Zoho DataPrep allows you to seamlessly bring in your forms data from Zoho Creator using the Zoho Creator connector. Zoho Creator is a powerful low-code application development platform that helps businesses build custom web and mobile apps faster.

 To import data from Zoho Creator 

1. Open an existing pipeline or create a pipeline from the Home Page, Pipelines tab or Workspaces tab and click the Add data option.

Info: You can also click the Import data  icon at the top of the pipeline builder to bring data from multiple sources into the pipeline.

2. Choose the Zoho Apps category from the left pane and click on Zoho Creator. You can also directly search the option in the search box.

3. Choose the required workspace and application from the Choose workspace and Choose application dropdown.

4. You can choose to import all data, or configure your import since a previous date.    

a) If you choose to import all data -  All data available in the selected forms will be imported.



b) If you choose to import data from a specific date - All data recorded in the selected forms (both added and modified) since (on or after) the chosen date will be imported.

Info: The new and modified data will be fetched from the selected date using the Added_Time and Modified_Time columns generated while importing data from Creator (system generated columns).

Note: The forms created using integration with other applications and data sources (Integrated Datasource) cannot be imported into Zoho DataPrep.

6. The selected forms appear at the top. Click Import to import the selected forms into Zoho DataPrep.

7. Once you have completed importing data, Pipeline builder page will open from where you can start applying transforms. You can also right-click the stage and choose the Prepare data option to prepare your data in the DataPrep Studio page. Click here to know more about the transforms.



8. Once you are done creating your data flow and applying necessary transforms in your stages, you can right-click a stage and add a destination to complete your data flow.

 To export data to Zoho Creator   

3. You can search for Zoho Creator under the All destinations tab or filter using the Zoho Apps category and click on it.

4. Choose the Workspace, Application and Forms in Zoho Creator to which you want to export your data.

Note: Please note that exporting data to the forms created using integrated data source is not supported.

5. Choose one of the below options to determine how to handle the data being exported to Zoho Creator:

• Add only new records : Using this option you can only add newly imported records from Zoho Creator.
  

• Only update existing records : Using this option, you can update the existing records in Zoho Creator that match the selected field (match based on field).
  

• Both add and update records : This option will update the records that match the selected field provided and insert those records that do not match the selected field value.

6. Select a unique and mandatory field to match data from the Match based on field dropdown. Please make sure that the field is set mandatory and marked as no duplicate values in your Zoho Creator form. Click here to know more.

7. By default, the Disable Creator Workflows option is enabled. This prevents the workflows from getting triggered when data is exported to Creator. You can also choose to disable it.

8. When you are exporting data to the same form that you imported from, you may choose to Delete records from Zoho Creator that do not match the data to be exported.

For example, if you've imported records from the Candidates form and removed duplicates, you may choose to delete those duplicate records from Zoho Creator when you export back to the same Candidates form.

You can also review the records before deleting using the Review records for deletion link.

9. Click Save. Now that you have added a destination, you may want to try executing your pipeline using a manual run at first. Once you make sure manual run works, you can then set up schedule to automate the pipeline. Learn about the different types of runs here.

Info: Each run is saved as a job. When a pipeline run is executed, the data fetched from your data sources will be prepared using the series of transforms you have applied in each of the stages, and then data will be exported to your destination. This complete process is captured in the Jobs page.

10. If the manual run succeeds without any errors, your data will be exported successfully. If the manual run fails throwing the below target match error, you can fix them by completing the target matching steps.

Target matching is a useful feature in DataPrep that prevents export failures caused due to errors from the data model mismatch. Learn more about target matching. 

Info : You also have an option to rollback your export because of partial failures or other problems in the Output section of the job summary page. Learn how to rollback.

 Target matching during export to Zoho Creator

Target matching happens before the data is exported to the destination. Target matching is a useful feature in DataPrep that prevents export failures caused due to errors from the data model mismatch. Using target matching, you can set the required Zoho Creator form as the target and align the source dataset columns to match with your target Zoho Creator form. This ensures seamless export of high quality data to Zoho Creator.

Note: Target matching failure is not an export failure. Target matching happens before the data is actually exported to the destination. This way the schema or data model errors that could cause export to fail are caught beforehand preventing export failures. Learn more about target matching.

 When target match check fails

1. If the target match check fails during Zoho Creator export, you can go to the DataPrep Studio page, click the target matching icon  at the top right corner and choose the Show target option. The target's data model is displayed above the existing source dataset. The columns in the source dataset are automatically aligned to match the columns in the target dataset, if found.

Note: All columns are displayed in the grid by default. However, you can filter out the required option by clicking the All columns link.

3. Click the View summary link to view the summary of the target match errors. The summary shows the different model match errors and the number of columns associated with each error. You can click on the required error columns and click Apply to filter out specific error columns. 

Target match error summary

Target matching errors

• Unmatched columns : This option filters the columns in the source dataset that do not match the columns in the target.
  
  
  
  Info : When using the unmatched columns filter, you can toggle the Show only mandatory columns to verify if there are any mandatory columns (set as mandatory columns) required and include them. You can also fix only the mandatory columns and proceed exporting.
  

• Data type mismatch : This option filters the columns from the source dataset having data types that do not match the columns in the target.

• Data format mismatch : This option filters columns from the source dataset having data formats that differ from those in the target dataset.

• Constraint mismatch : This option filters the columns that do not match the data type constraints of the columns in the target. To know how to add constraints for a column, click here.

• Mandatory columns mismatch : This option displays the columns that are set as mandatory in the target but not set as mandatory in your source.

  
  
  

  Note: The mandatory columns cannot be exported to the destination unless they are matched and set as mandatory. You can click the  icon above the column to set it as mandatory. 

4. After fixing the errors you can go to the Pipeline builder page and run your pipeline to export your data. Once you make sure manual run works, you can then set up schedule to automate the pipeline. Learn about the different types of runs here.

Note: When there are multiple duplicate records in a Creator form, only the last duplicate record will be updated based on the unique field; the other duplicate records will be skipped. We recommend using the deduplicate transform in Zoho DataPrep before exporting to Creator to avoid duplicates.

5. In case of partial export failures, you may choose to undo or cancel the changes done to the Zoho Creator form using the Rollback now feature. You can rollback even a successful export if you want to. Learn more about rollback in the next section.

Rollback export    

You can undo or cancel the changes done to your Zoho Creator form in case of partial export failures using the Rollback feature. Rollback will help you delete the inserted records, undo changes in the updated records, and restore the deleted records in your Zoho Creator form.

You can rollback after the pipeline run from the Output tab in the Jobs summary page. 

Rollback now

In case of partial export failures, you may choose to undo or cancel the changes done to the Zoho Creator form using the Rollback now feature. You can rollback even a successful export if you want to. 

1. Click the Rollback now link in the Output tab to rollback the export immediately. Review the rollback details and click Rollback in the confirmation dialog.

2. The rollback progress is shown. Please do not perform any other action while rollback is in progress. The rollback process cannot be reverted once started.

Important:

• You can rollback only the latest export, i.e., the Rollback now link will be visible only for the most recent export that was carried out using the processed data.

• The rollback process cannot be reverted once started. Please do not perform any other action while rollback is in progress.

 Limitations

1. You can use only the unique and mandatory columns under the Match based on field to match data during export.

2. Here are the list of fields supported in DataPrep that you can mark as unique and mandatory in Creator:

3. You can export a maximum of 50,00,000 (5M) records at a time.

SEE ALSO

How to schedule a pipeline?

Learn more about Target Matching

How to import data from Zoho Creator?

Learn how Zoho DataPrep can help you achieve different use cases with Creator data.