Tip 24: How to generate a file preview in a report without downloading it.

Tip 24: How to generate a file preview in a report without downloading it.

Hi folks,


This month we will teach you how to preview a report file before sending it to someone or sending it for approval. While viewing reports in Zoho Creator, users cannot access or preview files uploaded through the File Upload field without downloading them. 

 

In this tip, we'll show you a way to do this.




Key concept:

The best way to achieve this function is to preview the uploaded file's content using the Add Note field in a stateless form (pop-up window) based on the record ID.  


Use case:

Let's use the example of Candidates applying for a job, where candidates have to fill in their details using the Job Application form. Their information will be displayed on the Candidates Details report, a list report with a button on every record. The admin can use these buttons to preview resumes without downloading them.

Application flow:

 

1. Candidates enter their information using the Job Application form.
2.  Whenever the admin accesses the Candidates Details report, they can preview all the submitted resumes with the click of a button.

Requirements:
  1. A Job Application form with fields Name, DOB, Contact Number, and Resume (File Upload field)
  2. A Stateless form (Please refer to the help article here to learn how to create a stateless form.)
  3. A Candidates Details report to view all the candidate information
  4. Custom action buttons to preview the resumes


Step 2: Create the stateless form with the following fields:
  • Parent Record ID:  Number Field  
  • Notes: Add Notes Field
NOTE: Please ensure that the maximum digits allowed in the Number field is 19 as we will be using this field to store record ID values for Zoho Creator. These will be 19-digit numbers.

Step 3: Create a custom action button for each record to open the stateless form
Follow the steps below to create a custom action that will help you pass the current Record ID as a parameter to the Number field in the stateless form.
  1. Edit the application.
  1. Access the Candidate Details Report.
  1. Click Edit this application.
  1. Click Configure Fields for Web.
  1. Click Add Fields, then select Add New Button.







Configure the button by clicking Create a new function with the code below.
  1. Void preview_function(int id1)
  1. {
  1. openUrl("#Form:<Stateless_Form>?<Number>=" + input.id1,"popup window");
  1. }
where,
Stateless_Form - The link name of the target stateless form
Number - Deluge name of Number field on the stateless form
id1 - argument to be associated with the ID of the actual form

Now, let's associate id1 as an argument to the Record ID.


The function above would open the stateless form and pass the current Record ID value to the Number field in the stateless form.
Step 4: Create a workflow to preview the uploaded file using the stateless form
Let's create a workflow based on the stateless form to fetch the file related to the Report ID, which is passed as a parameter to the Number field as mentioned below. 

Configure the code below in the On Load workflow of the Preview Data form (stateless form).
  1. Hide <Number>; 
  1. fetch_file = <Form>[ID == input.<Number>].<File>.content;
  1. Input.<Notes_Field> = fetch_file;
where,
Form - the form in which the file exists
Number - Number field in the Stateless form
File - the File Upload field in the Job Application form
Note: We are hiding the Number field using the "hide <field_name>" syntax. It's used to populate IDs for backend validations, which shouldn't be visible when the user accesses the form.

Step 5: Configuring the button with a workflow to close the pop-up window
As we all know, by default, a stateless form would have two button options:

1. Submit
2. Refresh

Since we are not going to perform any form submissions, we can delete that option. Then, we can add a new button and name it "Close." This can be used to close the pop-up window that will open to preview the file.

Create a workflow of the form Stateless > Button Click > Close.
  1. openUrl("#script:window:close,"same window");
Note: This can be used for the file upload field data of a type file. If you like to preview images, you can use Image fields. 
File types that usually contain only text values (for example, .txt, .csv, etc.) will return the content accurately. File types that usually contain images (for example, .pdf, etc.) will return junk values.

We hope this tip was interesting for you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below, and we'll be happy to address them soon!







    • Recent Topics

    • Request to Delete Mistakenly Created Zoho Desk Account – Access Blocked to Company Directory

      Dear Zoho Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to request assistance regarding a Zoho Desk account I mistakenly created using my company email address. I created the account before being officially onboarded by my company, and

    • Introducing an AI-driven CAPTCHA for Help Center that offers improved accessibility and enhanced security | Zoho Desk | Product Update

      Captcha protects your help center from fraud and abuse without creating friction. What is a CAPTCHA? CAPTCHA is a test used in computing to verify that a user is human by requiring them to complete a challenge. It helps prevent bot attacks and reduce

    • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v.1.29.4.0)

      Hello Community! Trident for Windows just got better! It’s packed with new features designed to enhance communication, manage important information securely, and give you a smoother, more productive experience. Let’s dive into what’s new! Access Zoho

    • Exporting Ticket Threads/Comments and Attachments in Reports

      Hi, I would like to know is it possible for Ticket Comments and/or Attachments to be displayed in Reports?

    • Product management across integrated apps

      Hi everyone, I’m setting up my business for selling products and integrating CRM, Inventory/Books, Ecommerce, and other apps. Where should I load products for the first time so they reflect across all apps? And for updating prices or adding new products—where

    • Calculate Number of Days Between Two Dates

      Can someone help me with how to create a field using the formula function to calculate the number of dates between a campaign start date and end date? The closest I have gotten is using the "Datecomp" function but it gives you the dates in minutes, rather

    • Zoho Writer Docx files not able to be converted into Google Docs

      Since July 23rd, I've encountered an issue where DOCX files exported from Zoho Writer no longer convert properly into Google Docs when uploaded to Google Drive. My workflow relies on generating merged DOCX documents from Zoho Forms using Zoho Writer templates,

    • Schedule Campaign - Recipients Time Zone

      Something seems to be wrong with the scheduling feature for scheduling campaigns to be deployed at a specific time to the recipients time zone. I scheduled campaigns twice to be sent at the recipients time zone and the campaigns are deploying at the wrong time. When communicating with Zoho support they said to make sure it was scheduled at least 24 hours in advance so we did this with our last campaign and it was still deployed at the wrong time. Anyone else having this issue?

    • Zoho Vault App for Windows

      Hello, is there a Windows app that can be used to access the passwords saved in Zoho Vault? Thank you

    • Zoho Cursor Jumping

      Hi, Zoho Support, We received the below email for a bug when using Zoho on Firefox. Please let us know if there is anything that can be done to solve this issue. Have any other Zoho Mail users reported issues the past few days with Zoho auto-saving drafts

    • tomorrow option within the due date section and drag and drop into calendar

      Firstly, thank you for creating such a well-designed and user-friendly to-do list app. It’s almost perfect for my needs, but I wanted to offer a couple of suggestions that I believe could significantly enhance its usability, particularly for those who

    • low quality videos

      when in puplish videos or reel in social media platforms it pulished in low quality

    • Using Zoho Forms vs Zoho Survey

      Hello - I'm looking for advice on whether to use Zoho Survey or Zoho Forms for our small non-profit. We have a Zoho One subscription, so have access to both. The main use case at the moment is application forms for our professional development programs.

    • Kaizen #200 - Answering Your Questions | Authentication using Zoho CRM Python SDK

      We’re incredibly excited to bring you the 200th post in our Kaizen series! This journey has been as much about listening as it has been about sharing. And today, we’re making both count. Over the past few weeks, we’ve collected your feedback through the

    • Zoho CRM sync

      Just wondering if the plan is for the Zoho CRM implementation to always be just an import and not a sync? At the very least, a one-way sync that kept the data in Tables up-to-date would increase the amount of usecases, but ideally the option to two-way

    • Add serial number in print page list

      How can i add serial number in print page for every entries?

    • Trying to Delete records from Creator not found in CRM

      Hi, In the following script, I am trying to delete records from Creator not found in CRM, but I am getting the error message "Error at line number: 55 Improper Statement Error might be due to missing ';' at end of the line or incomplete expression". Please

    • Can't login to Zoho mail

      I'm logged into Zoho but when I try to go in zoho mail I get: Invalid request! The input passed is invalid or the URL is invoked without valid parameters. Please check your input and try again. I just set up my mx records and stuff with namecheap a few

    • REST API for Branch and Budget

      Hi Team, Can you please guide me with the appropriate rest API documentation for fetching Branch and Budget details?

    • STOP FRAUDULENT TRANSACTION IMMEDIATELY

      I DID NOT AUTHORIZE THIS TRANSACTION OR RENEWAL, STOP IMMEDIATELY CHARGING MY CARD I CAN NOT CONTACT SUPPORT, NO ONE IS AVAILABLE ON CHAT PAYMENT ID RPCW2003260759193

    • Best way to handle a credit card download fiasco

      Hi there, hoping that someone knowledgable with book keeping can give me the answer here. One of my credit cards has been integrated with Zoho books and we have been downloading transactions with no issue. The credit card got compromised and was used

    • When Opening Zoho Mail I always get a Tab with an error (See attached image)

      Everytime I open Zoho mail I get this. It is trying to open a deleted email. I already tried going to Settings > While Starting up Changed that option back and forth but this persists. Its annoying. Other than that I love this. Any help would be appreciated.

    • Pre-Registration - Suggestion

      Suggest to add a Pre-Registration feature for non-scheduled events. Scenario is that we have a training academy and would like to collect pre-registrants prior to an actual scheduled event so we can use this as a basis for demand management and scheduling of new events for those expressing interest.

    • Not all messages showing in folders in iOS mail.app

      I have a bunch of emails filed in various folders. Those folders are showing all of the emails in them on Zoho.com and in the Zoho Mail app on my iPhone and my iPad. They also all show up fine in Mail.app on my Mac. The problem is that certain (not all)

    • Where do the 'Archived' mails go?

      I have hit 'Archive' on quite some mails I still needed, but didn't want in my inbox anymore. I obviously thought 'Archive' is not the same as 'Delete', since they don't even pass the trash folder this way, and right now I was looking for one of those

    • Signature image size changing on replied emails

      Hi, Sometimes I see the size of the image I use as signature changes when I open replied emails. Do you know why is this happening? It doesn't seem to happen when I send emails to Gmail though. Signature should look like in attachment "Signature_normal.jpg"

    • Não consigo enviar emails. "Razão:533"

      Não consigo enviar emails. "Razão: 533 Relaying disallowed. Invalid Domain" aparece e me impede de enviar emails... Como resolver o problema?

    • Error when setting up IMAP access in Gmail

      Hi I set up POP3 access via Gmail for my Zoho-hosted domain email. I just tried to change it to IMAP access, however when inputting the settings I received the following error message from Gmail "Missing +OK response upon connecting to the server: * OK

    • Zoholics Europe 2025: Unlocking the Power of Zoho CRM : A Hands-On Workshop

      Why should you attend? At Zoholics Europe 2025, Zoho’s official user conference, you’ll have the opportunity to connect directly with experts and explore powerful tools that help businesses elevate customer experiences. Be sure to attend one of the most

    • "Wrong password or login" Problem to configure Zoho on MAIL App on my Macbook

      Hi, I'm having problems to configure my e-mail on my MAIL App(Macbook pro). My e-mail is hari@trespontoum.net Actually was working perfectly, and still working on my Iphone. My MAIL App prompt me that my login or password is wrong. I tried to change 3

    • How do I delte a mailbox alias

      Hi everyome, I have created a mailbox alias on one of my accounts, but I can't figure out how to delete it again. When I go into the control panel on my super-admin account and click on user details and the settings for the user, I can see the mailbox

    • Allowing vendors to Upload Purchase Invoices against Purchase Order

      Work Flow: Once Project is executed, We send Purchase order to every Vendors asking them to Share the invoice against the same. Most of the time Vendors Send invoices through Mails but our Finance Team miss to book those Purchase Invoices in Zoho Books.

    • Deluge - forward incoming email with original attachments and content but new subject

      I'm working in ZohoMail with a 10GB paid account. Using a filter and a custom function, I can send a new mail with the original email content and a new subject, but I'm struggling to find how to attach the original attachment to a new mail - or even to

    • Error: "The conversation window has expired." on WhatsApp

      Hello, I would like to know why this error appears in the messages within WhatsApp from the CRM: "The conversation window has expired." The question arises because a potential client sent us a message at 11:00 PM and we are responding the next day at

    • How to Sync Desk KB and Sales IQ KB?

      Hi, we have just started to use Desk and are using the SalesIQ Chat. Ideally I'd like to use the 'FAQ' feature on chat (which uses SalesIQ KB) and also allow our customers to use the self-service KB that comes with Desk. Unfortunately they are two different

    • Need help! Unable to send message; Reason: 554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

      Hi Zoho team My account name is senpai.atelier, it’s been few days I can’t send Emails with the same error messages. I’ve raised the issue to support@zohomail.com that doesn’t respond to my query. I wonder if you may help troubleshooting soon.

    • Zoho arrives to Spam on all Microsoft Accounts (Outlook, Hotmail, Microsoft 365)

      I believe this is a very serious issue. All my email accounts in Zoho arrives straight to SPAM. Thing is, a lot of clients rely on email arriving to Inbox, specially on Microsoft Accounts since it is used a lot both for business and personal email sending.

    • Registeration

      I just added the TXT code. What next?

    • Cannot receive password protected zip files

      Hello, I cannot received a password protected attachments. Also all my members in the same domain has the same problems. Can you please help me? Best regrads

    • ERROR 554 5.1.8 Sender Address Blocked code(554)

      We have an email with Zoho ( comercial@bruiser.com.br), but, when we try associate the account in GMAIL, the server shows this message:  554 5.1.8 Sender Address Blocked code(554) I see this error appear when the limits of returns exceded 10 messages,

    • Next Page