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
Centralize Knowledge. Transform Learning.
All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.
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 #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 thisKaizen #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 howKaizen #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
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
What's New in Zoho Inventory | August – October 2025
Hello customers, The last quarter has been incredibly productive! We've released a powerful slate of new features and enhancements in Zoho Inventory designed to give you better control, greater efficiency, and expanded functionality across your inventoryDisable Zoho Inventory Tracking / Delink Zoho Books & Inventory
We have integrated zoho inventory with zoho books? Now after a long time, we want to disable inventory tracking and delink these 2 modules. Zoho says we cant do it. Anybody else going thru the same ? Any possibility at all? Why does zoho not allow toTracking Non-Inventory Items
We have several business locations and currently use zoho inventory to track retail items (sales and purchase orders). We were hoping to use zoho inventory to track our non-inventory items as well (toilet paper, paper towels, etc). I understand that weSet Warehouse based on Vendor
Greetings. I would like to set automaticaly the Warehouse based on the Vendor. Context: I am working on an adaptation of a Purchase Order to be used as a Quotation. I have defined that when a user has to raise a quote the Vendor will be "PROCUREMENT" I would like to set the Warehouse to a predefined value when "PROCUREMENT" is set as Vendor. I have tried to do with the Automation feature using the Field Update option, but Warehouse does not is listed as a field. Can you help? Thanks in advance.How do I save audio files to my PC that I record into Zoho Notebook from my phone?
I was thinking of using Zoho Notebook as a way to store composition ideas, as well as for other things if it can handle this. For this to be useful for me though, I need to be able to have an easy way to download those audio files to my PC, either individuallySearch mails in shared mailbox
Hi everyone, is there a way to search mails in shared mailbox's? Search in streams or mail doesn't return anything from mails in shared mailboxes. Thanks! RafalSync your Products Module for better context.
In customer support, context is everything. The integration between Zoho Desk and Zoho CRM helps your sales and support teams function as one, delivering better customer experiences. With the latest update to this integration, you can now sync the Product module in your Zoho CRM with your Zoho Desk portal. This feature enables products from Zoho CRM to reflect in the "product" field in Zoho Desk. This can save your support team valuable time and effort. Some things to note when syncing the two:Where is the desktop app for Zoho Projects???
As a project manager, I need a desktop app for the projects I manage. Yes, there's the web app, which is AWESOME for cross browser and platform compatibility... but I need a real desktop app for Projects that allow me to enter offline information whereCRM verify details pop-up
Was there a UI change recently that involves the Verify Details pop-up when changing the Stage of a Deal to certain things? I can't for the life of me find a workflow or function, blueprint, validation rule, layout rule ect that would randomly make itopenUrl in blueprints
My customer wants to open a URL at the end of a blueprint transition. Seems this isn't possible right now but it would be very useful. In this thread, https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/openurl-not-working the Zoho agent said that it's logicallyDropshipping Address - Does Not Show on Invoice Correctly
When a dropshipping address is used for a customer, the correct ship-to address does not seem to show on the Invoice. It shows correctly on the Sales Order, Shipment Order, and Package, just not the Invoice. This is a problem, because the company beingPrepayment of a sales order
How does everyone handle this common (at least it is common for us!) situation? We require all our orders to be fully prepaid before shipment since we manufacture made to order, custom products. Since ZOHO does not allow a sales order to be prepaid, we are forced to create an invoice at the time an order is placed to allow the customer to pay it. Our sales category is therefore skewed, since the sale was actually booked at the time an order was placed, rather then at the time it is shipped, whichAccess to Specific Zoho Desk layout for external parties
Hi, We have a partner who handles for us sales requests from specific markets. He is not a Zoho Desk user. But we want him to b part of a specific Zoho Desk layout to handle inquiries. How to achieve it in the easiest way possible?Deposit on a Sales Order
Good day, 100% of my business is preorders, no inventory. I am trying to run away from QB for one of my businesses, but I require two options that I don't seem to find with Zoho Books. 1 - If there is a way to apply a deposit on a sales order, as withBulk Delete Attachments
Is there a way to bulk delete attachments on the form entries? our storage is full and deleting files one by one is pain taking process.Ability to Disable System Banner Messages in Chat Flow Control
Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, Greetings, We would like to request an enhancement related to the system banner messages in Zoho SalesIQ chat flow control. Current Behavior: SalesIQ allows configuring various automatic banner/system messages such as: WaitingIdle Chat Reminders for Agent-Handled Conversations
Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, Greetings, We would like to request an enhancement to the Idle Chat Handling functionality in Zoho SalesIQ—specifically for chats that are handled by human agents after a bot-to-agent transfer. Current Behavior: In Zobot settings,Snapchat
Are there any plans to add Snapchat to Zoho Social or is there any API that we can use to integrate into Zoho.Zoho Sign "An unexpected error occured" when clients trying to sign documents
We are unable to have clients sign our documents. When attempting to complete the process an error appears saying "an unexpected error occured" and in the document history just shows "signing failure." We are at a complete standstill with no response¡Vuelven los Workshops Certificados de Zoho a España!
¡Hola usuarios de Español Zoho Community! Hace ya unos días que hemos dado la bienvenida al 2026, y promete ser un año de lo más emocionante. Y es que nos gustaría haceros nuestro particular regalo de Reyes, aunque lleguemos un poco tarde. 🎁 ¡Nos gustaríaHow to list services on quote instead of products
I need to create a customer facing estimate that displays our services. The default quote layout only allows products to be listed. Is there a way to correct this?Invoice status on write-off is "Paid" - how do I change this to "Written off"
HI guys, I want to write off a couple of outstanding invoices, but when I do this, the status of the invoices shows as "Paid". Clearly this is not the case and I need to be able to see that they are written off in the customer's history. Is there a wayPlease, make writer into a content creation tool
I'm tired of relying on Google Docs. I'm actually considering moving to ClickUp, but if Writer were a good content creation tool instead of just a word processor, I would finally be able to move all my development within the Zoho ecosystem, rather thanZohoSalesIQ.Chat cannot send messages
Chat cannot send messages. Our app implements the customer service chat window functionality by integrating the Mobilisten SDK. Recently, we encountered an issue: after successful SDK initialization and visitor registration, when the `startWithQuestion`Missed chats on WhatsApp closing after one minute
Hi, we have added WhatsApp as a channel. However, if a chat is not picked up within 2mins, the chat is marked as missed and is closed within a minute. Why are they not staying in our "missed" queue for 24 hours as per our WhatsApp preference settings?Feature Request: Add Tax ID Display on Event Tickets
Hello Backstage Team, I’ve had several clients bring up an issue regarding tax compliance when creating events. For tax purposes, they are required to show their Tax ID on the event tickets. Currently, this isn’t an option, so they have to manually generateEmail Alias: To keep emails flowing without disruption
Email Alias acts like a nickname for a user’s primary email address, allowing multiple email addresses to deliver messages into the same mailbox. Consider the scenario where an employee manages multiple responsibilities, such as responding to sales inquiries,Inventory "Bulk Actions" button - add more fields to "Bulk Update > Select a field"
Can we not get a lot more actions that are commonly used by customers into the "More Actions" button on the Inventory list? More fields listed in the Bulk Update > Select A Field? Possible Bulk update Fields Preferred Supplier ( to quickly move itemsFunction #11: Apply unused credits automatically to invoices
Today, we bring you a custom function that automatically applies unused credits from excess payments, credit notes, and retainer payments to an invoice when it is created. Prerequisites: Create a Connection named "zbooks" to successfully execute the function.Tip #60- Exploring Technician Console: Screen Resolution- 'Insider Insights'
Hello Zoho Assist Community! Have you ever started a remote session and felt the screen quality wasn’t sharp enough for detailed work? A new user recently explored Zoho Assist after installing the trial version and running a few initial tests. While theRight Moment, Right Message, Right Operator: Never Miss a High-Intent Lead
Ever been on a website or app, thinking “Should I buy this or not?” and suddenly a friendly message “Hi! How can I help you?” pops up at the perfect moment? That’s not luck. That’s timing done right. Engaging right visitors at the right moment, with theZoho CRM Workflow Automation: Activate & Deactivate Workflows Using API
Zoho has now enabled: ✅ Activate / Deactivate workflows using API ✅ Schedule workflow activation & deactivation This is extremely useful for real-world automation use cases 💡 🧩 My Use Case I created a scheduled automation that: ☀️ Activates workflowsFunction #53: Transaction Level Profitability for Invoices
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! We have previously provided custom functions for calculating the profitability of a quote and a sales order. There may be instances where the invoice may differ from its corresponding quote or sales order.[Free Webinar] Zoho RPA - OCR, PDF Automation, & More
Hello Everyone! Greetings from the Zoho RPA Training Team! We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming webinar on the latest release updates for Zoho RPA, where we’ll unveil powerful new capabilities designed to make your automation journey smarter, faster,Zobot Execution Logs & Run History (Similar to Zoho Flow)
Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, We would like to request an enhancement for Zoho SalesIQ Zobot: adding an execution log / run history, similar to what already exists in Zoho Flow. Reference: Zoho Flow In Zoho Flow, every execution is recorded in the History tab,Global Search Settings
I'd love a way to remove some modules from being included in the global search. This would allow use to provide a better user experience, limiting the global search to only those modules that are regularly used removing any models used for backgroundCard Location in Zobot
Hello, when using the “Location” card in a codeless builder Zobot, the behavior in WhatsApp is inconsistent. When asking the user to share their location, they can type a message, which will return the message “Sorry, the entered location is invalid.Automation Series: Auto-create Dependent Task on Status Change
In Zoho Projects, you can automatically create and assign a dependent task when a task’s status is updated. This helps teams stay aligned, ensures reviews happen on time, and reduces manual effort. In this post, we’ll walk through an easy setup usingLanguages in Zobot
Hello, I have found a list of supported languages for the Zobot. The information specifies the languages are supported in the following 3 features: SalesIQ supports 34 different languages in the following features. Resources (Articles, FAQs, Small Talks)Function #6: Calculate Commissions for paid invoices
Zoho Books helps you automate the process of calculating and recording commissions paid to sales persons using custom functions. We've written a script that computes the commission amount based on the percentage of commission you enter and creates anNext Page