Kaizen #132 - Manipulating Subforms from third-party Application using Functions
Hey folks! Welcome to a fresh week of Kaizen.
In this post, we will see how to work with subforms and external fields in a module through CRM functions.
Consider a scenario where a High School utilizes Zoho CRM to manage student records, academic performance, and offered courses. Additionally, the school employs an Exam portal for students to take examinations. After the examination, the portal sends the mark information back to Zoho CRM along with it's own course id, student id, marks & other details.
Problem Statement
When the exam portal initiates a webhook call to CRM, the high school management wants to capture that data and update the CRM subform records accordingly. This subform should act as a semester progress report for each student.
Solution Overview
To address this requirement, a custom function must be implemented. The webhook URL will be the API REST URL of the custom function in Zoho CRM. Upon receiving the notification, the function is triggered, and the details from the notification are used to manipulate the subform.
Let us walk through this process of triggering functions using a webhook to manipulate subforms.
Let us walk through this process of triggering functions using a webhook to manipulate subforms.
Prerequisites
From the Third-Party Application
- We assume that a webhook will be triggered from the third-party application when the exam is over and evaluated by the teacher. The webhook will carry the following information:
Field | Data Type | Description |
Exam Name | String | Name of the examination that the student attends. |
Student ID | Long String | Unique ID of the student within the Portal App. |
Course ID | Long String | Unique ID of the course within the Portal App. |
Marks | Integer | Total marks of the student in the particular course. |
Total Time | Integer | Time taken by the student to complete the exam. |
- The webhook URL should correspond to the API REST URL of the custom function in Zoho CRM.
From Zoho CRM
Here is a data model image of the CRM modules involved in this scenario for your ease of understanding.
The Courses, Students and Student Exams modules are assumed to be pre-loaded with records. Following are the module wise fields that are expected to be already configured in the school's CRM org.
Courses and Students Modules
External fields named Student Code in the Students module and Course Code in the Courses module are used to match the IDs deployed in the third-party application.
Note
External fields can be updated only using the Update Records API.
Student Exams Module
Following are the custom fields that we assume to be already available in the Student Exams module.
Field Name | Data Type | Description |
Student | Lookup | The field looks up to the Students module. |
Total Marks | Integer (Formula) | A subform aggregate field that sums up the values of the Marks field in the Student Performance subform. |
GPA | Integer (Formula) | Calculates the GPA of a student in that particular examination. |
Exam Name | String (Picklist) | List downs the examinations that are planned to be conducted for the academic year. |
Student Performance Subform
A subform named Student Performance within the Student Exams module, comprising the following fields.
Field Name | Data Type | Description |
Course | Lookup | Represents the course name and it looks up to one of the courses from the Courses module. |
Total Time | Integer | Time taken by the student to complete the exam. |
Marks | Integer | Marks of the student in the particular course. |
Grade | String (Formula) | Grading system is infused as formula and it works depending on the value in the Marks field. |
The subform is assumed to be empty and will be updated only on receiving a webhook notification from the Portal App.
Note
Make a Modules Metadata API call to get the API names of the modules and the subform. Next, fire the GET Fields API call to get the API names of the fields. We will need them in crafting the custom function.
Creating the Custom Function
Step 1: Navigate to the Setup > Developer Hub > Functions and click the New Function button.
Now, create a Standalone function by filling in the details.
Flow of the Function
Argument Setup
Define function arguments to receive details from the function as shown here:
Data Retrieval
Invoke the COQL API within the function to retrieve the necessary records from the Student Exams and Courses module.
student_examMap = Map(); student_examMap.put("select_query","select id from Student_Exams where Student.Student_Code =" + student_id + " and Exam_Name=" + exam_name + " limit 1"); exam_response = invokeurl [ type :POST parameters:student_examMap.toString() connection:"crm_oauth_connection" ]; exam_id = exam_response.getJSON("data").get(0).get("id"); |
Here, the query is structured to retrieve the ID of the Student Exam record where the Student lookup field corresponds to the record with the Student Code matching the student_id in the notification, and the Exam Name picklist field matches the value of exam_name from the notification.
Note: You can use only =, !=, in and not in operators for querying External fields in Zoho CRM.
courseMap = Map(); courseMap.put("select_query","select id from Courses where Course_Code =" + course_id + " limit 1"); course_response = invokeurl [ type :POST parameters:courseMap.toString() connection:"crm_oauth_connection" ]; course_id = course_response.getJSON("data").get(0).get("id"); |
In this COQL call, the query fetches the ID of the record from the Courses module whose Course Code field matches the course_id received in the notification.
Subform Update Handling
The custom function should address the following three cases inorder to effectively manipulate the subform data from the third-party application.
- Every webhook call from the Exam portal should be added as a new entry to the subform.
- If entries already exist in the subform, the function should perform PATCH operation.
- Before executing the PATCH operation, it is crucial to check whether the webhook call is for a new course or an update to the existing course. In such cases, the function should refrain from adding the course; instead, it should update the corresponding entry.
To append new entries to the subform, you can use the UPDATE Records API. Refer to this kaizen to learn more about manipulating subforms using Zoho CRM APIs.
Student Performance is a module created for the subform configured in the Student Exams module. In order to perform the PATCH operation with an Update API, make a COQL API call to the Student Performance module and fetch the existing data, if any.
subform_examMap = Map(); subform_examMap.put("select_query","select Course, Total_Time, Marks from Student_Performance where Parent_Id.id =" + exam_id); subform_response = invokeurl [ type :POST parameters:subform_examMap.toString() connection:"crm_oauth_connection" ]; |
This query retrieves the exam records of the student for that particular exam in Student Exams module, from the Student Performance subform. The subform should correspond to the parent record that matches the notification data. Since we already have the ID of that parent record from one of the previous COQL call, we have directly used the response in this query.
Now that we have the existing subform data, the function has to verify whether the data from webhook call matches any of the Course in the subform data. If it matches, the new entry replaces the existing one; otherwise, the new entry is added to the existing entries and forms a request payload called examinfo. This payload will be used in the later part of the functions to update the record in Student Exams module.
Following is how you should achieve this using for-each loop.
final_subform = List(); flag = true; if(!isBlank(subform_response)) { subform_data = subform_response.getJSON("data").toList(); if(subform_data.len() > 0) { for each data in subform_data { if(data.get("Course").get("id") == course_id) { final_subform.add({"Course":{"id":course_id},"Total_Time":time_taken,"Marks":marks}); flag = false; } else { final_subform.add(data); } } } } if(flag || isBlank(subform_response)) { final_subform.add({"Course":{"id":course_id},"Total_Time":time_taken,"Marks":marks}); } examinfo = {"Student_Performance":final_subform}; |
Next, let us update the Student Performance subform in the Student Exams module using the pre-defined integration task called Update Record in Zoho CRM functions. This task makes an Update Records API call to replace all entries within the subform. It updates the entries with the same course_id provided in the notification, inserts new entries and removes old entries accordingly.
response = zoho.crm.updateRecord("Student_Exams",exam_id,examinfo); return "nothing"; |
Save the function and click the more icon of the function you have created and choose REST API.
Enable the OAuth2 and API Key for the function.
Next copy the API key and provide it in the webhook URL of the Portal App.
On receiving notifications to this URL the function will be triggered and the records will be updated.
We believe you found this post both beneficial and informative!
Your thoughts and perspectives matter to us. If there is a topic you would like us to delve into or if you have any questions, please feel free to drop a comment below or send us an email at support@zohocrm.com.
Stay tuned until we circle back to you on next Friday!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Reads
- External IDs - An Overview
- Formula Fields - An Overview
- Subforms - Overview and guide to build a subform, Kaizen #31, Kaizen #124
- Metadata APIs - GET Modules, GET Fields
- REST APIs - Update Records API
- Query API - An Overview, Records through COQL Query, Kaizen #80 , Kaizen #81 , Limitations
- Functions - An Overview
- Deluge - An Introduction
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous Post : Kaizen #131 - Bulk Write for parent-child records using Scala SDK | Kaizen Collection: Home
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 #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
Deleting unwanted ticket replies
Hello, In a Zoho Desk Ticket thread, sometimes one of the recipients has auto-reply activated. This creates a new message in the Ticket thread that not only pollutes the thread, but most importantly cannot be replied properly because usually auto-reply e-mails don't do "reply all", so the other recipients are not included. I want to delete such a message in the Ticket thread. I searched the help of Zoho Desk, but only found a way to mark as Spam (https://help.zoho.com/portal/kb/articles/marking-support-tickets-as-spam)Issue: Ticket Export Does Not Include Ticket Threads
Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to bring to your attention that the current ticket export feature in Zoho Desk does not seem to include the ticket threads or conversation history. When exporting tickets, only the summaryUpdating an Invoice Line Item's Discount Account via API Call / Deluge Custom Function
I need help updating an invoice line item's discount account via API. Below is a screenshot of the line item field I am referring to. Now the field to the left of the highlighted field (discount account) is the sales income account. I am able to modifyUnified customer portal login
As I'm a Zoho One subscriber I can provide my customers with portal access to many of the Zoho apps. However, the customer must have a separate login for each app, which may be difficult for them to manage and frustrating as all they understand is thatAbility to Set Client Name During Portal Invitation
Hi Zoho Team, We would like to suggest an important enhancement to the Zoho Creator Client Portal functionality. Zoho Creator recently introduced the option to set a client’s display name in the Client Portal settings, which is very helpful for creatingスマホでキャンペンメールを見ると正しく表示されない
キャンペーンのメール（HTML）を作成しましたが、スマホ表示に切り替えると正しく表示されません（添付参照）過去に作成したキャンペーンでは特に意識してませんでしたが、問題なく表示されていたようです。うまく表示される場合とされない場合の違いは何でしょうか？Zoho CRM - Calendar Cards View - Let Users Decide What Is Displayed On Calendar Entries
Imagine planning your week of face-to-face meetings across three counties. You’re trying to group appointments by location to make the best use of your time, but Zoho CRM’s calendar doesn’t show where each meeting is happening. You’re left trying to remember136.143.188.51 blocked by spamcop
Zoho mailserver seems to be blocked by spamcop. Cant send mail to my customer. Not sure what to do.Good news! Calendar in Zoho CRM gets a face lift
Dear Customers, We are delighted to unveil the revamped calendar UI in Zoho CRM. With a complete visual overhaul aligned with CRM for Everyone, the calendar now offers a more intuitive and flexible scheduling experience. What’s new? Distinguish activitiesDashboard Autorefesh
Good day, I am a dashboard that displays the number of tickets based on "Product Name". This dashboard is displayed on a big TV for the team to monitor. Can the dashboard auto-refresh every few minutes to display the new values? Currently, we have closedWould be really awesome to have Created Time and Modified Time showing for custom functions list
It would be SO HELPFUL to be able to sort custom functions by created time/ modified time. Also seeing a created by/ modified by with the little profile picture would be supremely helpful as well. Just really hard sometimes to find a function you wereZoho Calendar Integrated Into CRM?
I've searched around the forums but couldn't find anything addressing this . . . Is there a plan to integrate Zoho's stand alone calendar solution into Zoho CRM? The CRM calendar does an OK job but is very basic and the Zoho calendar is great, but I've only figured out to subscribe to my CRM calendar within ZCalendar - there is no 2-way sync. My preferred solution would be for ZCal to become the default calendar/event solution within Z CRM. Is this on the roadmap? ThanksConditional layouts - support for multi-select picklists
Hi, The documentation for conditional layouts says the following: "Layout Rules cannot be used on the following field types: Auto Number Lookup Multi Select Lookup User Lookup Formula File Upload Multi Line" I have a custom module with a multi-pick listCan I Create Different Page Layouts Based on a Specified Module Pick List Field
I am trying to work out how to create different page layouts based on a specified module pick list field value, like the Salesforce feature where you can define multiple record types and then create custom page layouts for each record type. This is a super important feature as for almost all the modules we are using (Leads, Potentials, Accounts) we need to be able only show fields relevant to the record type. E.g. We need a very different page layout for a consumer lead Vs a commercial lead, sameScheduling Tasks in Relation to Project End Date
I use Zoho project to help manage tasks that relate to a number of specific business events that take place. I would like to be able to have my project end date be the date of the event and then work "back" from that date to say... Add a task 2 weeks before the project end date to remind me to XYZ. Does anyone know if there is a way to base task timings back from a project due date rather than a project start date?Tips & tricks: Make SalesIQ automations work for you
Every day, thousands of visitors land on your website. Some browse, some buy, and some leave without a word. But, wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically know who’s interested, engage them at the right moment, and never miss a lead, and all thisFunction with Search Records was working until a few weeks ago, around when "Connected Records" was released
I have a custom function that has been running for nearly a year now, which suddenly stopped working around the time Zoho released the "Connected Records" update. The function is no longer finding the record using the searchRecords function. I've changedWhat's New in Zoho Analytics - October 2025
Hello Users! We're are back with a fresh set of updates and enhancements to make data analysis faster and more insightful. Take a quick look at what’s new and see how these updates can power up your reports and dashboards. Explore What's New! ExtremeNotes of Tasks in Zoho CRM
Hello, Is there a way to filter the Notes that appear on a Task to only show the notes related to that specific Task and not display all the Notes of the objects related to that Task (Accounts, Contacts, Deal, etc). In essence, our team struggles to understandMulti-Page Forms in Zoho Creator!
Let’s make long applications easier to handle by dividing them into pages, adding a progress bar, and guiding users step by step through complex data entry. This would be a total game-changer for the user experience and could significantly boost completionPassing the CRM
Hi, I am hoping someone can help. I have a zoho form that has a CRM lookup field. I was hoping to send this to my publicly to clients via a text message and the form then attaches the signed form back to the custom module. This work absolutely fine whenAsk the Experts 24: Analytics, data administration, and mobile experience with Zoho Desk
Hello Everyone! Welcome back to the Ask the Experts(ATE) series! We were so focused on our Autumn 2025 release that we didn't host an ATE session last month. In this month's ATE, we'd like to expand our areas for discussion: we'd like to listen to yourHow to next stage blueprint in Zoho Creator
Hello, I have question, its possible to next stage blueprint? in case, Start - (first stage) Leader 1 (with condition 1) - (second stage) Leader 2 (with condition 2) - (third stage) Leader 3 (with condition 3) - (fourth stage) After first stage, i wantFeature Request: Email Follow-Up Sequences Similar to Zoho CRM
I’m wondering if Zoho Recruit is planning to introduce a feature similar to the Email Automation – Follow-Up Sequences that is available in Zoho CRM. In CRM, this allows users to send a series of timed follow-up emails triggered by specific actions (forAssociate email with a potential or project.
I have a pivotal requirement to associate emails from various suppliers (contacts) with different potentials or projects, on an email by email basis as they come in. This question appears to have been raised before but I cannot find a definitive yes "it can be done". Could anyone please tell me, yes or no. If the later I can stop wasting time and look at alternative crm systems. I would love not to have to do this. Thanks in advance.Currency limitation when integrating Zoho CRM & Zoho Books
Brief Video of Problem: https://www.loom.com/share/d61d1d07d0904e149d80c1901a22418e. Background · Our business is based in Australia and we have to have Zoho Books in AUD to comply with tax and reporting regulations in Australia. · We sellMulti-select Lookup does not have Advanced filter options in CRM
With much fanfare Zoho announced the advanced filter options for CRM lookup fields which was a nice addition. This feature is not available for Multi-Select lookup fields. Will it be rolled out in the next 3-6 months, considering the standard lookup filterOnline Assessment or any aptitude test
This video is really helpful! I have one question — if I share an assessment form link (through email or with the application form on my career page), how does Zoho Recruit evaluate it? Can a candidate use Google or external help while taking the test,Experience effortless record management in CRM For Everyone with the all-new Grid View!
Hello Everyone, Hope you are well! As part of our ongoing series of feature announcements for Zoho CRM For Everyone, we’re excited to bring you another type of module view : Grid View. In addition to Kanban view, List view, Canvas view, Chart view andUnable to copy into a new document
Whe I create a new Writer doc and attemp to copy and past I get this message. The only way to copy into a document is I duplicate an existing document, erase the text and save it under a different name and then paste the information. Not ideal. Can youAgent assignment filter?
Godo day, We are starting to play with FSM to see if it's going to work for our needs. Now so far we have found that it's very restrcitve in the field department you you have layout rules or can't even hide fields depending on the users roles. We can'tAdd Option to Mass Dispatch by User
Hello! We are using the dispatch console to dispatch service appointments to our service ressources. Right now, the process is our dispatcher verifies each ressource's route for the day and dispatches it after validation. Sadly, there doesn't seem toKaizen #157: Flyouts in Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting edition of our Kaizen series, where we explore fresh insights and innovative ideas to help you discover more and expand your knowledge!In this post, we'll walk through how to display Flyouts in Client ScriptCustomize User Invites with Invitation Templates
Invitation Templates help streamline the invitation process by allowing users to create customized email formats instead of sending a one-size-fits-all email. Different invitation templates can be created for portal users and client users to align withAdmin Control Over Profile Picture Visibility in Zoho One
Hello Zoho Team, We hope you are doing well. Currently, as per Zoho’s design, each user can manage the visibility of their profile picture from their own Zoho Accounts page: accounts.zoho.com → Personal Information → Profile Picture → Profile PicturePublished Course Not Reflecting In Hub
Hi! I am trying to create micro-learning courses for our team to be available for self-guided learning. I have published the courses with enrollment settings open to all users of the hub, but they don't appear to be available for enrollment. Am I missingUnlock Locked Users via Zoho One Mobile App
Hello Zoho One Team, We have noticed that in the Zoho One web admin panel, we can unlock a locked user when needed. However, when using the Zoho One mobile app, there is no indication that a user is locked, nor is there an unlock button similar to whatIs CRM On Premise available
Hi Zoho team, Can you please let me know that CRM Zoho is available for On Premise as well? Thanks, DevashishAccount in Quick View Filter
I have a report that I often run against a specific Account. Every time, I have to go into the edit menu and change the Advanced Filter. I would prefer to use the Quick View Filter, but it does not allow me to use the one and only field that makes anyTip #47- Stay Ahead with Automated Scheduled Reports in Zoho Assist- 'Insider Insights'
We’ve made it easier for you to stay informed, even when you’re busy managing remote sessions! With Scheduled Reports in Zoho Assist, you can now automatically receive detailed insights about your remote support and unattended access activities directlyNext Page