Kaizen #26 - Linking module and Multi-select Lookup fields
Hello everyone!
Welcome to another post in the Kaizen series!
This week, we will discuss how to add/delete values to a multi-select lookup field through linking modules via API and achieve many-to-many relationships.
Your data in CRM are often inter-related. For example, you may want to associate an account with contact. You can easily achieve this through a lookup field in the Contacts module that looks up to an account in the Accounts module.
As you can see, this is a one-to-many relationship. However, you can select only one value using a lookup field.
Now, consider a scenario where you want to associate the same contact with two accounts. Here, the lookup field is not helpful as it lets you choose only one record.
To establish many-to-many relationships, you must use the multi-select lookup field.
Example Scenario
Problem
Zylker Real Estates manages buying/renting apartments. They have two modules in their CRM—Listings and Leads.
Jack Smith is one of the leads and is interested in looking at three listings (C-807, B-196, and H-786).
Apart from Jack, three other leads—Jane, Jill, and Derek—are all interested in looking at C-807.
When you create a Lead record for Jack Smith, there must be a provision to choose from the three listings he is interested in. Also, the listing C-807 should have four leads associated with it. So there is a need to choose many values from a lookup field. A regular lookup field lets you choose only one value.
Solution
In this case, Zylker Real Estates could create a multi-select lookup field in the Leads module, as shown in the image below.
So, data in both modules would look like below.
Consider Jack Smith requests a negotiation for each listing, and the negotiated rent differs for all three listings. Now, where can this field be stored?
- It cannot be a field in Jack's record, as there are three different prices based on each house.
- It cannot be a field in the listing's record either, as other prospects apart from Jack may have offered different negotiations for it.
To manage this diversity, Zoho CRM allows you to create a Linking Module. Each association between two modules (created via a multi-select lookup field) is a record in the linking module. So, when three listings are associated with Jack, three separate records are created in the Linking Module that lets you create separate Negotiated Rent in each record.
Adding values to a multi-select lookup field through an API
When you manipulate records through the API, it is not possible to add values to a multi-select lookup field directly from the module where the multi-select lookup field is present, like how you add values to a lookup field.
Instead, you can create a record in the linking module by passing the values of both the lead and listing's IDs.
Now, let us try to add another Listing (A-101) to the lead Jack Smith.
Details required
- API name of the Linking module. You can obtain this through the Modules API. The value "linking" of the key "generated_type" indicates that this is a linking module. In our case, it is Leads_vs_Listings.
- API Names of the lookup fields pointing to the Leads and the Listings module. They are the fields of the Linking module. Here, they are Interested_Leads and Interested_Listings.
- Record IDs of the records from the two modules that you want to associate with the multi-select lookup field.
Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v2/Leads_vs_Listings
Request Method: POST
Sample Input
{ "data": [ { "Interested_Leads": { "id": "3652397000001970024" //ID of the Lead Jack Smith }, "Interested_Listings": { "id": "3652397000001988001" //ID of the Listing A-101 } } ] } |
Sample Response
{ "data": [ { "code": "SUCCESS", "details": { "Modified_Time": "2020-04-02T18:27:10+05:30", "Modified_By": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017" }, "Created_Time": "2020-04-02T18:27:10+05:30", "id": "3652397000001987014", "Created_By": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017" } }, "message": "record added", "status": "success" } ] } |
In the UI, for the lead Jack Smith
In the UI, for the listing A-101
In the UI, in the linking module
Deleting/dissociating values from a multi-select lookup field through an API
Deleting the record from the linking module deletes the association between the two modules.
Here, let us delete the association between the lead Jack Smith and the listing A-101. Pass the ID of the record that associates these two in the linking module.
Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v2/Leads_vs_Listings/{{record_id_in_the_linking_module}}
Request Method: DELETE
Sample URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v2/Leads_vs_Listings/3652397000001987014
Sample Response
{ "data": [ { "code": "SUCCESS", "details": { "id": "3652397000001987014" }, "message": "record deleted", "status": "success" } ] } |
In the UI, for the linking module
Fetching the Related Records of a Linking Module
When you view a record's details, you can find a multi-select lookup field as a related list in the associated module. In our case, you can find Listings as a related list in the Leads module, while Leads is a related list in the Listings module.
This related list will also display details of the Linking Module, if you have chosen to create one, as in the below image.
To fetch the related list details from a module, you need
- The API name of the related list. You can obtain this through the Related List Metadata API.
To fetch the related records associated with the Listings module, the request URL must contain the module name, the ID of the record whose related records you want to fetch, and the related list API name.
Let us now fetch the related records associated with the Listing H-786.
Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v2/Listings/3652397000001978027/Leads3
Request Method: GET
Sample Response
{ "data": [ { "$approval": { "delegate": false, "approve": false, "reject": false, "resubmit": false }, "Owner": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017", "email": "p.boyle@abc.com" }, "Modified_Time": "2020-04-02T17:54:05+05:30", "Email": null, "$currency_symbol": "Rs.", "Interested_Leads": { "name": "Jack Smith", "id": "3652397000001970024" }, "Interested_Listings": { "name": "H-786", "id": "3652397000001978027" }, "Created_Time": "2020-04-02T16:12:27+05:30", "$review_process": null, "$editable": true, "$orchestration": null, "Name": "10004", "Last_Activity_Time": "2020-04-02T17:54:05+05:30", "Modified_By": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017", "email": "p.boyle@abc.com" }, "$review": null, "$state": "save", "$process_flow": false, "Negotiated_Rent": "4500", "id": "3652397000001980020", "Created_By": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017", "email": "p.boyle@abc.com" }, "Secondary_Email": null, "Email_Opt_Out": false, "$approved": true } ], "info": { "per_page": 200, "count": 1, "page": 1, "more_records": false } } |
In the UI,
We hope you found this post useful. Write to us at support@zohocrm.com if you have any questions, or let us know in the comment section.
Cheers!
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?
Sticky Posts
Kaizen #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 theKaizen #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.
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
In App Auto Refresh/Update Features
Hi, I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users. The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps. I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With theEvery time an event is updated, all participants receive an update email. How can I deactivate this?
Every time an event is updated in Zoho CRM (e.g. change description, link to Lead) every participant of this meeting gets an update email. Another customer noticed this problem years ago in the Japanese community: https://help.zoho.com/portal/ja/community/topic/any-time-an-event-is-updated-on-zohocrm-calendar-it-sends-multiple-invites-to-the-participants-how-do-i-stop-that-from-happeningHow can I filter a field integration?
Hi, I have a field integration from CRM "Products" in a form, and I have three product Categories in CRM. I only need to see Products of a category. Thanks for you answers.How to implement new online payment gateway?
Hello, Can you tell me how to proceed to implement my local payment gateway? DIBS has an open avaiable API that should be easy to implement into ZOHO BOOKS. http://tech.dibspayment.com/dibs_payment_windowZoho CRM - Portal Users Edit Their Own Account Information
Hi Community, I'm working on a client portal and it seems like the only I can make the Account record editable to the Contact, is if I add another lookup on the Account to the Contact record. Am I missing something as the account already has a list ofI’ve noticed that Zoho Sheet currently doesn’t have a feature similar to the QUERY formula in Google Sheets or Power Query in Microsoft Excel.
These tools are extremely helpful for: Filtering and extracting data using simple SQL-like queries Combining or transforming data from multiple sheets or tables Creating dynamic reports without using complex formulas Having a Query-like function in ZohoConnecting Zoho Mail with Apollo.io
Hi, I am trying to connect my Zoho Mail account with my Apollo.io account to start sending cold email for prospecting purposes. I have activated the IMAP setting but I am still unable to connect to the Apollo account. I am using my email credentials butWhere does this report come from in the Zoho One ecosystems?
Is this directly from MA, Analytics or ??? ???Contact's title in "Contact Role Mapping"
When I'm creating a deal, I'd like to see the contacts title in the listing. Right now, I only see this: How can I get the contact's title in there?Zoho CRM - Client Portal - Hide Notes Related List
Hi Community, I'm building a customer portal and I can't find a way to hide the notes related list. I don't want the client to see the notes I have about them. Is there a way to do this as it is no bin/trash icon when I hover over."Pivot Table" Conditional Formatting
Team, I there a way to use conditional formatting a "Pivot Table" report? Thanks, Arron Blue Pumpkin Hosting | Solutions Made SimpleHow many clients can be added to Zoho Practice?
How many clients can be added to Zoho Practice without having their zoho app?Stage History
when viewing a ticket , and you look at stage history tab (kanban view) and look at the stage duration column in days, it shows the current stage of the ticket as " current stage ". Should it not rather show the amount of days it has been in that currentSend Automated WhatsApp Messages and Leverage the Improved WhatsApp Templates
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce a major upgrade to Bigin's WhatsApp integration that brings more flexibility, interactivity, and automation to your customer messaging. WhatsApp message automation You can now useAutomating Ticket Responses Using Zoho Desk's AI Features
We’re looking to set up an automation within Zoho Desk that can analyze incoming emails or tickets and automatically respond with relevant knowledge base articles based on the content of the request. Could you please guide us on how to configure thisOptimising CRM-Projects workflows to manage requests, using Forms as an intermediary
Is it possible to create a workflow between three apps with traceability between them all? We send information from Zoho CRM Deals over to Zoho Projects for project management and execution. We have used a lookup of sorts to create tasks in the past,Service locations are tied to contacts?
Trying the system out. And what I discovered is that it seems that the whole logic of the app is, I'd say, backwards. There is a Customer - a company. The company has contact persons and service locations can be associated with different contact persons.Enhancements to Zoho Map integration tasks
Hello everyone, We're excited to announce enhancements to the Zoho Map integration tasks in Deluge, which will boost its performance. This post will walk you through the upcoming changes, explain why we're making them, and detail the steps you need toBug in Total Hour Calculation in Regularization for past dates
There is a bug in Zoho People Regularization For example today is the date is 10 if I choose a previous Date like 9 and add the Check in and Check out time The total hours aren't calculated properly, in the example the check in time is 10:40 AM checkNarrative 12: Sandbox - Testing without the risk
Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system: BTS Series Narrative 12: Sandbox - Testing without the risk What is a sandbox environment? A sandbox environment is a virtual playground that allows you to test freely and experiment with various elementsDynamically catching new file creations
I have a team folder with many subfolders, and in those folders we add new documents all the time. I'd like to have a workflow or script to notify me (and then take other actions) when a file is added anywhere in that structure that ends in "summary.txt".Announcing new features in Trident for Mac (1.27.0)
Hello everyone! Trident for macOS (v1.27.0) is here with new features and enhancements to improve scheduling and managing your calendar events. Let's take a quick look at them. Stay aligned across time zones. Both the scheduled and original time zonesBranding of native system emails
Make system emails adjustable in terms of branding. We want our system to be completely white label, because it is not a CRM anymore, it's way more than that. We are following the strategy of "CRM for everyone" to use the CRM in all departments, not onlySlow uploads of large files
I'm wanting to use Workdrive for transferring large images and video (we're talking things from 100MB-5GB). I'm running solo on a 500MBit/sec fiber connection. I'm getting upload speeds to Workdrive of no more than about 1-3Mbytes/sec when going throughMigrate Your Notes from OneNote to Zoho Notebook Today
Greetings Notebook Users, We’re excited to introduce a powerful new feature that lets you migrate your notes from Microsoft OneNote to Zoho Notebook—making your transition faster and more seamless than ever. ✨ What’s New One-click migration: Easily importneed to upload from airtable to google drive
I have a zapier zap that automates between airtable and google drive. When a customer uploads a new file into airtable via a client portal interface, zapier uploads that file into a folder linked to that customer's project record. I need to replicateCan't delete functions that are associated with deleted workflow rules
We have a handful of functions that were once associated with a workflow rule, but the rule has been deleted. The function still thinks it is associated so I can't assign it to a new rule. It is starting to get really messy because we have a list of functionsDefault Sorting on Related Lists
Is it possible to set the default sorting options on the related lists. For example on the Contact Details view I have related lists for activities, emails, products cases, notes etc... currently: Activities 'created date' newest first Emails - 'createdCredit Management: #1 Credit You Owe vs Credits Owed to the Business
Think about the last time you ordered food online. You might have paid in advance through your card, but you received a $20 refund because your order got delayed or cancelled. In most apps, refunds don't go into the bank account directly; instead, they'reTip #46- Turn Every Session into an Insight with Zoho Assist survey report- 'Insider Insights'
Delivering exceptional remote support isn’t just about resolving issues, it’s about understanding how both customers and technicians experience each session. That’s where Survey Report in Zoho Assist come in. You can configure and customize survey questionsEnhancing Zia's service with better contextual responses and article generation
Hello everyone, We are enhancing Zia's Generative AI service to make your support experience smarter. Here's how: Increased accuracy with Qwen One of the key challenges in AI is delivering responses that are both contextually accurate and empathetic whileAllow the usage of Multi-Select fields as the primary field on "Layout Rules"
We want to force our users to enter some explanation strings when a multi-select field has been utilized. I can't understand the reason for the usage restriction of Multi-Select fields as a primary field. This is a simple "Display hidden mandatory fieldCRM/Bookings integration edits Contact names
Hi there, I've installed the extension that connects Zoho CRM and Zoho Bookings. When we get a new appointment from Bookings from an existing Contact, that Contact's record shows this: First Name was updated from asd to blank value Last Name was updatedDomain Change
“Please update my Email-in domain from @biginmail.biginmail.in to @biginmail.zoho.com. Messages to the .in domain are bouncing.”Webhooks Limit Exceeded
Today, I received an error message saying, 'Total number of Webhook call exceeded', but when I look at Manage > Billing, it doesn't look like any of my invokeURL calls are being logged. Following the advice from this thread: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/webhooks-daily-limits-in-zoho-creatorAuto select option in CRM after Zoho Form merge
Hi, I have a dropdown field in Zoho CRM that is filled with a Zoho Form. The data is filled but not automatically shown. After selecting the right value in the dropdown the information a second field is shown. So the question is; how can I make the dropdownBring your CRM data straight into your presentations in Zoho Show
Let's say you are working on a presentation about your team's sales pipeline for an upcoming strategy meeting. All the information you need about clients and leads is in Zoho CRM, but you end up copying details from the CRM into your slides, adjustingImproved RingCentral Integration
We’d like to request an enhancement to the current RingCentral integration with Zoho. RingCentral now automatically generates call transcripts and AI-based call summaries (AI Notes) for each call, which are extremely helpful for support and sales teams.Introducing New APIs in Zoho Contracts
We are excited to announce the release of new APIs in Zoho Contracts to help you automate and manage every stage of your contract lifecycle more efficiently. Here’s a quick overview of what’s new: 1. Complete Contract Draft You can use this API to completeVimeo
For me Vimeo is the most important video social channel for media and filmmakers. Would others agree and like it added to Zoho Social.Next Page