Upcoming Updates - February-March 2022

Upcoming Updates - February-March 2022

Hi all,

Greetings from the Zoho Creator team!

A new year is here and we're looking forward to bringing in new features, improving performance, and delivering on all the exciting updates we previously announced.

In this update, we'll go over the:
  • 30 new ready-to-use functions including randomNumber, encoding, and AI
  • Try-Catch, Break, and Continue statements
  • Sorting ability in subform fields
  • Advanced search option in lookup fields
  • Security check for unpublished components
  • Code sign mobile apps in AAB format
  • Enhanced report exporting on mobile
  • Field permissions in pivot reports
  • Invalid parameter validation
  • Enhancements and changes in Deluge
30 new ready-to-use functions including randomNumber, encoding, and AI

One powerful aspect of Deluge is its minimalistic approach to the number of statements required per execution. Some of the features we have in the pipeline are going to help further optimize your Deluge coding experience. We have also supported additional ready-to-use built-in functions and tasks.

randomNumber & other new built-in functions

To the long list of our available built-in functions, we'll be adding the following new functions:

i. Common

Function

Description

Generates a random number from the specified range.


ii. Text functions



Converts hexadecimal to text value.


Converts text to hexadecimal value.


Returns all the characters which precede the first occurrence of the search text in the input text. The search text is not case-sensitive.


Returns all the characters which follow the first occurrence of the search text in the input text. The search text is not case-sensitive.


Replaces all occurrences of the search text with the replacement text. The search text is not case-sensitive.


Replaces the first occurrence of the search text with the replacement text. The search text is not case-sensitive.


Returns a text with the input text repeated for the specified number of times.


Returns the input text with its characters in reverse order.


Checks if all characters in the input text are ASCII.


Removes all the extra white spaces (if any) inserted after the input text.


Removes all the extra white spaces (if any) inserted before the input text.



iii. Number functions



Returns the number equivalent to the hyperbolic tangent of the input angle.


Returns the hyperbolic arccosine or inverse hyperbolic cosine of the input number.


Returns the hyperbolic arcsine or inverse hyperbolic sine of the input number.


Returns the hyperbolic cosine of the input angle.


Returns the angle of the input number.


Returns the number equivalent to the hyperbolic tangent of the input angle.


Returns the angle between the positive x-axis and the ray from (0,0) to the input point (x,y).


Returns the degree equivalent to the input angle in radians.


Returns the radian equivalent to the input angle in degrees.


Extracts the sign of the given input values.



iv. Date-time functions



Returns the number of months between the given input date-time values.


Returns the number of years between the given input date-time values.


Returns the next immediate date that falls on the specified input day.


Returns the previous week's date that falls on the specified input day.


Returns the date-time values after subtracting the specified number of business days from it.


Encoding functions

We've expanded Deluge's set of encoding functions by supporting the following new functions:
  • htmlEncode: Transform all special HTML characters in the input text into HTML entities.
  • htmlDecode: Render all the HTML entities in the input string.

Artificial intelligence functions

Deluge's ready-to-use AI feature will include a couple more tasks:
  • zoho.ai.detectObject: Detects objects (example: person, laptop, car, traffic lights, etc) and their position in the input image.
  • zoho.ai.extractKeywords: Extracts keywords or tags from the input text.

Try-Catch, break, and continue statements

Deluge will be empowered with flexible error management and improved loop handling features. We're excited to add the following capabilities in Deluge:

Try-Catch: Exception handlers that can test Deluge scripts for run-time errors, and perform required actions if any errors are found.
Break: Terminates the execution of the current loop when encountered.
Continue: Terminates the execution of the current iteration of loop when encountered.

Sorting subform fields

Currently, the fields in subforms are sorted based on the added time. Soon, the subform field will include the capability to sort the fields listed within the subform. This feature will be made available in the field properties of the form. The admin will be able to navigate to the form builder, select the subform field, and specify the sorting preference.



This sorting capability is aimed at requirements that need the fields in the subform to be sorted in a specific order.

For instance, a Customer form might require its subform to list the recent orders of a customer. Here, the admin can sort the subform by navigating to the form builder, selecting the date field of the subform, and specifying the sorting preference as descending. Let's say a customer record is added with the orders of that particular customer in the subform.The sorted orders of that customer will be available while trying to edit the customer's record and also while viewing the record in report.

Note: Sorting cannot be done based on the following: Encrypted fields, URL, Audio,Video, multi-selection fields, integration fields, and user field.

Advanced search option in lookup fields

The advanced search option will equip you with an enhanced search mechanism to drill down to records or field values when you have a large volume of data. This feature is available only for lookup fields with the display type set as dropdown or multi select.

Search queries must return the most accurate and useful results possible, Anything beyond 5,000 is not likely to be the result that the user is looking for. So we have limited the search results to 5,000.This also eliminates the need to scroll down endlessly.



To ensure the user makes the most of this option to locate the record or value, user should try to use the parameters provided in the advanced search as efficiently as possible. This allows user to skip scrolling, while narrowing down the search. All that needs to be done is select the correct search operator and enter the appropriate keywords to fetch the relevant records more easily.




The advanced search will be enabled when the admin enables it in the field properties or when there are more than 500,000 records. Similarly, if a user field or date-time field is used as a display field, Advanced Field Search will automatically be enabled.

We're also introducing a restriction on the number of fields that can be included in display fields in lookup. A maximum of four display fields can only be added. If you have a requirement to add more than that, you can use the formula field as a workaround to combine more than four display values and then lookup the formula field




Security check for unpublished sub-components

It's advisable to share all subcomponents that belong to a published component with your users. Let's assume you have a iframe or widget inserted in a Page and if an unpublished form is used within the iframe or widget, said form will be restricted. This restriction is imposed as a security measure to ensure cross domain security policy. To avoid these kinds of anomalies, please ensure all sub-components present inside a published component are also published.

This restriction will be imposed from March 1st, 2022.

Code sign mobile apps in AAB format

Android App Bundle, or AAB, is a new publishing format added for the Zoho Creator's mobile app Codesign process. It includes all your app’s compiled code and resources, and defers APK generation and signing to Google Play.

Google Play will use your app bundle to generate and serve optimized APKs for each device configuration, so only the code and resources that are needed for a specific device are downloaded to run your app. Going forward, there will be no necessity to build, sign, and manage multiple APKs to optimize support for different devices, and users will get smaller, more-optimized downloads. Learn more

Enhanced report export in mobile and tablet

The enhancements in report export settings that were previously introduced for the web are now being extended to mobile and tablet. You can export the records in your report in your preferred file format and then download them. The exported file can then be used outside of your Zoho Creator application. In the new export settings, you'll be able to provide a file name, select the file format, select the columns to be included in the file, and make the file password-protected. Learn more 



Field permissions in pivot report

Previously, the field permissions feature was not applicable to pivot reports. As a step towards security enhancement, we are now rolling out the capability to control field permissions of View Underlying Data, Drill Down, and Export Underlying Data options in pivot. So the fields that are listed in the above options will be according to the field permissions set up in the permissions set under Users and permissions.

However, the permissions will not be applied when the fields are added as the axes of the charts or as the row/column of the table, because the construction of the chart or table will be impacted.

Invalid parameter validation

We are rolling out a minor change in handling API requests that have invalid or unsupported parameters. Currently, if there are API requests with invalid parameters, our API servers will ignore them and provide the appropriate responses to those requests.

As a step towards data security, we are implementing a change wherein API calls with invalid parameters will be rejected. An error response with the reason for the error will be provided. This validation is scheduled to go live this week or coming week. To avoid such validation errors, we recommend that you remove unsupported parameters before the stipulated date.

Enhancements and changes in Deluge

With the intention of also improving and evolving our existing Deluge features, we've planned a few updates. Ultimately, our aim is to boost Deluge's overall performance, so we've also prepared to lay out a few regulations that will streamline the way Deluge is used. We humbly ask your support in carrying out this plan.

Modified time of main form will be updated when subform rows are updated using Deluge

When rows are inserted into a subform, cleared from a subform, or particular fields of a subform are updated using Deluge, the modified time of the corresponding main form's record will be updated.

Map's key order will be retained in toXml() function's conversion

When using toXml function, the xml string will be generated in the input map's order. In the current behavior, it is generated irrespective of the order of the input map.

Multiselect fields in criteria and sort operations

Note: The following changes will be applicable to all customers.
i. <multi_choice_field>.<multi_choice_field> cannot be used in all filter criteria (report criteria, report filter criteria, conditional filter criteria, conditional formatting criteria, lookup filter criteria, all page builder criteria) and Deluge's fetch record task criteria.

Multi-choice fields are Multiselect, Checkbox, Subform, Multiselect Lookup and Multiselect Users fields.

ii. The values returned by the fetch records task cannot be sorted based on multi-choice fields and composite fields.

File size
i. Uploading files stored in file attachment fields to invokeURL or integration tasks will continue with the current ceiling of 50 MB, whereas downloading the content using invokeURL or extracting file content using <field_link_name>.content is capped at 5MB.
File attachment fields are File Upload, Image, Audio, and Video.

Note: This change is applicable only to new users and unaffected existing users (to be rolled out in a phased manner). Therefore, existing users who already consume file size more than the new limit will not be affected.
ii. The content function (<field_link_name>.content) cannot be applied on Audio and Video fields.

Regex evaluation

Evaluating regex is usually a performance-intensive operation. Therefore, we've been frequently encountering issues related to regex evaluation using Deluge tasks, such as matches, replaceAll, and replaceFirst. To avoid any more issues in this regard, the number of iterations done in the regex matching process is capped at 100,000.

That's all for now!

Thanks,
Zoho Creator Team


    Access your files securely from anywhere


            Zoho Developer Community





                                      • Desk Community Learning Series


                                      • Digest


                                      • Functions


                                      • Meetups


                                      • Kbase


                                      • Resources


                                      • Glossary


                                      • Desk Marketplace


                                      • MVP Corner


                                      • Word of the Day


                                      • Ask the Experts



                                          Zoho Marketing Automation
                                                  • Sticky Posts

                                                  • Zoho Creator - 2023 Release Projection 1

                                                    Hello everyone! A very Happy New Year to you and your family. Hope you're all good and having a great time using Zoho Creator to make your lives easier and your businesses prosper. 2022 was an action-packed year for us at Creator, and we hope to continue
                                                  • Zoho Creator User Group meetups in a city near you! - Oct - Nov, 2023

                                                    Greetings from the Zoho Creator team! We're hosting a series of Zoho Creator meetups in various cities across the globe, and we'd love to meet you there! Our meetups are a great opportunity to network with industry peers, exchange ideas and best practices,
                                                  • Zoho Creator - 2023 Release Projection 2

                                                    Hello everyone! Time truly flies when you're having an incredible journey, and today we mark the completion of an eventful and action-packed six months. It feels like just yesterday when we embarked on this adventure together with the launch of our new
                                                  • Upcoming Updates - August 2022

                                                    Hi all, Greetings from the Zoho Creator team! Today we've got news for you on some exciting updates. And rest assured— there’s more to come! In this post, we'll be going over the upcoming features and improvements for this month as mentioned below. A
                                                  • Introducing Zoho Creator's v2 APIs

                                                    Hello App Creators, Welcome to Zoho Creator's v2 APIs! This post will serve as the central point for migrating implementations of Creator's current APIs (v1) to v2. Improvements that v2 brings OAuth-based authentication, which is more secure than the


                                                  Manage your brands on social media



                                                        Zoho TeamInbox Resources

                                                          Zoho DataPrep Resources



                                                            Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                              Zoho Books Resources


                                                                Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                  Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                    Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                      Qntrl Resources


                                                                        Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                            Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                            • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                              CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                            • Kaizen

                                                                              Kaizen

                                                                            • Functions

                                                                              Functions

                                                                            • Meetups

                                                                              Meetups

                                                                            • Kbase

                                                                              Kbase

                                                                            • Resources

                                                                              Resources

                                                                            • Digest

                                                                              Digest

                                                                            • CRM Marketplace

                                                                              CRM Marketplace

                                                                            • MVP Corner

                                                                              MVP Corner





                                                                                Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                Get Started Now


                                                                                  Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                    Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                    Get Started. Write Away!

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

                                                                                      Zoho CRM コンテンツ








                                                                                        Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                            ご検討中の方





                                                                                                  • Recent Topics

                                                                                                  • Client Can't View Ticket

                                                                                                    Hi, I created a ticket for my Client since he had an issue. I added him as a Contact as well. My client got a notification in his email that the ticket has been created. When he went to view the ticket on his desktop, the screen was blank. He then viewed
                                                                                                  • Custom Status for Purchase Orders

                                                                                                    Currently Zoho books has functionality to create custom statuses for Sales Orders. Can this be extended to include custom status for purchase orders as well? It was a great decision to add this functionality to sales orders. Our use case is for tracking
                                                                                                  • My workflows not working

                                                                                                    Hi I have created my first workflow I want it so when a customer responds to a ticket that the status is changed to "reopened" We want this so its clear there is a ticket to deal with again. We only have 2 agents responding to tickets and do not have
                                                                                                  • Waiting Room

                                                                                                    Is there any plans to implement a Virtual Waiting Room for Attendees on Meetings and or Webinars?
                                                                                                  • Error AS101 when adding new email alias

                                                                                                    Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.
                                                                                                  • Global Sets for Multi-Select pick lists

                                                                                                    When is this feature coming to Zoho CRM? It would be very useful now we have got used to having it for the normal pick lists.
                                                                                                  • What's New - January 2025 | Zoho Backstage

                                                                                                    Hi there! As we step into a brand-new year, we’re thrilled to bring you some exciting updates to make event management more enjoyable and efficient. Here’s what we rolled out in January to kick off 2025: Backstage 2.0 now enforced for all users We've
                                                                                                  • How do you do ticket add ons in Backstage?

                                                                                                    Hi Everyone, If you wanted to have general admin tickets and allow for add ons, like camping, or car or Carbon offset. What would you do? Peace Robin
                                                                                                  • Re-create auth token

                                                                                                    I need to re-create a self-client auth token, with the same scopes (and additional ones) as the current token. Is there a way to view the scopes assigned to the current token to ensure that no scopes are missing when creating the new one?
                                                                                                  • Writing on sketch cards is bugged when zoomed in

                                                                                                    When zoomed in, it writes a noticeable distance above or to the side of where you're actually trying to write. The further you're zoomed in, the more noticeable it is. Zooming is also entirely absent on the desktop version.
                                                                                                  • Doesn't let me test my newsletter.

                                                                                                    Hello, I click "Preview and Test". I select the email address to send the test (usually my own email). I send the test email, appears the message "Your test email has been sent", but nothing happens. I mean, there is nothing in my inbox. I also tried
                                                                                                  • Custom Related List anchor tag with tel protocol

                                                                                                    The following code worked great for about a year to create clickable tel and mailto links in a related list in the Deals module. Just this morning, it started displaying the HTML as text. For example: <a href='tel:8882490100'>8882490100</a> Zoho support
                                                                                                  • reset of user password

                                                                                                    User forgot her password, so she requests a password rest, but never gets the email. How do I reset her password, since that function is not an option, even for an administrator?
                                                                                                  • In what case it's better to use Developer Console? Only for marketplace?

                                                                                                    As I can see from the documentation, the limitations are challenging. No Custom API No Page Variables No Custom Connections.
                                                                                                  • commision tracker

                                                                                                    I am after a zoho developer to finish my commission tracker as I hired someone on oDesk that started but now will respond to my emails.I really need to get It finished as it is holding up my plans Thanks Budget : $500 | Duration : a.s.a.p To leave a private message, please click the link for private response in post Action section.
                                                                                                  • Generate a Zoho Sign link

                                                                                                    From time to time I get a response "I never received your you e-document for electronic signature" is there a way to generate a Zoho Sign link to share.
                                                                                                  • Error 403: Forbidden When Updating Email Signature via API

                                                                                                    Hi Zoho Desk team, First, congratulations again on the excellent Zoho API. But, I’m encountering an issue while attempting to update an email signature via the API. Whenever I make a request to update the signature, the response returns an HTTP 403 Forbidden
                                                                                                  • Queues Management ?

                                                                                                    I need to assign the new requirements equally between my support agents. How I can configure this feature in Zoho? Thanks
                                                                                                  • Automating Custom Web Link Messages to Customers via Instant Messaging in Zoho Desk

                                                                                                    Hello, I am looking for assistance with Zoho Desk's Instant Messaging feature. Is there a way to automate the sending of a custom web link to customers every day at 6:30 PM? Any guidance or suggestions on how to achieve this would be greatly appreciated.
                                                                                                  • How do you apply field validation to a date field?

                                                                                                    We are using Sign for remote e-signature of liability waivers. The signer must enter a date of birth, and if they are a minor their legal guardian must sign for them. However we have had numerous problems with signers returning an invalid date of birth
                                                                                                  • Implement Regex in Layout and Validation rules

                                                                                                    Hello all, We are excited to announce that users can now implement Regular Expressions (Regex) in our layout and validation rules. This new functionality allows for more flexible rules to be created when designing and validating forms. What is Regex?
                                                                                                  • Zoho Desk Validation Rule Using Custom Function

                                                                                                    Hi all, I tried to find the way to validate fields using custom function just like in Zoho CRM but to no avail. Is there a way to do this?
                                                                                                  • Editing landing page after signup for a webinar

                                                                                                    Hi, how can I edit the landing page after signing up for a webinar. I personalized the email "registration confirmation", which is working fine. Nevertheless after submitting the form, the participant gets redirected to a page, which looks like the standard
                                                                                                  • Kiosk GetRecords can't compare formulas

                                                                                                    (submitted as a help request by accident - should have been a topic) Scenario: I have an "email domain" formula whose value is "@xyz.com" if the e-mail address is brent@xyz.com . I have the same field in Leads and Contacts. So, theoretically, I should
                                                                                                  • Kiosk can't merge picklist or multiselect

                                                                                                    There is no ability to load a multiselect or picklikst field into a kiosk with the values that have been previously selected. So, I essentially have 3 unacceptable options: 1.)Load the value into a text string and include instructions like this: "Picklist
                                                                                                  • Fillable template with dynamic tables?

                                                                                                    Is there a way to build a fillable template so that users can add rows to a table? To describe what I'm trying to accomplish the table has 3 sections; a header row, some number of rows with custom information, and a summary row with totals. I can't figure
                                                                                                  • Tip of the Week - Timeline User Filter for Dashboard

                                                                                                    Does the Date User Filter in your Dashboard leave out a few reports from filtering? This happens when the reports are not created over the same table and the (time) column over which the user filter is created.   To solve this, Zoho Reports has a Timeline User Filter. This filter applies the criteria on all reports, matching it with the best possible date column associated with a report. i.e., if your reports are based on a date column, then it will filter it for that data column.  To know more on
                                                                                                  • Zoho Forms Webhooks - Only sends on submission not on edit.

                                                                                                    Hi There, We have a slightly unique use case for Zoho Forms. We used Zoho Forms for the collection of Guest Lists. When a customer submits their guest list they get an email confirmation. Within this is a link for them to update their guest list before
                                                                                                  • Add Knowledge Base KB Articles to multiple categories

                                                                                                    Greetings,  Love you help center system.  One item that would be incredibly helpful to many of us would be able to add a single Knowledge Base KB article to multiple categories in our system.  It seems it could be quite easy to use a checkbox form, instead
                                                                                                  • What does "Tickets for Review" do?

                                                                                                    What is the purpose of the va nilla view " Tickets for Review?"
                                                                                                  • Report of Leads/Accounts/Deals with no open activities

                                                                                                    How can we replicate the option in filter to only show Leads/Accounts/Deals with no open activities ? The option is present in the filters (please find screenshot) but I am unable to find them in the report. Thanks
                                                                                                  • Cannot set Subform Multiline field to read-only using Client Script

                                                                                                    I am using client script to set different subform fields as read-only It works for Single Line Fields, but when I try to set a Multiline field as Read-only it doesn't work var subform = ZDK.Page.getSubform("Subform_1"); var item_Code_old = subform.getField('Item_Code_Old').setReadOnly(true);
                                                                                                  • Changing Color Theme of Guided Conversations

                                                                                                    Hello, We have recently added Guided Conversations to one of our websites, but I am wondering if there is a way to customize the color scheme so it matches the appearance of the website? Thank you in advance!
                                                                                                  • Lost the ability to sort by ticket owner

                                                                                                    Hi all, in the last week or so, we have lost the ability to sort tickets by Ticket Owner. Unlike the other columns which we can hover over and click on to sort, Ticket Owner is no longer clickable. Is it just us, or are other customers seeing this too?
                                                                                                  • Can't login to Zoho mail

                                                                                                    I'm logged into Zoho but when I try to go in zoho mail I get: Invalid request! The input passed is invalid or the URL is invoked without valid parameters. Please check your input and try again. I just set up my mx records and stuff with namecheap a few
                                                                                                  • Social Media Simplified with Zoho Social: Bridge sales and social media marketing

                                                                                                    Social media marketing has become the go-to strategy for most businesses who are trying to boost awareness of their product/service, create a brand image in the minds of their audience, increase website traffic and engagement, and generate leads. Posting
                                                                                                  • This domain is not allowed to add. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

                                                                                                    I am trying to setup the free version of Zoho Mail. When I tried to add my domain, theselfreunion.com I got the error message that is the subject of this Topic. I've read your other community forum topics, and this is NOT a free domain. So what is the
                                                                                                  • Work Orders / Bundle Requests

                                                                                                    Zoho Inventory needs a work order / bundle request system. This record would be analogous to a purchase order in the purchasing workflow or a sales order in the sales cycle. It would be non-journaling, but it would reserve the appropriate inventory of
                                                                                                  • Create Quote does not show the "Product Description" entered as part of the Product setup.

                                                                                                    The product description created as part of the product setup page, does not show in the Create Quote module; The module allows for an additional description to be added but without access to the original stored description. By selecting the product from the "Product Name Lookup" pop-up, the "Product Description" part should be populated from the product record where the user is allowed to further modify it.
                                                                                                  • Allow Itemization for Recurring Expenses

                                                                                                    For whatever reason, one cannot itemize a Recurring Expense. This capability should be added. The use cases to support this is largely the same as what they were to allow for itemization in Expenses. Anything that would need to be itemized for a regular
                                                                                                  • Next Page