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  • Security check for unpublished components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



                                                          • Sticky Posts

                                                          • Introducing Zoho Creator's 2025 Release Projection 2

                                                            Hello Creators! I'm Prakash, from the Creator product management team, and today I'm delighted to unveil our next set of features as part of Release Projection 2 for 2025. With thoughtful analysis and planning, we've curated powerful new capabilities
                                                          • 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


                                                          Manage your brands on social media



                                                                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

                                                                                    • 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

                                                                                            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

                                                                                                          • Presenting ABM for Zoho CRM: Expand and retain your customers with precision

                                                                                                            Picture this scenario: You're a growing SaaS company ready to launch a powerful business suite, and are looking to gain traction and momentum. But as a business with a tight budget, you know acquiring new customers is slow, expensive, and often delivers
                                                                                                          • Whatsapp Limitation Questions

                                                                                                            Good day, I would like to find out about the functionality or possibility of all the below points within the Zoho/WhatsApp integration. Will WhatsApp buttons ever be possible in the future? Will WhatsApp Re-directs to different users be possible based
                                                                                                          • Empowered Custom Views: Cross-Module Criteria Now Supported in Zoho CRM

                                                                                                            Hello everyone, We’re excited to introduce cross-module criteria support in custom views! Custom views provide personalized perspectives on your data and that you can save for future use. You can share these views with all users or specific individuals
                                                                                                          • Workflow Creation with Zia gets stuck

                                                                                                            It gets stuck here:
                                                                                                          • Super Admin Logging in as another User

                                                                                                            How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Moderation Update (8th Aug 2025): We are working
                                                                                                          • Unable to Add Asset to Work Order Due to Different Contact and Company

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho Team, I’m facing an issue in our environment related to asset linking in Work Orders. Here’s the situation: When our engineers go for field activities, they initially create the Work Order using the salesperson’s contact details. After completing
                                                                                                          • I NEED MORE CUSTOM FIELDS!!!

                                                                                                            Why can I only have 60 custom fields! It's not enough. I want another 100 extra custom fields to do what's necessary for my business! I'm sure I can't be the only one with this problem!!! How hard would it be to fix this? Just fix it for me please at
                                                                                                          • Zoho Webinar et Zapier : de la prise de rendez-vous aux relances — une automatisation performante

                                                                                                            Organiser un webinaire réussi et gérer efficacement les participants peut être un véritable défi. Avec Zoho Webinar et Zapier, vous pouvez rendre vos processus plus simples. Vous gagnez du temps en automatisant les tâches répétitives. Résultat : une expérience
                                                                                                          • Ticket Stages Report

                                                                                                            From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports Ticket stages refer to the series of transitions from the moment a support ticket is created until it is closed. It moves through various stages based on the actions taken at each preceding
                                                                                                          • 【参加無料】今年最後のZoho ユーザー交流会|東京・大阪・名古屋で開催! 活用事例&ユーザー同士の情報交換

                                                                                                            ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの中野です。 11月に東京、大阪、名古屋の3都市でZoho ユーザー交流会を開催します! 毎回ご好評いただいている本イベントでは、実際の Zohoユーザーによるリアルな活用事例の共有や 参加者同士でノウハウを交換し合うグループワークを予定しています。 「他社の活用を参考にしたい」「Zoho をもっと使いこなしたい」方にぴったりの場です。 初参加の方もぜひお気軽にご参加ください! ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
                                                                                                          • Slow Performance on desk.zoho.com. 11/3/2025

                                                                                                            I’m not seeing any active service alerts for desk.zoho.com, but everyone on our account is currently experiencing very slow load times when opening or navigating tickets. We’ve already tried the standard troubleshooting steps — clearing cache and cookies,
                                                                                                          • Create View to See Tickets Closed within the last 3 days

                                                                                                            I'm trying to create a view in Zoho Desk that shows me "recently closed ticket," which I will define as tickets closed in the last 3 days. I want this view to update so that whenever I click to view it is recalculates and shows me tickets closed within
                                                                                                          • My notes from the past 2 months have disappeared

                                                                                                            Hola, necesito ayuda urgente. Hoy, al iniciar sesión en mi Zoho Notebook como todos los días, me llevé una gran sorpresa al descubrir que todas mis notas de los últimos dos meses habían desaparecido. Estas notas son muy importantes para mí, ya que uso
                                                                                                          • Recurring Events Not Appearing in "My Events" and therefore not syncing with Google Apps

                                                                                                            We use the Google Sync functionality for our events, and it appears to have been working fine except: I've created a set of recurring events that I noticed were missing from my Google Apps calendar. Upon further research, it appears this is occurring
                                                                                                          • Export your notes from Notebook!

                                                                                                            Dear users, The long awaited feature is now live. Yes, you can now export your notes from Notebook app in bulk. But the feature has just started with web app alone for now. You can try the export feature as mentioned below: Go to our web app, https://notebook.zoho.com Go to 'Settings' > 'Export' Now, select the format: You can select either ZNote or HTML Once done, you can use the same to import or can have this a local backup of your notes. Note: Export for other platforms are in development and
                                                                                                          • Dissociate account from contact

                                                                                                            Hello, When I make the call through the API to "Dissociate account from contact" using, /api/v1/contacts/**integer**/accounts/**integer**/dissociate I get this response back, 422Unprocessable Entity (WebDAV) (RFC 4918) { "errorCode": "INVALID_DATA", "message":
                                                                                                          • Zoho Desk and Zoho People Integration - is it possible in order to alert whether an agent is available

                                                                                                            Hi, We use Zoho People for our employees to log absence (Paid Time Off etc). I was wondering if it was possible that this information can be shared in to Zoho Desk, so that when allocating a ticket to an agent, if they are on leave there is an onscreen
                                                                                                          • Add Save button to Expense form

                                                                                                            A save button would be very helpful on the expense form. Currently there is a Save and Close button. When we want to itemize an expense, this option would be very helpful. For example, if we have a hotel expense that also has room service, which is a
                                                                                                          • Call transcrition working for ringcentral?

                                                                                                            I don't see anything about what telephony providers can be used. The Zoho support person A said that RingCentral isn't supported. Zoho support person B said that it works, just make sure the call recording link works. Excellent instructions here: Call
                                                                                                          • Issue with Booking Confirmation Page Not Displaying, Leading to Customer Anxiety and Unnecessary Support Calls

                                                                                                            I am writing to express my growing concern regarding the confirmation process in Zoho Bookings, particularly the inconsistent display of the confirmation page after a successful payment. As a mobile service provider, I rely on Zoho Bookings platform for
                                                                                                          • How to Send Email from within a custom module (with or without an email template)

                                                                                                            It is possible to send an email from the Deals module. However, I can't find a way to send an email from any of our custom modules. I have tried adding an email field to the modules (even though we don't really want one or need it there). That doesn't
                                                                                                          • Zoho Inventory - Managing Items With Multiple Suppliers

                                                                                                            Hi community, I'm working on a project at the moment for a car parts wholesale business. Each Item (part) has its own original manufacturer part number (sometimes more than one part number for the same item). When purchasing parts from 3rd party suppliers,
                                                                                                          • How do I see the total leads during a certain period?

                                                                                                            I understand I can get the count of leads and potentials but the total number of leads in a certain period should be equal to Leads+potentials because when we convert a lead it gets moved to potentials and no longer exists there. is there a way i could
                                                                                                          • Where is the Global Search field?

                                                                                                            I am looking for an alternative to SF.com. Zoho CRM seems to be work fine, and be customizable in terms of the fields and reports. But there's one big thing missing and it's going to prevent us from using it: there's no global search box at the top of
                                                                                                          • API 500 Error

                                                                                                            Hello amazing ZOHO Projects Community, I get this message. How can we solve this? { "error": { "status_code": "500", "method": "GET", "instance": "/api/v3/portal/2010147XXXX/projects/2679160000003XXXX/timesheet", "title": "INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR", "error_type":
                                                                                                          • In place field editing for candidates

                                                                                                            Wondering about any insight/best practices for efficiently updating candidate records while reviewing them in a Job Opening pipeline. We can do in-field editing (e.g. update job title or City) only when we have the full candidate record open, however
                                                                                                          • Default tax type for mileage?

                                                                                                            Where we are, mileage includes a government tax. Is there any way to set a default tax for the Personal Car Mileage category of expense? (Or any other way?)
                                                                                                          • Show price book list price

                                                                                                            When using price books, once you add products to the price book in the Products related list you can display the Unit price which is the default list price; however, there is no option to show the price book list price. To see the price book list price
                                                                                                          • Cliq File Upload

                                                                                                            While uploading large file like 500MB, it takes time, that fines. But if you resize window or move window in other screen, that uploading disappears. After upload complete & sent it will be visible
                                                                                                          • Zia Actions: AI-powered Workflow Automation for Faster and Smarter Execution

                                                                                                            Hello everyone, Workflows got a notch better with AI-based actions. Actions such as field extraction, prediction, auto reply, and content generation facilitate quick execution with improved speed and accuracy. Zia can intercept useful details in newly
                                                                                                          • Constant color of a legend value

                                                                                                            It would be nice if we can set a constant color/pattern to a value when creating a chart. We would often use the same value in different graph options and I always have to copy the color that we've set to a certain value from a previous graph to make
                                                                                                          • What's New in Zoho POS - October 2025

                                                                                                            Hello everyone, Welcome to Zoho POS's monthly updates, where we share our latest feature updates, releases, changes, and more. Let’s take a look at how October went. Process returns for refunds, exchanges, or offer store credit Returns and exchanges can
                                                                                                          • Loan and purchase

                                                                                                            My husband is lending me mobey to buy a vehicle intersst free ... I need to know how to record the cash receipt and how I pay it back... the money is for a vehicle do I just post the invoice for that as I normally would usung the loan money to pay for
                                                                                                          • Zoho Connect Module in Zoho Trident

                                                                                                            Hi I really like where Zoho Trident is going. Having Mail and Cliq in one place is especially powerful. However, Zoho Connect really needs to be included to make this a true communication and collaboration hub. I would like to request that Zoho Connect
                                                                                                          • Zoho FSM API Delete Record

                                                                                                            Hi FSM Team, It would be great if you could delete a record via API. Thank you,
                                                                                                          • File Field Validation

                                                                                                            Hello all, We are tracking our customer NDA agreements in our CRM and have created 2 fields to do so, an execution date field and a file upload field. I want to create a validation rule to ensure that when the execution date field is populated that the
                                                                                                          • 100 record view limitation

                                                                                                            I have just migrated from another CRM and am starting in ZOHOcrm with over 5000 contacts. It seems that my searches and sorts are limited to 100 live records....or am I missing something. This seems to be very limiting...in a lot of scenarios (mass email,
                                                                                                          • ZUG Meet-ups are back - Across India (December 2025)

                                                                                                            The Zoho User Group (ZUG) meet-ups are back, and this time, we’re travelling across India to reconnect with our amazing community! From Chennai to Delhi, Bengaluru to Mumbai, we can’t wait to meet you all in person and talk everything Zoho SalesIQ, automation,
                                                                                                          • Categorise Attachments

                                                                                                            We take ID, proof of address, right to work documentation and more.  I can upload a single file in to field, but we often receive multiple files for each category e.g. someone may send a separate file for the front and back of their national ID card.  My team don't have time to manipulate the files in order to upload them as a single file. The options, as far as I can tell, would be to create additional fields on attachments in order to categorise what the file is, or to be able to upload single
                                                                                                          • Scheduling a meeting for just a 1:1 phone call

                                                                                                            My business is B2C and many of my customer's don't want to engage in an online meeting for what can be handled in a regular phone call. I am trying to create a new meeting invitation, but there is no venue optoin for "phone call". How are other's handling
                                                                                                          • Next Page