on the page type.


To create a Client Script and make it trigger when a custom button is clicked, first create a Custom button and associate it with a Client Script as shown in the following image.


 Click here to view the steps to create a custom button and configure a Client Script. 

Note:

You can configure the Client Script only from the Buttons page to trigger it when a user clicks a custom button, and not the usual way of Creating Client Script via setup page. Once a script is created, it can be edited and updated from the Client Script setup page

3. Use Case - Export Subform Rows to Zoho Sheet in a Single Click!

Zylker manufactures medical instruments, and its sales representatives frequently need to share bulk order details with distributors and hospital partners using Zoho Sheets. These details such as product names, quantities, and prices are captured in a Subform on the Purchase Order Detail(Standard) Page.
To simplify this, the admin wants to add a custom button called "Export Products" on the Purchase Order Detail Page. When clicked, it should export the Purchase Items from the Subform and move the content to the specified sheet.

4. Solution

To export subform rows to Zoho Sheet with a single click, you can add a custom button to the Detail Page of the record. When clicked, a Client Script will be triggered to fetch the subform data from the Detail Page and pass it to a Function that uses zoho.sheet.createRecords() to insert data into Zoho Sheet.

Here’s how to implement this:

  • Add  “Export Products” custom button on the Detail Page.
  • Add the script to collect subform rows which invokes the Function.
  • Write a Function to create entry in Zoho Sheets  

A. Add “Export Products” custom button on the Detail Page.

  • Go to Setup → Modules and Fields under Customization.
  • Select a Module as Purchase Order.
  • Click on Buttons → Then click + New Button.
  • Enter Button Name and select Action Type as "Client Script"
  • Choose Button Position and Layout details as shown in the following image.
  • Click Create in Configured Client Script, enter the script, and click Add.
  • Select the profiles for which these buttons should be visible.
  • Click Save.



B. Add the Script to collect subform rows and invoke the Function

Use the following Client Script when you configure the custom button.

  1. var casesheetid = ZDK.Client.getInput([{ type: 'text', label: 'Enter the Sheet ID' }], 'Sheet details', 'OK', 'Cancel');
  2. if (casesheetid == null) {
  3.         ZDK.Client.showAlert("Enter the *Case Sheet ID - Import* to import data");
  4.  }
  5. var purchase_items = ZDK.Page.getField('Purchase_items).getValue();
  6. ZDK.Client.showLoader({type: 'page', template:'spinner', message: 'Export in progress, please wait'});
  7. var c=1;
  8. if (sheetid == null) {
  9.     ZDK.Client.hideLoader(); 
  10.     ZDK.Client.showAlert("Enter the *Case Sheet - Export* ID to export data");
  11. }
  12. purchase_items.forEach((r,i) => {
  13.             try {
  14.                resp = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Functions.execute("csvWrite", { "Product_Name": r.Product_Name.name, "List_Price": r.List_Price, "Discount": r.Discount, "Total": r.Total,"Sheetid":casesheetid }); }
  15.             catch (error) {
  16.                 c = 0;
  17.                  ZDK.Client.hideLoader(); 
  18.                 ZDK.Client.showAlert("Unexpected issue occured while adding data in row number "); }
  19.     });
  20.     ZDK.Client.hideLoader(); 
  21.     if (c) {
  22.         ZDK.Client.showMessage("Export completed. Please check the Sheet");
  23.     }
  24.     else
  25.     {
  26.        ZDK.Client.showMessage("Unexpected error "); }}

In this code, several ZDKs are used for various purposes. Click on the ZDK hyperlinks to learn more.


Note

The Client Script you intend to link with the button will be saved only after the custom button is saved.

C. Write a Function to create entry in Zoho Sheets 

  • Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Functions.
  • In the Functions page, click + Create New Function.
  • Choose the category as Button.
  • Click Create.
  • In the Create Function page, enter a name as csvWrite and description for your function.
  • Enter the following function code and click Save.
  1. string standalone.csvWrite(String product,String qty,String up,String amt, String Sheetid){
  2. queryData = Map();
  3. writeData = Map();
  4. header = Map();
  5. writeData.put("Product",product);
  6. writeData.put("Quantity",qty);
  7. writeData.put("Unit_Price",up);
  8. writeData.put("Amount",amt);
  9. SheetData = zoho.sheet.createRecords("Sheetid","Sheet1",writeData,queryData,"sheetconnection");
  10. return SheetData;
  11. }

Click here to know more about zoho.sheet.createRecords().

In the code above:
  • sheetconnection refers to the name of the Zoho Sheet connection, which must have the scopes: ZohoSheet.dataAPI.UPDATE and ZohoSheet.dataAPI.READ.
  • Click here to know how to create a Connection with the required scopes.
  • sheetid is the unique identifier of the Zoho Sheet, available in the sheet’s URL.
  • Sheet1 represents the name of the worksheet (i.e., the tab name shown at the bottom of the Zoho Sheet).
  • Now, when the custom button is clicked, the Client Script is triggered. It prompts for the Sheet ID, fetches the contents of the Purchase Order subform, and invokes a function that writes the content to the Sheet.
Here's how the Client Script works.



5. Summary

In this post we have seen,
  • What is a Button event?
  • How to configure Client Script for a custom button
  • How to write data into Zoho Sheets from Client Script
  • How to create a Function and call it from Client Script

6. Related Links


We are thrilled to be nearing the 200th post in our Kaizen series. As we approach this exciting milestone, we would love to hear from you. Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your input helps us improve and shape the series to serve you better.

Please take a moment to share your thoughts using ✨ this form 

We hope you found this post useful!

Happy Client Scripting! 😊
    • Sticky Posts

    • Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how
    • Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks

      Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.
    • Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications

      Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are
    • Kaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms

      Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achieved
    • Kaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.
    • Recent Topics

    • Automate pushing Zoho CRM backups into Zoho WorkDrive

      Through our Zoho One subscription we have both Zoho CRM and Zoho WorkDrive. We have regular backups setup in Zoho CRM. Once the backup is created, we are notified. Since we want to keep these backups for more than 7 days, we manually download them. They
    • Enhance productivity with the revamped Zoho Sheet View

      Hello folks, For some time now, you've been able to use the Zoho Sheet View to quickly edit multiple records or to insert a batch of new records. Its tabular interface allows users to engage in these tasks productively. Despite this, the existing Sheet
    • Cannot post to Instagram. I get the error: Insufficient permission to publish on this page. Check with your page Admin to update permissions.

      We had another admin that left the company. Since he left, we get this error when posting to Instagram.
    • Can I re-send the Customer Satisfaction Survey after a ticket closure?

      Hello, Some customers does not answer the survey right after closure, is it possible to re-send after a few days or weeks? Best Regards!
    • Whatsapp Connection Status still "Pending" after migration

      Hello, I migrated my WhatsApp API to Zoho from another provider a day ago. So far the connection status is still “Pending”. There is a problem? How long does it usually take?
    • Sharing URLs and direct access

      Hello, I am storing my team's email signature images on Workdrive. I am creating a public image download share and adding “?directDownload=true” so that the image can be accessed without the Workdrive interface. A few questions: 1) Can we generate friendly
    • Zoho desk desktop application

      does zoho desk has a destop applicaion?
    • Ability to re-order Workflow Rules

      We really need the ability to re-order workflow rules within departments.  Either the ability to drag/drop them into a different order or something.
    • Ticket to article and Ticket to template

      Hello! I would like to know if it is possible (and how) to do the following actions: 1. To generate an article from a ticket (reply + original message) 2. Easy convert an answer to an email template
    • Create an article template

      I have a question concern the Knolwedge Database from Zoho Desk. There is any possibility to create an article template ? Exemple of what I research : TODAY : I want to create a lot af articles with the same baseline > I create one article > I copy/paste
    • Persisting email signals to contact timeline?

      Hello there. Regarding the email signals that are logged when a contact opens an email, am I correct that these signals are not logged to a contact's timeline? Ideally, I would like to have this context available for future follow-ups, if the contact
    • Add Attachment Support to Zoho Flow Mailhook / Email Trigger Module

      Dear Zoho Support Team, We hope you are well. We would like to kindly request a feature enhancement for the Mailhook module in Zoho Flow. Currently, the email trigger in Zoho Flow provides access to the message body, subject, from address, and to address,
    • FOLDER DISAPPEARED

      Hello Zoho Community. I recently found a problem with no explanation: a folder in Zoho Analytics just disappeared, but the tables and SQL sentences still existed, the folder was not deleted. The solution for me in this case was to create a new folder,
    • Unified WhatsApp Number Management in Zoho Desk and SalesIQ

      Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, We are currently utilizing both Zoho Desk and Zoho SalesIQ for our customer support operations. While both platforms offer WhatsApp integration, we are facing challenges due to the requirement of separate WhatsApp numbers
    • Change of Blog Author

      Hi, I am creating the blog post on behalf of my colleague. When I publish the post, it is showing my name as author of the post which is not intended and needs to be changed to my colleague's name. How can I change the name of the author in the blogs?? Thanks, Ramanan
    • Zoho FSM API Delete Record

      Hi FSM Team, It would be great if you could delete a record via API. Thank you,
    • How create a draft via workflow?

      I wish to create a workflow rule for specific emails that creates a draft response - not an automatic email reply, but just a draft with a set response ready to be verified by an agent who can then manually select recipients. Alternatively, the workflow
    • Instant Messaging Update | Now migrate your WhatsApp Business phonenumber from another BSP to Zoho Desk | Dec'23

      Hi All, Everything seems to move at lightning speed these days, and time is certainly flying by for the IM team. But we are delighted at how much ground we covered this year. 🚀 For one, we enabled WhatsApp business phone number migration so that you
    • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

      Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files
    • Upload ticket attachments via Drag-&-Drop

      Hello, if you want to upload a file to the ticket attachment you need to click the button and use the file browser to select and upload the desired file. In many cases, it would be much more efficient if you could simply drag the file to the browser window...
    • Can we disable add to cart in Zoho Commerce?

      Hello, Our sales happen on the phone. During the call the customer is directed to our website to inspect the products together with the sales rep. So we need a way to present our inventory. I figured Zoho Commerce is a good fit for this use case. However
    • Introducing WhatsApp integration in Bigin

      Greetings! In today's business landscape, messaging apps play a significant role in customer operations. Customers can engage with businesses, seek support, ask questions, receive personalized recommendations, read reviews, and even make purchases—all
    • Issues with Zoho Sheet in Mac

      I have downloaded the Zoho App from App Store but It is failing to Save As, Open & Download Operations. App Store
    • Zoho One account closure vs deactivation

      I wonder what are the best practices and guidelines around deactivating vs deleting Zoho accounts in organisations? Any practical considerations?
    • Global Search placement in the new UI

      Having a hard time with the global search placement in the UI redesign. Surely I can't be the only one. Previously global search placement was perfect. A bar at the top/center of the page. Exactly where you would expect it to be. Since the new UI has
    • Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

      Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards
    • CRM gets location smart with the all new Map View: visualize records, locate records within any radius, and more

      Hello all, We've introduced a new way to work with location data in Zoho CRM: the Map View. Instead of scrolling through endless lists, your records now appear as pins on a map. Built on top of the all-new address field and powered by Mappls (MapMyIndia),
    • Schedule Zoho CRM reports only on Business Days

      Hello, Is it possible to schedule reports only on business days ? We currently get daily sales reports on weekend which has no value since the sales team doesn't work on weekends. Thanks
    • Missing the "Find & Merge Duplicates" choice

      Hi, I am missing the "Find & Merge Duplicates" choice. I looked under the "More Actions" menu in Contacts, Accounts, Vendors, and Leads and it is not there.  I have full permissions.  Please assist me on finding this feature. Thanks!
    • How to install Widget in inventory module

      Hi, I am trying to install a app into Sales Order Module related list, however there is no button allow me to do that. May I ask how to install widget to inventory module related list?
    • Improved Contact Sync flow in Google Integration with Zoho CRM

      Hello Everyone, Your contact sync in Google integration just got revamped! We have redesigned the sync process to give users more control over what data flows into Google and ensure that this data flows effortlessly between Zoho CRM and Google. With this
    • Cannot see Application from Lookup field

      Hi all, I am trying to access data for an application on our account via a lookup field; however, the application doesn't appear in the dropdown at all. Can anyone shed any light on this, please? I have asked Zoho support; however, they're just as confused,
    • Deluge Error Code 1002 - "Resource does not exist."

      I am using the following script in a Custom Button on a Sales Return. Basically, the function takes the information in the sales return (plus the arguments that are entered by the user when the button is pushed) and creates a return shipping label via
    • How to track a contact or customer's past product purchases in Bigin Premiere?

      Hello there. I am the sole user of Bigin for a small company (chess club), and would like to track current and past purchases made by a contact (player) or company (family which includes the player). Players may register for multiple tournaments, take
    • LENTITUD EN RECIBIR MAIL

      Buenas tardes, Estamos experimentando lentitud en la recepción de correos electrónicos.
    • Items should display under specific warehouse

      I have configured the multi warehouse but it show all the items under all warehouse which is not correct according to our business logic, so i want that items should only display under that specific warehouse not under all the warehouses not even with zero quantity. Some items should be common but not all so is there any option for that purpose so i can specific the items to its warehouse. Regards
    • Tracking Non-Inventory Items

      We have several business locations and currently use zoho inventory to track retail items (sales and purchase orders). We were hoping to use zoho inventory to track our non-inventory items as well (toilet paper, paper towels, etc). I understand that we
    • Partial refunds

      I am trying to process refund for a one item invoice, however the refund is partial: i am getting this error while creating credit note, can anyone share some wisdom about this
    • Best practice importing items and matching assemblies

      Hi, I was wondering what would be the best practice to import items and composite items (assemblies) From my backup, what should I import first? The items or the composite items? I am on Zoho one, using inventory and books. Kind regards, Sabine
    • Bulk Fill In & Edit PO/Bill/SO/Invoice

      Hello, I am adding stock in bulk on a PO, the system is automatically populating the Rate (price) and Tax from the item data. Problem is that the bill rate is different from the rate on the item data, so I have to manually erase each and enter the price.
    • Next Page