Kaizen #188 - Building a Timer and Worklog Widget (Part 2)
Welcome back, Tech Wizards!
In Part 1, we developed a Timer Widget that logs active work sessions into the Timer Entries module.
Now, let's enhance this functionality by transferring these entries into the Work Log subform within the Cases module using a workflow with Deluge function and APIs. We will also explore how to generate insightful reports from the Timer Entries module data.
Here is a consolidated view of the outcomes we aim to achieve through these sequential posts.
The following data model illustrates the modules and subforms involved in this use case to help you understand the structure more clearly.
Learn more about the Data Model and how it helps to simplify the understanding of complex processes.
Auto-Syncing Timer Entries to Case Work Logs
For automating the data transfer from the Timer Entries module to the Work Log subforms within Cases module, we will create a workflow rule with an instant action defined in Deluge function.
Prerequisites
Create a subform named Work Log in the Cases module with the following fields.
Field Name | Data Type |
Actual Time Taken(in mins.) | Aggregate (sum of Total Duration (in mins.) field in related case ) |
End Time | DateTime |
Related to Case | Lookup to Cases |
Related to Current Case | Checkbox |
Start Time | DateTime |
Timer Entry | Lookup to Timer Entries |
Total Duration | Aggregate (sum of all the Total Duration (in mins.) field ) |
Total Duration (in mins.) | Number |
Work Description | Multi Line |
Follow the Building a Subform and Working with Custom Fields help pages for creating the subform and fields in Zoho CRM UI, or you can also make Post Custom Fields API calls to create the custom fields in the subform.
Step 1: Create a Workflow
- Login to your Zoho CRM and go to Setup > Automation > Workflow Rules and click Create Rule.
- Choose the Timer Entries module from the dropdown. Provide name and description for the workflow rule.
- In the 'When' section of the workflow, choose the trigger as Record Action. In record action, define the trigger as when the End Time field is modified to any value.
- In the 'Condition' section, choose all timer entries. In the 'Instant Actions' section, select Function and choose Write your own.
Step 2: Create a Deluge Function
- In the pop box that appeared after choosing to write your own function. Fill in the following details as shown in the image and click Create.
- A code editor will open, where you have to define the data transfer logic in Deluge.
Code logic
The UpdateDataInWorkLog function automates the process of syncing a completed Timer Entry with its associated Cases in Zoho CRM by populating the Work_Log subform for each case.
Fetches Target Case Records
The function uses a predefined custom view (cvid) that we created in Part I of this post to retrieve a list of Case records that are eligible for update. It extracts their record IDs and prepares them for bulk processing.
paramMap = Map(); paramMap.put("cvid","5545974000011183885"); getRecordsResponse = invokeurl [ type :GET parameters:paramMap connection:"crm_oauth_connection" ]; responseDataArray = getRecordsResponse.get("data"); idList = List(); for each item in responseDataArray { idList.add(item.get("id")); } caseRecordsToUpdate = idList; |
Retrieves Timer Entry Details
The selected Timer Entry (identified by recordId received through workflow trigger) is fetched to extract its key details like, Start and end times, Total time spent (duration), Work description, the Case it’s directly related to (if any).
record = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Timer_Entries",recordId,Map(),"crm_oauth_connection"); startTime = record.get("Start_Time"); endTime = record.get("End_Time"); totalTime = record.get("Total_Duration"); workDescription = record.get("Work_Description"); relatedToCaseId = ""; if(record.get("Related_to_Case") != null) { relatedToCaseId = record.get("Related_to_Case").get("id"); } |
Prepares Work_Log Subform Entries
For each retrieved Case, a new subform entry is created in the Work_Log subform. This entry contains the time details, work description, and a reference to the Timer Entry. A flag (Related_to_Current_Case) marks whether the Timer Entry is directly associated with the Case.
caseRecordIds = caseRecordsToUpdate; if(!caseRecordIds.isEmpty()) { recordUpdateArray = List(); for each caseRecordId in caseRecordIds { TimerArray = List(); TimerObj = Map(); TimerObj.put("Work_Description",workDescription); TimerObj.put("Timer_Entry",recordId); TimerObj.put("Related_to_Case",relatedToCaseId); TimerObj.put("Start_Time",startTime); TimerObj.put("End_Time",endTime); TimerObj.put("Actual_Duration_in_mins",totalTime.toNumber()); info totalTime; TimerObj.put("Related_to_Current_Case",caseRecordId == relatedToCaseId); TimerArray.add(TimerObj); recordUpdateObj = Map(); recordUpdateObj.put("id",caseRecordId); recordUpdateObj.put("Work_Log",TimerArray); recordUpdateArray.add(recordUpdateObj); } |
Bulk Updates Case Records
All Case records are updated in bulk via the Update Records API. Each gets its Work_Log subform updated or appended with the latest Timer Entry details.
updateRequestBody = {"data":recordUpdateArray}; updateResponse = invokeurl [ type :PUT parameters:updateRequestBody + "" connection:"crm_oauth_connection" ]; } |
Once done, click Save and associate the merge field (Timer Entry ID) with the function.
This workflow is triggered when the timer widget is stopped and the end time is updated in the corresponding timer entry record.
Following is a GIF that illustrates how the data sync reflects in the case records.
Generating Reports from Timer Entries
With the Timer Entries and Work Log data in place, you can create comprehensive reports to analyze work patterns, SLA adherence, and productivity trends.
- Navigate to the Reports module and click Create Report.
- Choose Cases as the primary module and include the Work Log subform.
- Select the desired fields like Case Subject, Start Time, End Time, Total Duration, and Work Description.
- Group data by fields like Case Owner or Status to gain insights into workload distribution and case progress.
- Apply filters as needed, such as date ranges or specific case statuses.
Refer to the Understanding and Building Report help page for more details.
With the Timer Widget, automated data transfer to Work Logs, and insightful reporting, we have established a robust system to track and analyze multiple active work times within Zoho CRM.
If you have specific scenarios or challenges you'd like us to address in future Kaizen posts, feel free to share them in the comments or reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com.
Cheers!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Reading
- Subforms and Fields - Building Subforms and Working with Custom Fields
- Core APIs - POST Custom Fields, GET Records, POST Records and UPDATE Records
- Workflow - An Overview and Configuring Workflow Rules
- Functions - An Overview, Setting Up Functions, Functions IDE, FAQs
- Deluge - An Introduction
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous Post: Kaizen #187 - Building a Timer and Worklog Widget (Part 1) | Kaizen Collection: Directory
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Kiruthiga G
Sticky Posts
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 areKaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms
Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achievedKaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI
Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over the
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox 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
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
Zoho Flow Completely Broken?
Since December 13th, 100% of our flows have stopped working completely. Nothing is working or triggering??? I called support & sat on the line with them for 2 HOURS until they finally concluded it was a back-end problem on their end?? Now i'm callingPrint / Export full Dashboard page
Hello Zoho team, It is currently only possible to print/export one component of a dashboard at a time. Requesting the option to print/export a full dashboard page with all components to a pdf or picture. Doing through the browser doesn't give good results.emails duplicated in my outlook client
Hello I am just new here and I have a litle problem that I do not find how to solve. I sumarise here after. Your help would be very appreciated. I have just recently contracted this zoho mail servicesservices as an initial evaluation yesterday night. I then: - opened a free account - created 1 initial email address ..........@domain.com - created a second email address ..........@domain.com - proceeded with the config instructions (checking the ownership of my domain, changing MX etc... ) asHow to check task starting time in zoho mobile app?
I am using the Zoho mobile app on my iPhone, and I am not able to see the task's starting and finishing times. When opening the Task information / Details, I can only see the Task start date and due date, but not the time. Is there any way to check aCreating an extension in Sigma: Zoho CRM isn't selectable as a service
I have 2 Zoho accounts which are part of 2 different workplaces. One workplace is able to select 'Zoho CRM' as a service option when creating a new extension, the other one is not. I'm not sure what the exact differences are between them. What do I needList of packaged components and if they are upgradable
Hello, In reference to the article Components and Packaging in Zoho Vertical Studio, can you provide an overview of what these are. Can you also please provide a list of of components that are considered Packaged and also whether they are Upgradable?Cliq iOS can't see shared screen
Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? RegardsKnowledgebase SEO
We have a custom-domain mapped help center that is not restricted via login. I have some questions: a) will a robots.txt file still allow us to control indexing? b) do we have the ability to edit the sitemap? c) do category URLs get indexed by searchRouteIQ for Zoho FSM
Beste, Zou wel top zijn dat we een RouteIQ hebben voor FSM aangezien we constant moeten zien wat de beste route is voor onze monteurs. Nu moeten we een speciale aparte programma hebben om de beste route te berrekenen voor onze monteurs aangezien de planningExport Tickets from the Help Center
Hello everyone! We are now allowing end users to export tickets directly from the help center. The ticket export allows users to: Filter tickets by Department, Priority, and Account before exporting. Download files from Export History (Setup > Data administrationSuper Admin Logging in as another User
How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Moderation Update (8th Aug 2025): We are workingIs it possible to remove filtering options?
My CRM has a lot of custom fields that should not be used in filters or views. Fields that are automated and exist only to store temporary values that get used in functions. These create a lot of noise in the list of fields to filter. Isn't there anyFunction #18: Associate invoice templates automatically based on customer language
For businesses dealing with a diverse linguistic clientele, it becomes crucial to send out invoices in the customer's preferred language to ensure effective communication. This requirement can be handled in Zoho Books by creating invoice templates inChanging field types
Question im a Zoho CRM user and curious, if I change a flied type from single or multi line text to a URL field type will i lose the data in the field or will it be converted to website link automatically. ThanksQuote PDF – Header image stopped rendering suddenly
Hello Zoho Support Team, We are facing an issue with Quote PDF templates in Zoho Books. Previously, images added inside the Quote header HTML were rendering correctly. However, recently the header image is no longer appearing, while header text stillChanging Default PDF Name
Is it possible to change the default name of a PDF? As of right now, all of my quotes are named 'QT_$QuoteNumber' (i,e: 'QT_19803471298374) - would it be possible to change this to: '$CompanyName - $AccountName - $QuoteNumber' for instance?Tip 2: Recursive functions in Deluge: How to dynamically run a function for a specified number of times.
Hi folks, As part of the Zoho Creator - Tips and Tricks series every fortnight, we are back today with a new tip on Recursive functions. Let us first quickly understand what Recursive functions are: A function that calls itself one or more times is known as a Recursive function. That is, you can execute a function to perform a particular action a specific number of times. And, at the end of each iteration, a new output is generated. Recursive functions are commonly used by programmers as it enablesFunction #48: Manage fixed installment payments using Zoho Books
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! Businesses offer installment payment options to their customers, particularly for expensive purchases, to ease the financial burden on them. By breaking down the total cost into smaller, more manageableFunction #1: Convert an accepted Estimate to Sales Order automatically in Zoho Books
As you’re aware, Zoho Books provides a default option to have the estimates automatically converted to invoices once your customer accepts them. Many of you wanted a similar option for sales orders, so here’s a workflow that converts accepted estimatesSpotlight series #6: The Show app for Android TV has a new look!
Hello everyone! We are delighted to introduce our revamped and redesigned Show app for Android TV. Smart TVs are exploding in popularity. Android TV alone has over 110 million active monthly devices. Zoho Show, as part of a constant effort to improveEmployee Appraisal Applicability - Why is Date of Joining Hard-Coded?
In the new (to me, at least) Performance Appraisal Cycle wizard, it's possible to set criteria to determine for whom the appraisal process should apply. This makes sense on its face. However, one MUST use the Date of Joining criterion as a filter. WhyZoho Books integration sync from Zoho CRM does not work
Hi Zoho Community & Zoho Support We just tried to get a sync some products into Zoho Books from CRM using the native sync and we're getting an error: "It looks like some mandatory fields you're trying to map are empty. Please provide valid field namesAppraisals - Order of Previous Reviews Should Be Newest to Oldest
The new Zoho People layout generally does a decent job at providing the necessary information for performing appraisals of employee performance. One example of this is the Previous Reviews section: This information is helpful when conducting a review.auto close automated alert tickets which are similar
Hello ZOHO Community, we are using ZOHO Desk to process automated monitoring alerts. Scenario: Our monitoring system creates a ticket when a threshold is exceeded, e.g. Subject: Computer 1 – CPU usage 100% – Error A few minutes later, once the issue resolvesPaging through API results. a major gap in your documentation.
There is no way for me. to get all of my data through a single API call. Typically REST APis have mechanisms for paging through API results. But the documentation for the API I am using: https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#Introduction Has no mentionRecurring invoices were generated with old template...
I have recurring invoices setup. Ones generated on 10.20.2025 used the modified template I had used. But for some reason, on the ones created on 11/20/2025, it seems the invoices created reverted to the previous version of the invoice template. Notably,Write-Off multiple invoices and tax calculation
Good evening, I have many invoices which are long overdue and I do not expect them to be paid. I believe I should write them off. I did some tests and I have some questions: - I cannot find a way to write off several invoices together. How can I do that,Leave Report Emailed Weekly
I am wondering if someone knows how to have a report generated either weekly or monthly or both for department heads and ownership of upcoming employee leave. For instance, it would be nice to get an emailed report on Friday for the upcoming week of whoZoho desk desktop application
does zoho desk has a destop applicaion?Tip #54- Exploring the Files Icon in Zoho Assist- 'Insider Insights'
As we’re already in mid-December, it’s a good time to take a closer look at one of the most useful options in the Zoho Assist remote support dashboard—the Files icon. To get started, log in to Zoho Assist using your credentials. Once you’re in, navigateTip#47: Estimation planner
Sprint planning becomes easier, smoother, more collaborative and more accurate with the Estimation Planner extension. Most work items involve multiple users, and each user's role and effort vary. To provide an unbiased and fair estimation point to thePainfully Slow Zoho mail
Since yesterday Zoho Mail seems to have starting functioning very slowly and having a few bugs. It's slow to open mails, slow to send, slow to change between email accounts. Sometimes clicking on a particular folder (eg Sent folder) stops working andUpcoming update to Google Drive integration in Zoho Creator
Hello everyone, We're writing to inform you about an upcoming update to how Zoho Creator integrates with Google Drive. In Zoho Creator, during actions like importing files to create an app or attaching files to fields, you can choose files directly fromTime Tracking on Iphone doesn't stop
When I start a time tracking session the timer starts as expected. However when I hit stop, the timer remains on that project. The only buttons available are discard and start. Start runs the timer more and discard says it will throw away the data fromZoho Sign - Zoho CRM extension upgrade
Hi everyone, We've updated Zoho Sign extension for Zoho CRM with significant internal changes. Impact on existing Zoho Sign extension users Users using the extension without customization If you are using the integration without implementing Zoho Sign'sZoho Books blocks invoicing without VeriFactu even though it is not mandatory until 2027
I would like to highlight a very serious issue in Zoho Books for Spain. 1. The Spanish government has postponed the mandatory start of VeriFactu to January 1st, 2027. This means that during all of 2026 businesses are NOT required to transmit invoicesGroup by Owner/ Owner Kanban /Group by Custom Field
Hi, We are missing the option of viewing Tasks grouped by their owner, as it is an essential function for us to manage our employees' working tasks. We find it hard to inspect what are the tasks that our employees are working on. We are seeking an optionFlow using way too many tasks
I built a flow that is using way too many tasks for what it is doing. I reached out to support a week ago but never heard back so hoping the community can help. Does a filter count as a task? I am seeing tons of records filtered with < 1 Sec Time TakenRegarding the integration of Apollo.io with Zoho crm.
I have been seeing for the last 3 months that your Apollo.io beta version is available in Zoho Flow, and this application has not gone live yet. We requested this 2 months ago, but you guys said that 'we are working on it,' and when we search on GoogleStart Workflow from Deluge Script
I have developed a customized process from our CRM that leverages a deluge script to create a statement of work document. Once the document has been created via the merge and store function, I would like the ability to start a workdrive review & approveNext Page