Kaizen #130 - Zoho CRM Scala SDK (V6) - Configuration and Initialization

Kaizen #130 - Zoho CRM Scala SDK (V6) - Configuration and Initialization

Hello and welcome to another Kaizen week!

In this week's post, we'll show you how to get started with Zoho CRM's Scala SDK, and walk you through the configuration and initialization process. Specifically, we will  discuss how to use the Scala SDK to make API calls authenticated via self-client. Please note that this article holds true for Scala SDK supporting version 6 of Zoho CRM APIs.

Software Development Kits (SDKs) are sets of tools and libraries designed to simplify the development process, and the integration between applications and specific platforms or services. They provide pre-built functionalities and abstract complex tasks, facilitating easier and faster development process. Zoho CRM's Scala SDKs act as a wrapper  for the REST APIs, thus making it easier to use the services of Zoho CRM.

Simplified Authentication using Scala SDK

Authentication with Zoho CRM APIs is facilitated by the OAuth 2.0 protocol, ensuring secure access to its resources. The process begins with the generation of a grant token for your organization in the Zoho Developer Console, where you specify the required scopes. Subsequently, using this grant token, you can generate both the access token, used for API call authentication, and the refresh token, employed for refreshing the access tokens after their one-hour expiry period. You must persist these tokens, along with their expiry times, in your server's data store for seamless API access. 

However, with the Scala SDK, this authentication process is significantly simplified. After generating the grant token and initialization, the SDK takes care of the rest. The SDK handles token generation, persistence, and refreshing the access token automatically, ensuring access to the resources without manual intervention.

Using the Zoho CRM Scala SDK

Before diving into the usage of Scala SDKs, ensure that the following prerequisites are met:
  • Ensure that the client app has Java version 11 or above.
  • Ensure that the client app has Scala version 2.13.5 or above.
  • Have an IDE such as IntelliJ installed.
  • An active Zoho CRM account.

1. Register your application with Zoho CRM

When you register a client with Zoho CRM, you establish a connection between your application and Zoho CRM, enabling your application to securely access and interact with Zoho CRM APIs and resources after authentication. The registration process involves providing essential details such as the client type, homepage URL, and authorized redirect URIs, depending on the type of client you choose.

To register your client:
  1. Go to the Zoho Developer Console
  2. Click on Get Started or +ADD CLIENT
  3. Choose the Client Type as Self-Client or Server based Applications depending on your application. Read our Kaizen post on the different client types to understand better. For this article, we will proceed with Self-client as we aim to develop a Scala application for our own use.
  4. Fill in the necessary details and click CREATE to register your client successfully. This will provide you with a Client ID and Client Secret.

2. Create a Scala project in your preferred IDE

If you already have your project set up, you may skip this step. However, if you are starting out, the next crucial step is to create a Scala Project in your preferred IDE. For the purpose of this guide, we will be using IntelliJ IDEA as the IDE of choice. 

3. Include the Zoho CRM Scala SDK in your project

To include the Zoho CRM Scala SDK in your project, you can follow different methods as outlined here.  However, for the purpose of this guide, we will demonstrate how to include the SDK using the build.sbt file.

Follow these steps to include the Zoho CRM Scala SDK in your project using the build.sbt file:
  1. Open your project in IntelliJ IDEA or your preferred IDE.
  2. Locate the build.sbt file in your project directory.
  3. Add the Zoho CRM Scala SDK dependency to your build.sbt file. To add the latest version (supporting version 6 of Zoho CRM APIs), include this line in the file  and Save: libraryDependencies ++= Seq( "com.zoho.crm" % "zohocrmsdk-6-0" % "2.0.0")
  4. Sync the changes and reload the files to ensure that the SDK has been added to the project.
Please note that when you install the Zoho CRM SDK, there are many dependencies which will also be installed. These dependencies are necessary for the proper functioning of the SDK and will be automatically managed by your build tool (such as sbt) during the installation process.


4. Obtain the grant token to authenticate your client

To make API calls, you need to authenticate your client by generating a grant token with the required scopes. For this guide, we will be using the self-client created in the first step. 
Log in to the Zoho Developer Console, and generate the grant token with the required scopes. Please note that this grant token has a short life span, and that it is used to generate the access and refresh tokens. Refer to our Kaizen on OAuth2.0 for more details.


5. Configuration and Initialization of the SDK

The configuration step in initializing the SDK involves setting up various objects to define how the SDK operates. This includes specifying the domain for API calls, token persistence, error logging, resource information storage, and more.

Before going into the specifics of various configurations, let us first discuss Token Persistence. Token Persistence refers to the mechanism through which access tokens and refresh tokens obtained during authentication are stored and managed by the SDK.  By storing tokens securely, the SDK can automatically manage token expiration and renewal, eliminating the need for manual token handling by the developer.For details on the different persistence methods supported by our SDKs, please refer to the last section of this post. In this guide, we will be using File Persistence as the method for Token Persistence. However, please note that users must choose the method that best suits their requirements and preferences.

Here is a sample code to initialize the SDK. Make sure to replace the client ID, client secret, grantToken, file paths, and other configurations with your specific values. 
  1. import com.zoho.api.authenticator.OAuthToken
  2. import com.zoho.crm.api.dc.USDataCenter
  3. import com.zoho.crm.api.exception.SDKException
  4. import com.zoho.crm.api.{HeaderMap, Initializer, SDKConfig}
  5. import com.zoho.api.logger.Logger
  6. import com.zoho.api.authenticator.store.FileStore

  8. object BulkWrite {
  9.   @throws[SDKException]
  10.   def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
  11.     val environment = USDataCenter.PRODUCTION
  12.     val token = new OAuthToken.Builder().clientID("1000.xxx").clientSecret("xxx").grantToken( "1000.xxx").findUser(false).build()
  13.     //Object containing the absolute file path to store tokens
  14.     var tokenstore = new FileStore("/Documents/SDK-Projects/Scala-SDK/ScalaSample/sdk_tokens_new.txt")
  15.     var logger = new Logger.Builder()
  16.       .level(Logger.Levels.ALL)
  17.       .filePath("/Documents/SDK-Projects/Scala-SDK/ScalaSample/scala_sdk_log.log")
  18.       .build
  19.     var sdkConfig = new SDKConfig.Builder().pickListValidation(false).autoRefreshFields(false).connectionTimeout(1000).requestTimeout(1000).socketTimeout(1000).build
  20.     new Initializer.Builder().environment(environment).token(token).store(tokenstore).logger(logger).SDKConfig(sdkConfig).initialize()
  21.   }
  22. }
  23. class BulkWrite {}

During the initialization step, the following configuration details have to be defined to configure the  behavior and functionality of the SDK. While two of them are mandatory, the others are optional.
  1. environment (mandatory): It determines the API environment, which dictates the domain and URL for making API calls. The format follows the Domain.Environment pattern.
    eg : val env = USDataCenter.PRODUCTION
  2. token (mandatory) : Contains the user token details. Create an instance of OAuthToken with the details that you get after registering your Zoho client. Depending on the available tokens, you can select one of the following flows:
    1. Grant Token Flow: Involves storing and persisting the grant token. This flow is used when you have a grant token available. The SDK will generate and persist the access and refresh tokens, and also refresh the access token upon expiry.
    2. Refresh Token Flow: Involves storing and persisting the refresh token. This flow is used when you have a refresh token available. The SDK will generate and persist the access and refresh tokens, and also refresh the access token upon expiry.
    3. Access Token Flow: In this flow, the access token is directly utilized for API calls without token persistence. The SDK will persist the access token, but upon expiry it won't be refreshed, and an INVALID_TOKEN error will be thrown once the access token has expired.
    4. Id FLow : You can use the id from the persisted token file/DB to make API calls. The id is a unique system generated value for each token details entry in the file/DB. Please note that you can use this method only after the SDK has already been initialized.
  3. logger (optional) : You can customize the logging behavior by setting the desired log level, which can be one of the following: FATAL, ERROR, WARNING, INFO, DEBUG, TRACE, ALL, or OFF. Additionally, you can configure the file path and file name for the log file.
  4. store (optional) : Allows you to configure token persistence for your application. If this is skipped, the SDK will create the "sdk_tokens.txt" file in the current working directory by default to persist the tokens. 

    Database Persistence
    File Persistence
    Custom Persistence
    var tokenstore = new DBStore.Builder()
      .host("hostName")
      .databaseName("databaseName")
      .tableName("tableName")
      .userName("userName")
      .password("password")
      .portNumber("portNumber")
      .build
    var tokenstore = new FileStore("/Users/user_name/Documents/scala_sdk_token.txt")
    var tokenStore = new CustomStore()

  5. SDKConfig (optional) : This method takes care of additional SDK configurations.

    Configuration Key
    Description
    autoRefreshFields
    Default Value : False
    A boolean configuration field to enable or disable automatic refreshing of module fields in the background. If set to true, fields are refreshed every hour, and if set to false, fields must be manually refreshed or deleted.
    pickListValidation
    Default Value : True
    This field enables or disables pick list validation. If enabled, user input for pick list fields is validated, and if the value does not exist in the pick list, the SDK throws an error. If disabled, the input is not validated and the API call is made.
    enableSSLVerification
    Default Value : True
    A boolean field to enable or disable curl certificate verification. If set to true, the SDK verifies the authenticity of certificate. If set to false, the SDK skips the verification.
    connectionTimeout
    Default Value : 0
    The maximum time (in seconds) to wait while trying to connect. Use 0 to wait indefinitely.
    timeout
    Default Value : 0
    The maximum time (in seconds) to allow cURL functions to execute. Use 0 to wait indefinitely.

  6. requestProxy (optional) : Configure this only if you're using a proxy server to make the API calls. To configure, create an instance of RequestProxy containing the proxy properties of the user.

    var requestProxy = new RequestProxy.Builder()
      .host("proxyHost")
      .port(80)
      .user("proxyUser")
      .password("password")
      .userDomain("userDomain")
      .build()

  7. resourcePath (optional) : To configure the absolute directory path to store user-specific files containing module fields information. If this object is skipped, the files will be stored in the project directory itself.
Once the initialization is successful, you can verify that the access and refresh tokens are generated and persisted. You can do this by checking the tokens file or the database, depending on the token persistence method you configured during initialization.


Token Persistence

There are three token persistence methods supported by our SDKs. 
  1. Token Persistence using a Database : In Database persistence, tokens are stored and retrieved from a database (e.g., MySQL). In this case, you should create a table in your database with the required columns. The custom database name and table name can be set in DBStore instance, when you initialise the SDK.
    For instance, to persist your tokens in a table named token in database named zoho in your mySQL DB, use this:

    CREATE DATABASE zoho; // use this to create database named zoho
    // use this to create a table named token, with the following necessary columns
    CREATE TABLE token ( 
      id varchar(10) NOT NULL,
      user_name varchar(255) NOT NULL,
      client_id varchar(255),
      client_secret varchar(255),
      refresh_token varchar(255),
      access_token varchar(255),
      grant_token varchar(255),
      expiry_time varchar(20),
      redirect_url varchar(255),
      api_domain varchar(255),
      primary key (id)
    );

  2. File Persistence : This method allows storing and retrieving the authentication tokens from the file in the file path that you configure. The file will contain the id, user_name, client_id, client_secret, refresh_token, access_token, grant_token, expiry_time, redirect_url, and api_domain.
  3. Custom Persistence : This is a method where users can create their own method of storing and retrieving authentication tokens. To use this method, users need to implement the TokenStore interface and override its methods according to their own logic. For more details, please refer here.
We hope that you found this useful. In next week's Kaizen post, we will discuss about Bulk Write operations using the Scala SDK for Zoho CRM, and on how to import both parent and child records in a single operation.

If you have any queries, let us know the comments below, or send an email to support@zohocrm.com. We would love to hear from you. 


Cheers!
Anu Abraham



Recommended Reads:





    • Recent Topics

    • Items Serial Tracking Issue

      We enabled Zoho Items inventory tracking then disabled it after some time now we want to enable it again When I check the missing serial number reports I see one item But I cant see any option to Add the serial numbers Where and how to add the serial

    • Composite Services and Account Tracking

      I am looking to garner support/request the ability to make composite services. A quick search in the forums brings up multiple requests for this feature. I fail to see why an item is mandatory while services are optional. I also would like to see the

    • Zoho Payroll integration with Zoho Books - unable to match multiple bank feeds to one wage payment

      For one employee's wage, I make two partial payments. Those bank feed transactions come into Zoho Books via bank integration. I make one pay-run for the month in Zoho Payroll and that comes into Zoho Books via the Zoho integration. Zoho Books doesn't let me match multiple bank feed transactions against a single wage item. Please fix urgently. I can't complete my books because of this.

    • Add Checkbox Selection & Bulk Actions to Delivery Challans Module

      Hi Zoho Team, I’ve noticed that in the Sales Orders module, there are checkboxes beside each entry that allow users to select multiple records for bulk actions such as print, email, or delete. However, in the Delivery Challans module, this option appears

    • Can't be able to check-in in laptop

      even after giving location access still i can't be able to check-in in laptop.

    • Compensation Cess on Coal ₹400 per tonne. ?????

      The compensation cess rate varies by the type of product. And the cess is calculated based on the value of the product without GST. Coal, for example, comes with a cess of ₹400 per tonne. That means that if you sell 2 tonnes of coal that have a value

    • 7 month over zoho book purchase but still not immpliments Golive

      7 month over zoho book purchase but still not immpliments Golive one problems zoho team short out then other problems come still very poor mangments and immliments team . struggling with the templates in ZOHO Books. Especially with the placement of some

    • Average Costing / Weighted Average Costing

      Hello fellow maadirs. I understand Zoho Books uses FIFO method of dealing with inventory costing, but do you guys have any plans to introduce average costing? We indians need average costing. It's part of our culture. Please. I beg thee. Thanks.

    • SMS to customers from within Bigin

      Hi All, Is there anyone else crying out for Bigin SMS capability to send an SMS to customers directly from the Bigin interface? We have inbuilt telephony already with call recordings which works well. What's lacking is the ability to send and receive

    • How to update/remove file in zoho creator widgets using javascript API

      Hi Team, I have developed a widget which allows inserting and updating records I have file upload field with multiple file upload. Now while doing insert form record, I am using uploadFile API to upload files for that record. I am using updateRecord API

    • Parent & Member Accounts (batch updating / inheritance)

      Hello, I find the Parent Account functionality very useful for creating custom views and reports, but was wondering if I can also carry out batch editing on all members (aka children) of a Parent Account at the same time. Alternatively, can I set members to automatically inherit the values of the parent? For example: We have a chain of supermarkets that buy our products. These supermarkets are all members of a Parent Account in our CRM. We release a new product and all of the member stores wish to

    • Edit Legend of Chart

      I would like to edit the legend of the chart. Every time I enable the legend, I get a very unhelpful (1), and when I try to type to change to what I would desire, nothing happens, which is very frustrating. I've gone through your online tutorials and nowhere can I find a legend settings button. This seems a simple fix, where can edit the legend? Thanks.

    • Extended timeouts for APIs beyond 40secs for to accomodate LLMs

      A 40 second max response time for API calls is fine when connecting to most services, however is unsuitable when dealing with LLMs (ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini) where the response timing is very uncertain. Is there any way to increase this? It would be great

    • Deletion of Zoho Account

      To whom it may concern, Good day, My account has been created incorrectly in Zoho and I am not able to join my Company's Zoho account - attached screenshot for your kind reference Alphatronmarine - Portal Kindly advise procedure to delete this current

    • Workflow for deposit to bank account

      Hello, Is it possible to make a workflow when a deposit is made to your bank account which is coupled to Zoho books? I want Zoho to sent an email each time a deposit is made to our bank account via a workflow. Regards, Steven

    • Marking Retainer invoice paid through Deluge

      Hey Everyone, We have a scenario where we are collecting deposit payments on our website. Now, in zoho books, we need to create a retainer invoice and mark it as paid automatically using deluge just like we can mark normal invoices as paid. I have tried

    • Create a new record in custom module vi custom button

      I have zoho books premium plan . I have 2 custom modules in zoho books. 1. Goods Receipt 2. Delivery Order, I need to select multiple records from Goods Receipt and create a new Delivery order from these multiple records. (like multilple sales order into

    • Profile date settings

      At present I have "EEE, MMMM dd, yyyy" but this takes an exessive amount of column space, we should be able to input our own format. I would like to use "EEE, MMM dd, yy" - a much shorter version of the above but with the same abbreviated info, requiring

    • Delivery Method Field in Sales Order Module

      In Books and in Sales orders, the "Delivery Method" field seems to allow for anything to be entered and it seems to store those entries for future use.  When you chose to convert a sales order to a purchase order, the related field is now called "Shipment

    • Editing / Removing stages for pipeline

      Hello, I'm trying to create a new pipeline. I created a new stage and made an error when entering the probability. How can I edit fields in stages that I created? Can I delete these stages from "Add Stages" list?

    • Dynamically Filter User Lookup in CRM Subform

      We have a subform called Pricing Calculator in the Zoho CRM Opportunity module and need some assistance. Current Setup: First column: Picklist (Level) Second column: User Lookup field When a Level is selected, we want the User lookup to display only users

    • change time zone

      can't seem to figure out how to change the time zone of the project

    • Bigin iOS app update: Built-in telephony and RingCentral support

      Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce Built-In Telephony and RingCentral support in the latest iOS version(v1.11.13) of the Bigin mobile app. Once the integration is completed on the Bigin desktop site(bigin.zoho.com), you can choose the Built-In

    • Add Image or Update Image API - for Items Module

      I am trying to add new Items to Zoho Inventory from Zoho Creator. I achieved this using Zoho Inventory Create Item API, but how to add or update the item image from Zoho Creator to Zoho Inventory Item Module?

    • Introducing Booking Pages—a topping for your Calendar Scheduling needs!

      Greetings, We're here with a new topping for Bigin! Let's dive into the details. What does this topping do? Scheduling appointments with customers is one of the most common challenges small businesses face on a daily basis, as it often involves frequent

    • Debugging `try` blocks : Tip

      I find it annoying that if one line inside a `try` block has an error, the Deluge arser points the beginning of the block to the location of the error. BUT, if you temporarily comment out the initial `try {`  The parser goes through the whole block and

    • [Product Update] TimeSheets module is now renamed as Time Logs in Zoho Projects.

      Dear Zoho Analytics customers, As part of the ongoing enhancements in Zoho Projects, the Timesheets module has been renamed to Time Logs. However, the module name will continue to be displayed as Timesheets in Zoho Analytics until the relevant APIs are

    • Use approval workflow comments in record scripts

      Greetings, i'm running an approval workflow for my records, during approval/rejection there is a step where comments are entered. i want to add there comments to the record and to use them in various deluge scripts like sending emails and so on.  how

    • ZOHO Store

      Not able to make a payment We are using Zoho One, and we are from India. The payment currency, which shows for us, is in USD. But the system says we can choose Country/Region India if it shows INR only. Attaching screenshots for more info.

    • Support Migration into Aliases in Zoho Mail

      Hello Zoho Mail Team, How are you? We are in the process of migrating some of our users from Google Workspace (Gmail and Google Drive) to Zoho. During this process, we noticed that Zoho Mail currently only supports migration into a primary mailbox and

    • API for Z Workdrive Flow Make-Integromat ?

      We are zoho workdrive fans Also we would like to have an api to work with Zoho Flow or with Make better known by its old name INTEGROMAT Is it planned and when? 3 months -6 months or more?

    • Apps Pane no longer visible

      I have read all the info and help and nothing works, I do not have a "show apps" anywhere and I can no longer see my Apps pane in the left hand side of mail, please advise how to get this back

    • Canvas View - Print

      What is the best way to accomplish a print to PDF of the canvas view?

    • 5名限定 課題解決型ワークショップイベント Zoho ワークアウト開催のお知らせ(8/21)

      ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。Zoho ユーザーコミュニティチームの藤澤です。 8月開催のZoho ワークアウトについてお知らせします。 今回はZoomにてオンライン開催します。 ▷▷参加登録はこちら：https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/eVOEnBsSQ2uvX4WN5Z5DeQ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Zoho ワークアウトとは？ Zoho ユーザー同士で交流しながら、サービスに関する疑問や不明点の解消を目的とした「Zoho

    • New in Zoho Forms: Inline OTP Verification

      Hello form builders, We are excited to announce the launch of Inline OTP Verification in Zoho Forms, a smarter way to ensure the authenticity of the contact details you collect. Until now, OTP Verification in Zoho Forms worked as a pre-access step: respondents

    • Zoho Mail : Associate emails with Meeting records and allow multiple emails to be assocaited at once

      Is there a workaround that would allow either of these? I want to associate emails with Meeting records. I also would like to be able to select multiple emails at once for association with a record.

    • Create task from email

      Is there a way on mobile to create a task from an email? I use this feature a lot and when traveling now I read email on mobile. By the time I get to my office I forget about them since I didn't add it to a task. Is this feature missing on moble?

    • Zoho Socials - Unable to view Channels and SmartQ

      Hi, The channel Facebook has been added by the admin, however, it is not visible on the User level (employee). Other channels are visible. Also, we have the premium account, and SmartQ is not working. Can anyone help? Regards, Priyanka

    • Eliminating Manual Consolidation: Automating Currency Field Sync from Task to Project

      Hello Everyone, A Custom function is a user-written set of code to achieve a specific requirement. Set the required conditions needed as when to trigger using the Workflow rules (be it Tasks / Project) and associate the custom function to it. Requirement:

    • We want to set the "Converted from Lead" value in Deals using a Workflow or via a Deluge script. How?

      For use in Zoho Analytics, we need the field "Converted from Lead" filled in our deal records. This field is empty everywhere, because we do not create deals directly when converting a lead to a contact. We want to do that using the API or a workflow

    • Next Page