Kaizen #139: Using Functions in Client Script and Handling Timeouts

Kaizen #139: Using Functions in Client Script and Handling Timeouts



Hello everyone!

Welcome back to another interesting Kaizen post. In this post, we can discuss how to invoke Functions using Client Script and how to handle Timeouts in Client Script. This post will answer the question raised in the post, Why Client Script is not running after function execution?

In this Kaizen post,
1. What are Functions in Zoho CRM?
2. How to Invoke a function from a Client Script?
3. Use Case to use existing function in Client Script
4. Solution
5. Timeouts in Client Script
6. How to handle timeouts in a Client Script?
7. Timeout Scenario
8. Solution
9. Summary
1. What are Functions in Zoho CRM?

      Functions in Zoho CRM follows the Serverless Computing architecture. It follows cloud computing execution model in which the cloud provider dynamically manages the allocation of machine resources. Zoho CRM provides options for the customer to write their own functions using Deluge script and run their code ( proprietary within Zoho CRM ) without worrying about deploying their code in servers. Click here to know more about Functions.

2. How to Invoke a Function from Client Script?

      You can invoke a function from a Client Script using the  execute() method. Here is the syntax of execute() method. The Client Script execution will only proceed after the Function has completed, demonstrating synchronous behavior.



3. Use Case to use existing function in Client Script

      Zylker, a manufacturing organization, utilizes Zoho CRM. Within their CRM, there is an existing function sendmailToContactRoles that allows meeting invites to be sent to all contact roles associated with a Deal at the click of a button. Deals often require inputs and approval from various stakeholders. By inviting all contact roles, Zylker ensures that all necessary parties are involved in the decision-making process, reducing delays and improving the chances of closing the deal successfully. To avoid accidental clicks, 
  • The admin wants a confirmation message to appear when the Mail icon is clicked, asking for approval and trigger the Function based on user selection. 
  • Additionally, the admin would like to display a success notification , if the emails are sent successfully.
  • Also, once the email is dispatched, a tooltip saying "Invite Sent" should be added should be added to the Mail icon.

4. Solution

  • Create a Client Script to accomplish the above requirements. Click here to know how to create a Client Script.
  • Create a Client Script for "Deals" module with onClick Event and Icon Event Type for the Detail Page(Canvas).

  • Enter the following code and click Save.
  1. var isProceed = ZDK.Client.showConfirmation('Do you want to invite the Contacts of the Deals', 'Proceed', 'Cancel');
  2. var elem = ZDK.UI.getElementByID('icon');
  3. //If user clicks Proceed button
  4. var deal_rec = $Page.record_id;
  5. if (isProceed) {
  6.  ZDK.Apps.CRM.Functions.execute("sendmailToContactRoles", deal_rec);
  7.  ZDK.Client.showMessage(" All the Contacts have been invited successfully");

  9.  elem.addToolTip({ text: 'Invite Sent' });
  10. }
  11. else {
  12.  elem.addToolTip({ text: 'Click to send invite' });
  13. }

  • After getting user's confirmation with showConfirmation() , the execute() method triggers the function. 
  • The parameters of execute() are function name and parameters. 
  • The name of the existing function is "sendmailToContactRoles". 
  • The parameters of the function are record ID of the Deal and subject of the email.
  • $Page is a constant supported by Client Script, using which you can get information about the current record. 
  • $Page.record_id will give the id of the current record.
  • Once the function gets executed successfully, you can display the success message using showMessage() . To know more about displaying messages using Client Script , check our Kaizen post Creating Alerts and messages using Client Script.
  • Here is how the Client Script works.

  • Here is the Function code where emailSubject and deal ID are the arguments of this function.
  1. relatedcontrole = zoho.crm.getRelatedRecords("Contact_Roles","Deals",input.dealId.toLong());
  2. emailSubject="Meeting Invite";
  3. emailContent = " Click the following link to join the meeting this evening at 5.00 pm" + " https://meeting.zoho.com/meeting/presenter.do?key=1069852805&cid=5668066&x-meeting-org=53296550";
  4. salutation = "<p>Hello!!<br /><br /></p>";
  5. signature = "<br /><br /><p>Best Regards,<br />Patricia Boyle</p>";
  6. sub = input.emailSubject.toString();
  7. str = input.emailContent.toString();
  8. str = concat(salutation,str);
  9. str = concat(str,signature);
  10. for each role in relatedcontroles
  11. {
  12. emailAddress = role.get("Email");
  13. info emailAddress;
  14. sendmail
  15. [
  16. from :zoho.adminuserid
  17. to :emailAddress
  18. subject :sub
  19. message :str
  20. content type :HTML
  21. ]
  22. }

  • You can achieve the functionality of sending emails in Functions using Client Script itself using fetchRelatedRecords() and  openMailer(). Here, we have made use of the existing Function. 
You can use Functions in Client Script,

To leverage existing Functions for similar functionality, thereby enhancing reusability and to trigger Functions based on UI events such as Icon Event, onType Field Event, Canvas Text Event, and others, beyond the buttons and workflows already supported by Functions.

5. Timeouts in Client Script 

In Client Script, executions are bounded by a 10-second time out. During execution of API calls or during the execution of a function which involves API calls , it might take more than 10 seconds to provide response. Consequently, when they are used in Client Script, execution will get halted. To overcome such scenarios you need to use Loaders.

6. How to handle timeouts in a Client Script?

Client Script allows you to manage the timeout by using a loader. The execution of Client Script will be on hold, as long as the loader is active, and so the timeout will not occur.

a. showLoader()

Use showLoader() to display the loader.



b. hideLoader()

Use hideLoader() to make the loader inactive.



7. Timeout Scenario :

At Zylker, which uses Zoho CRM, there is an existing function named "Books_send_quote" in their Zoho CRM account. The admin wants this function to execute via a Client Script whenever the status is updated to delivered and display a message saying, "Quote has been sent successfully." The admin added the script to show a success message after the function execution. 

Problem :

During execution of the following code, the admin noticed that the code following the function invocation is not running. Similar problem is described in this post.

The current code is 

  1. if (value == Delivered) {
  2. ZDK.Apps.CRM.Functions.execute("Send_Quote");
  3. ZDK.Client.showMessage('Quotation sent successfully', { type: 'success' });
  4. }

In such scenarios, the Messages Pane of Client Script IDE will show Timeout as shown below.



Solution:

 Since the timeout limit of 10 seconds has reached, further execution did not occur. So you need to add ZDK.Client.showLoader() before the execution of the Function and ZDK.Client.hideLoader() after the function execution.

  1. if (value == 'Delivered') {
  2. ZDK.Client.showLoader({type:'page', template:'spinner', message:'Sending Quotation...' });
  3. ZDK.Apps.CRM.Functions.execute("Send_Quote");
  4. ZDK.Client.hideLoader();
  5. ZDK.Client.showMessage('Quotation sent successfully', { type: 'success' });
  6. }
Here is how the Client Script works.



The presence of loader on the screen will inform the user about the ongoing processes in the background.


6. Summary :

This post includes the following,
  • When and how to use Functions in Client Script?
  • How to trigger Client Script using icons?
  • How to add tooltip to an icon using Client Script?
  • How to execute Client Script based on Confirmation box?
  • How to display messages and confirmation box using Client Script?
  • How to add loaders on UI using Client Script?
Previous Post: Kaizen #138 - How are Widgets used inZoho CRM Settings?       |     Kaizen Collection: Home
Join us for our upcoming Zoho CRM Developer Series: Zoho CRM APIs, where you can explore more about Zoho CRM APIs. Register Now!  


    Access your files securely from anywhere

        All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.






                              Zoho Developer Community



                                  Bootcamp
                                  Community
                                  Pricing
                                  Webinars
                                  What's New
                                  Integrations
                                  Contact Support
                                  Contact Sales
                                    Zoho Survey Resources
                                      Features
                                      Survey Templates
                                      Integrations
                                      Community
                                      iOS Mobile Surveys
                                      Pricing
                                      Android Mobile Surveys
                                      Insurvey Blogs
                                      Insight Blogs
                                      Tips & Tricks





                                                  Latest Feature Updates

                                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                    • Digest


                                                    • Functions


                                                    • Meetups


                                                    • Kbase


                                                    • Resources


                                                    • Glossary


                                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                                    • MVP Corner


                                                    • Word of the Day


                                                    • Ask the Experts




                                                        Zoho SalesIQ Resources

                                                              • Sticky Posts

                                                              • 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.

                                                              • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

                                                                Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this

                                                              • 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


                                                              Manage your brands on social media
                                                              Access Zoho Social

                                                                Zoho Pagesense Resources


                                                                    Zoho TeamInbox Resources

                                                                      Zoho DataPrep Resources


                                                                        Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                          Zoho Books Resources


                                                                            Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                              Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                                Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                  Qntrl Resources


                                                                                    Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                        Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                        • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                          CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                        • Kaizen

                                                                                          Kaizen

                                                                                        • Functions

                                                                                          Functions

                                                                                        • Meetups

                                                                                          Meetups

                                                                                        • Kbase

                                                                                          Kbase

                                                                                        • Resources

                                                                                          Resources

                                                                                        • Digest

                                                                                          Digest

                                                                                        • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                          CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        • MVP Corner

                                                                                          MVP Corner









                                                                                            Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                            Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                            Get Started Now


                                                                                              Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                                Zoho Writer

                                                                                                Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                                Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                  Zoho CRM コンテンツ




                                                                                                    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                        ご検討中の方




                                                                                                                • Recent Topics

                                                                                                                • Remove Profiles from "Forecast" Module

                                                                                                                  How can I remove Profiles from My forecast Module? Image Below The only revenue generators are the VP's, and the Estimation Managers, and the Estimators subordinate to the Est. Managers. How can I remove the unused Profiles? Its frustrating to see them

                                                                                                                • Uplifted homepage experience

                                                                                                                  Editions: All editions. Availability update: 17th February 2026: All editions in the CA and SA DC | JP DC (Free, Standard and Professional editions) 23 February 2026: JP (All Editions) | AU, CN (Free, Standard, Professional editions) 27 February 2026:

                                                                                                                • Logging Out of FSM

                                                                                                                  I have tried to log out of FSM app of the last person and it will not let me do so. I need to log in to my account.

                                                                                                                • Restoring records from the recycle bin programatically

                                                                                                                  Background I'm working on a piece of software to automate conversion of Leads into Deals based on order status from my company's website. The process is mostly complete, right now I'm just working on handling a few edge cases to ensure data integrity.

                                                                                                                • Does Zoho Learn integrate with Zoho Connect,People,Workdrive,Project,Desk?

                                                                                                                  Can we propose Zoho LEarn as a centralised Knowledge Portal tool that can get synched with the other Zoho products and serve as a central Knowledge repository?

                                                                                                                • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

                                                                                                                  Availability Update: 29 September 2025: It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition exclusively for IN DC users. 2 March 2026: Available to users in all DCs except US and EU DC. Latest

                                                                                                                • 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

                                                                                                                • SalesIQ Identity Update for Logged In Wordpress User

                                                                                                                  Hey folks, SalesIQ does not automatically detect when a visitor logs in to WordPress and update their identity to match. For example, if a client of ours visits the site and logs in, SalesIQ will not track them correctly by default. The Solution The solution

                                                                                                                • Feature Request – Conditional Visitor Information Request in Zoho SalesIQ

                                                                                                                  We would like to request the ability to conditionally ask for visitor details based on the communication channel used in Zoho SalesIQ. Specifically: When a visitor initiates a conversation through the live chat widget on the website, we want to continue

                                                                                                                • Zoho Sign Not Delivering

                                                                                                                  I have sent several contracts out via Zoho Sign.   They do not seem to be getting delivered.  I had one person receive it, but the others have not.   I had one person tell me they sent it back to me and never got it and doesn't show as signed.  I've sent

                                                                                                                • Add zoho calendar to google calendar

                                                                                                                  Hi I keep seeing instructions on how to sync Zoho CRM calendar with google calendar but no instructions on how to view Zoho calendar in my google calendar.

                                                                                                                • Paragraph spacings in Zoho Notebook are double-spaced only. Is there a way to keep the original spacing format?

                                                                                                                  Sorry I don't know the proper terminologies but the best way I can put it is all single-spaced paragraphs that I copy to Zoho Notebook become double-spaced paragraphs. It's very inconvenient and counterproductive when copying and pasting things from and

                                                                                                                • Changing line space in Notebook

                                                                                                                  My lines are double spaced. How do i change to single space?

                                                                                                                • Promote a layout to standard so I can delete one layout

                                                                                                                  Similar to this and many other topics: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/set-layout-as-standard The problem, every model has a standard layout, which is what we use most of the time... But as the business grows and evolves we may have to

                                                                                                                • Workdrive on Android - Gallery Photo Backups

                                                                                                                  Hello, Is there any way of backing up the photos on my android phone directly to a specific folder on Workdrive? Assuming i have the workdrive app installed on the phone in question. Emma

                                                                                                                • Auto sync Photo storage

                                                                                                                  Hello I am new to Zoho Workdrive and was wondering if the is a way of automatically syncing photos on my Android phone to my workdrive as want to move away from Google? Thanks

                                                                                                                • Is anyone experience missing functions in the new UI until hard refresh?

                                                                                                                  The set of functions including search is almost always missing upon loading an app in the new UI. If you refresh, the functions return. (see second screenshot) Anyone else experiencing this?

                                                                                                                • Conversion Rate – Won Deals over Assigned Prospects

                                                                                                                  Hello, I would like assistance configuring a KPI in Zoho Analytics titled: Objective of the calculation: Number of Won Deals divided by Total number of assigned prospects (not only converted prospects). Important clarification: The denominator must include

                                                                                                                • Not receiving New Ticket Emails

                                                                                                                  Hello! The company I work for uses the Zoho ticketing system, however, I've noticed I'm not receiving email notifications when new tickets are published. I have admin rights to see these tickets on Zoho Desk and respond to them, but am not receiving the

                                                                                                                • Can't update a field on a parent form from a child form's On Success workflow

                                                                                                                  Title: Can't update a field on a parent form from a child form's On Success workflow Hi everyone, I'm building a simple Golf Lesson Tracker app and I'm stuck on what should be a basic operation — updating a number field on a parent form when a child form

                                                                                                                • Approvals in Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                  Hi, This is Surya, in one of  my creator application I have a form called job posting, and I created an approval process for that form. When a user submits that form the record directly adding to that form's report, even it is in the review for approval.

                                                                                                                • Upload from Zoho Creator File Upload field to OpenAI Vector Store

                                                                                                                  I’ve struggled for quite a while to get this working properly. For a long time we relied on Azure Functions as a workaround to handle file transfers between Zoho Creator and OpenAI Vector Stores. It worked, but added unnecessary infrastructure and complexity.

                                                                                                                • Calendar start time limit

                                                                                                                  Hi all, Has anyone found a magical way to filter calendar reports to start from, let's say 8:00, and not 0:00? Or at least to auto scroll there like Google Calendar for example?

                                                                                                                • Enable Free External Collaboration on Notecards in Zoho Notebook

                                                                                                                  Hi Zoho Notebook Team, I would like to suggest a feature enhancement regarding external collaboration in Zoho Notebook. Currently, we can share notes with external users, and they are able to view the content without any issue. However, when these external

                                                                                                                • EU Problem

                                                                                                                  Hi all, we've been facing issues with the Europe data center for two days. It's starting to disrupt our daily workflow. Any word on when this will be resolved?

                                                                                                                • How can I clone my website in order to try new templates?

                                                                                                                  I want to try a new template for my existing Zoho website without the risk of changing the current site or accidentally publishing the wrong template. Therefore I thought a 'clone website'-option should be somewhere, but I can't find it. How do I try

                                                                                                                • Custom Module Missing from Roles & Permissions List

                                                                                                                  Hi Zoho Community, I created a new Custom Module in Zoho Expense. The module is fully built and I can see it in the Module Builder (Settings > Customization > Modules). However, I am unable to deploy this to my users because the module does not appear

                                                                                                                • Need Customer Item Inward Module along with QC

                                                                                                                  Need Customer Item Inward Module along with QC 1. Using Transfer Orders hit the item balance sheet 2. Items without inventory it becomes difficult for tracking purpose. 3. Custom Modules become tedious to capture multiple items, item subforms are not

                                                                                                                • Zoho CRM Quotes – Subform and PDF/Writer Limitations

                                                                                                                  Hello, I am encountering the following limitations in Zoho CRM Quotes: Custom product images cannot be uploaded in the subform – the image upload field cannot be added; only the file upload field is available. File upload placeholders cannot be used in

                                                                                                                • Apple Messages for Business in Omnichannel communications?

                                                                                                                  Hello, Apple launched "Apple Messages for Business" but Zoho CRM or Zoho Desk don't appear in the list of possible integrators. Zoho already promotes https://www.zoho.com/crm/omnichannel.html Omni Channel integration, but Apple Messages does not yet appear.

                                                                                                                • 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

                                                                                                                • Will be possible to create a merge mail template for products?

                                                                                                                  Hi, we would need to create a mail merge template for products (native) module. Will be possibile? or do you have a smart solutions to merge products data with a mail merge? thanks Chris

                                                                                                                • Maximum incoming email (attachment size) limit

                                                                                                                  I see that the maximum size of received emails can now be set to 20MB, however I'd still like to see it be larger. It's embarrassing when a client sends me an email with a large attachment and I can't receive it. 50, even 100 MB seems reasonable these

                                                                                                                • [Free Webinar] Learning Table Series - Multi-currency management in Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                  Hello everyone, We’re excited to invite you to another edition of the Learning Table Series webinar. As you may already know, we've moved to a purpose-based approach in the Learning Table Series this year. Each session now focuses on how a Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                • Outlook/Hotmail Blocking Zoho SMTP IPs (S3150)

                                                                                                                  We are currently facing a serious deliverability issue with Zoho SMTP while sending transactional OTP emails for our production application. Emails sent to Outlook / Hotmail addresses are being rejected with the following error: 550 - 5.7.1 Unfortunately,

                                                                                                                • Outlook is blocking incoming mail

                                                                                                                  Outlook is blocking all emails sent from the Zoho server. ERROR CODE :550 - 5.7.1 Unfortunately, messages from [136.143.169.51] weren't sent. Please contact your Internet service provider since part of their network is on our block list (S3150). It looks

                                                                                                                • LESS_THAN_MIN_OCCURANCE - code 2945

                                                                                                                  Hi I'm trying to post a customer record to creator API and getting this error message. So cryptic. Can someone please help? Thanks Varun

                                                                                                                • Ranking by group in report

                                                                                                                  Dears, I am new to Zoho Analytics and I would like to ask you guys help to creating a ranking column. Report type: Pivot Matter: I want to create a ranking column on the right of Percentage. This ranking is group by column Type, and ranking by Final Score/Percent.

                                                                                                                • How do I add a project template to a pre-existing project?

                                                                                                                  Help....How do I add a project template to a pre-existing project? Right now I have to delete the old project, make a new one and add the project template at the time of creating the new project.

                                                                                                                • How to add line breaks in zoho.cliq.postToUser(...) message?

                                                                                                                  In a CRM function using Deluge I'm sending this message and attempting to add some line breaks but they are ignored. Is there another way to add these breaks? My message: message: New urgent task\nDescription \nThis is a fake description.\n A new line?

                                                                                                                • Next Page