Kaizen #155 - Frequently Asked Questions on Subforms

Kaizen #155 - Frequently Asked Questions on Subforms

Hello all!

Welcome back to another post in our Kaizen series.
In this post, we will address the most frequently asked questions about Zoho CRM Subforms from the Zoho CRM Developer Community Forum.

Subforms

Subforms allow users to capture multiple records related to a single record in a structured format. They represent one-to-many relationships, such as listing multiple products associated with a single quote.

1. Can subforms be marked as required?

Yes, subforms can be marked as required.



2. What happens if I mark a subform as required?

When you mark a subform as required, the subform must contain values in at least one row for the record to be saved. 

3. Can fields be marked as mandatory in subforms?

Yes, individual fields within a subform can be marked as mandatory.



4. What happens if I add data to a Subform that is not mandatory, but leave the mandatory fields empty?

Your subform will not be saved unless all the mandatory fields are populated. If you have data to add to a subform, you must fill in all mandatory fields in a row you populate. 

5. Are subform fields supported in the Blueprint transition?

System-defined subforms(Line Items) in the Inventory modules can be associated with the "During Transition" phase. These subform fields can be found under "Associated Items." To access them, go to During Transition > Add > Associated Items, where you can see the Inventory modules. Note that, by default, the line items will be marked as mandatory.



6. Can I use custom subform fields from the Inventory modules in the "During Transition" phase?

Only system-defined subform fields are supported in the "During Transition" phase. Custom subform fields cannot be used.

7. How many records (rows) can be added to system-defined subforms in Inventory modules such as Quotes, Invoices, Sales Orders, and Purchase Orders?

A maximum of 200 rows can be added to system-defined subforms in the Inventory modules.

8. What happens if I add a custom subform to an inventory module?

 By default, inventory modules have a total limit of 200 rows across all subforms in the module, including custom and system-defined subforms. If you add a custom subform with a row limit (e.g., 50 rows), you will need to reduce the row limit for the Line Item subform accordingly (e.g., to 150 rows). If the total limit is not within 200, you will get an error when you try to save the module.

You can update the row limits using the "Maximum row entries allowed" option. To do this, go to Setup > Customization > Modules and Fields > Select the module (e.g., Quotes) > Subform Section > Gear Icon > Edit Properties > Maximum row entries allowed.

9. How many subform rows can be created per subform in modules other than Inventory modules?

A maximum of 100 rows can be created per subform in modules other than Inventory modules.

10. How many columns can a subform support?

A subform can support up to 25 columns, meaning you can add a maximum of 25 fields.

11. How many subforms can be created per module?

The number of subforms that can be created per module depends on the edition:
  • Enterprise and Zoho One: 2 subforms.
  • CRM Plus and Ultimate: 5 subforms.

12. Can we create a custom subform in the Professional edition?

System-defined subforms are available in inventory modules like Quotes, Invoices, Sales Orders, and Purchase Orders. However, custom subforms can only be created in the Enterprise edition and above.

13. Can we trigger workflows based on changes to subform fields?  

As of September 2024, triggering workflows based on changes to subform fields is yet to be supported.

14. Can we use custom functions to manipulate subforms?

Yes! You can use custom functions to manipulate subforms through the parent record. 

15. How do I retrieve subform data in a module using the Search and COQL APIs?

To retrieve subform module data via the Search and COQL APIs, you need to use its corresponding subform module's API name instead of its parent module API name. For more details, refer to our Kaizen post: Kaizen #124 - Manipulating Subform using Zoho CRM APIs.

16. Can subforms be included in reports?

Yes, you can create reports based on subforms present in the module to analyze related data.

17. Can I import subform records when I import records in bulk to Zoho CRM using the Bulk Write API?

Yes, you can insert subform records along with the parent record using the Bulk Write API. For more details, refer to our Kaizen post: Kaizen #131 - Bulk Write for parent-child records using Scala SDK.





    • Sticky Posts

    • Kaizen #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.
    • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

      Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.
    • Celebrating 200 posts of Kaizen! Share your ideas for the milestone post

      Hello Developers, We launched the Kaizen series in 2019 to share helpful content to support your Zoho CRM development journey. Staying true to its spirit—Kaizen Series: Continuous Improvement for Developer Experience—we've shared everything from FAQs
    • Kaizen #193: Creating different fields in Zoho CRM through API

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.
    • Client Script | Update - Introducing Commands in Client Script!

      Have you ever wished you could trigger Client Script from contexts other than just the supported pages and events? Have you ever wanted to leverage the advantage of Client Script at your finger tip? Discover the power of Client Script - Commands! Commands
    • Recent Topics

    • How I set default email addresses for Sales Orders and Invoices

      I have customers that have different departments that handle Sales Orders and Invoices. How can i set a default email for Sales Orders that's different than the default email for Invoices? Is there a way I can automate this using the Contact Persons Departments
    • Modular Permission Levels

      We need more modular Permissions per module in Books we have 2 use cases that are creating problems We need per module export permission we have a use case where users should be able to view the sales orders but not export it, but they can export other
    • Kaizen #157: Flyouts in Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting edition of our Kaizen series, where we explore fresh insights and innovative ideas to help you discover more and expand your knowledge!In this post, we'll walk through how to display Flyouts in Client Script
    • How get stock name from other column ?

      How get stock name from other column ? e.g. =STOCK(C12;"price") where C12 is the code of the stock
    • Adding a developer for editing the client application with a single user license

      Hi, I want to know that I as a developer I developed one application and handed over to the customer who is using the application on a single user license. Now after6 months customer came back to me and needs some changes in the application. Can a customer
    • Download an email template in html code

      Hello everyone, I have created an email template and I want to download it as html. How can i do that? I know you can do it via the campaigns-first create a campaign add the template and download it as html from there. But what if i don't want to create
    • Attachment is not included in e-mails sent through Wordpress

      I have a Wordpress site with Zeptomail Wordpress plugin installed and configured. E-mails are sent ok through Zeptomail but without the included attachment (.pdf file) Zeptomail is used to send tickets to customers through Zeptomail. E-Mails are generated
    • Upcoming Changes to the Timesheet Module

      The Timesheet module will undergo a significant change in the upcoming weeks. To start with, we will be renaming Timesheet module to Time Logs. This update will go live early next week. Significance of this change This change will facilitate our next
    • Best way to schedule bill payments to vendors

      I've integrated Forte so that I can convert POs to bills and make payments to my vendors all through Books. Is there a way to schedule the bill payments as some of my vendors are net 30, net 60 and even net 90 days. If I can't get this to work, I'll have
    • Cant update image field after uploading image to ZFS

      Hello i recently made an application in zoho creator for customer service where customers could upload their complaints every field has been mapped from creator into crm and works fine except for the image upload field i have tried every method to make
    • Billing Management: #4 Negate Risk Free with Advances

      In the last post, we explored how unbilled charges accumulate before being invoiced. But what happens when businesses need money before service begins? Picture this: A construction company takes on a $500,000 commercial building project expected to last
    • Is there an equivalent to the radius search in RECRUIT available in the CRM

      We have a need to find all Leads and/or Contacts within a given radius of a given location (most likely postcode) but also possibly an address. I was wondering whether anyone has found a way to achieve this in the CRM much as the radius search in RECRUIT
    • Zoho CRM Inventory Management

      What’s the difference between Zoho CRM’s inventory management features and Zoho Inventory? When is it better to use each one?
    • Cannot Enable Picklist Field Dependency in Products or Custom Modules – Real Estate Setup

      Hello Zoho Support, I am configuring Zoho CRM for real estate property management and need picklist field dependency: What I’ve tried: I started by customizing the Products module (Setup > Modules & Fields) to create “Property Type” (Housing, Land, Commercial)
    • Get Workflow Metadata via API

      Is there a way to get metadata on workflows and/or custom functions via API? I would like to automatically pull this information. I couldn't find it in the documentations, but I'm curious if there is an undocumented endpoint that could do this. Moderation
    • Zoho Projects - Q2 Updates | 2025

      Hello Users, With this year's second quarter behind us, Zoho Projects is marching towards expanding its usability with a user-centered, more collaborative, customizable, and automated attribute. But before we chart out plans for what’s next, it’s worth
    • FSM setup

      So we have been tinkering with FSM to see if it is going to be for us. Now is the time to bite the bullet and link it to our zoho books and zoho crm. The help guides are good but it would really help if they were a bit more in depth on the intergrations.
    • Upcoming Updates to the Employees Module in Zoho Payroll (US)

      We've made a couple of updates to the Employees module in Zoho Payroll (latest version of the US edition). These changes will go live today. While creating an employee Currently, the Compensation Details section is part of the Basic Details step, where
    • Possible to Turn Off Automatic Notifications for Approvals?

      Hello, This is another question regarding the approval process. First a bit of background: Each of our accounts is assigned a rank based on potential sales. In Zoho, the account rank field is a drop-down with the 5 rank levels and is located on the account
    • ZOHO Creator subform link

      Dear Community Support, I am looking for some guidance on how to add a clickable link within a Zoho Creator subform. The goal is for this link to redirect users to another Creator form where they can edit the data related to the specific row they clicked
    • Allow Resource to Accept or Reject an Appointment

      I have heard that this can be done, is there any documentation on how?
    • Create new Account with contact

      Hi I can create a new Account and, as part of that process, add a primary contact (First name, last name) and Email. But THIS contact does NOT appear in Contacts. How can I make sure the Contact added when creating an Account is also listed as a Contact?
    • Custom Fonts in Zoho CRM Template Builder

      Hi, I am currently creating a new template for our quotes using the Zoho CRM template builder. However, I noticed that there is no option to add custom fonts to the template builder. It would greatly enhance the flexibility and branding capabilities if
    • Python - code studio

      Hi, I see the code studio is "coming soon". We have some files that will require some more complex transformation, is this feature far off? It appears to have been released in Zoho Analytics already
    • Sync desktop folders instantly with WorkDrive TrueSync (Beta)

      Keeping your important files backed up and accessible has never been easier! With WorkDrive desktop app (TrueSync), you can now automatically sync specific desktop folders to WorkDrive Web, ensuring seamless, real-time updates across devices. Important:
    • How To Insert Data into Zoho CRM Organization

      Hi Team I have this organization - https://crm.zoho.com/crm/org83259xxxx/tab/Leads I want to insert data into this Leads module, what is the correct endpoint for doing so ? Also I have using ZohoCRM.modules.ALL scope and generated necessary tokens.
    • Where can I get Equation Editor por Zoho Writer?

      I need to use Math Formulas in my document. Thank you.
    • How can I get base64 string from filecontent in widget

      Hi, I have a react js widget which has the signature pad. Now, I am saving the signature in signature field in zoho creator form. If I open the edit report record in widget then I want to display the Signature back in signature field. I am using readFile
    • Creator roadmap for the rest of 2022

      Hi everyone, Hope you're all good! Thanks for continuing to make this community engaging and informative. Today we'd like to share with you our plans for the near future of Creator. We always strive to strike a good balance of features and enhancements
    • Filtering repport for portal users

      Salut, I have a weird problem that I just cannot figure out : When I enter information as administrator on behalf of a "supplier" portal user (in his "inventory" in a shared inventory system), I can see it, "customer" portal users can see it, but the
    • Zoho Inventory. Preventing Negative Stock in Sales Orders – Best Practices?

      Dear Zoho Inventory Community, We’re a small business using Zoho Inventory with a team of sales managers. Unfortunately, some employees occasionally overlook stock levels during order processing, leading to negative inventory issues. Is there a way to
    • Integración Books para cumplir la ley Crea y Crece y Ley Antifraude (VeriFactu)

      Hola: En principio, en julio de 2025, entra en vigor la ley Crea y Crece y Ley Antifraude (VeriFactu). ¿Sabéis si Zoho va a cumplir con la ley para cumplir con la facturación electrónica conectada a Hacienda? Gracias
    • Zoho One - Syncing Merchants and Vendors Between Zoho Expense and Zoho Books

      Hi, I'm exploring the features of Zoho One under the trial subscription and have encountered an issue with syncing Merchant information between Zoho Expense and Zoho Books. While utilizing Zoho Expense to capture receipts, I noticed that when I submit
    • Is Zoho Sheet available for Linux ?

      Is Zoho Sheet available for Linux ?
    • Zoho Sheet for Desktop

      Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?
    • Create static subforms in Zoho CRM: streamline data entry with pre-defined values

      Last modified on (9 July, 2025): This feature was available in early access and is currently being rolled out to customers in phases. Currently available for users in the the AU, CA, and SA DCs. It will be enabled for the remaining DCs in the next couple
    • BUTTONS SHOWN AS AN ICON ON A REPORT

      Hi Is there any way to create an action button but show it as an icon on a report please? As per the attached example? So if the user clicks the icon, it triggers an action?
    • Dropshipping Address - Does Not Show on Invoice Correctly

      When a dropshipping address is used for a customer, the correct ship-to address does not seem to show on the Invoice. It shows correctly on the Sales Order, Shipment Order, and Package, just not the Invoice. This is a problem, because the company being
    • RFQ MODEL

      A Request for quotation model is used for Purchase Inquiries to multiple vendors. The Item is Created and then selected to send it to various vendors , once the Prices are received , a comparative chart is made for the user. this will help Zoho books
    • Will zoho thrive be integrated with Zoho Books?

      title
    • Next Page