Levenshtein Distance in Zoho Deluge (Because Why Not?)

Levenshtein Distance in Zoho Deluge (Because Why Not?)

Ever wanted to run a Levenshtein Distance algorithm inside Zoho Deluge? No? Me neither, but I did it anyway.

I built a fully functional fuzzy matching system inside Zoho, brute-forcing a dynamic programming solution using Maps and recursive list generation.

  • Does it scale? Not really.
  • Does it work? Absolutely.
  • Did I need to do this? Not at all, but it was fun.

I don’t even use this anymore because I found a better way around fuzzy matching for my needs, but hey, if you ever need a low volume Levenshtein calculator inside Zoho, now you have one. 🤷‍♂️

How It Works

The function computes Levenshtein Distance, a metric for fuzzy string similarity, by calculating the number of insertions, deletions, and substitutions needed to convert one string into another.

This method is commonly used in spell-checking, DNA sequencing, and fuzzy search algorithms—so obviously, I decided to implement it inside Zoho, because why not?

🔹 The Challenge: Zoho doesn’t support 2D arrays natively.
🔹 The Solution: I brute-forced it using Map-of-Maps as a manual matrix.
🔹 Bonus: I even used recursion to generate number sequences (which is completely unnecessary but kinda cool).

Code & Example Usage

Main Function: standalone.levenshteinDistance

📌 Input: {"s": "kitten", "t": "sitting"}
📌 Output: "3"

Code:

string standalone.levenshteinDistance(Map args)
{
// Retrieve input strings.
s = args.get("s");
t = args.get("t");
m = s.length();
n = t.length();
// If one string is empty, return the length of the other.
if(m == 0)
{
return n.toString();
}
if(n == 0)
{
return m.toString();
}
//info "Length of s: " + m.toString() + ", Length of t: " + n.toString();
// ------------------------------
// Get index lists via the helper function.
// The helper function standalone.UtilitygetListOfLength returns a comma-separated string.
// For example, if (m+1) is 5, it returns "0,1,2,3,4".
// ------------------------------
indices_m_str = standalone.UtilitygetListOfLength({"myLength":m + 1});
indices_n_str = standalone.UtilitygetListOfLength({"myLength":n + 1});
//info "indices_m_str: " + indices_m_str;
//info "indices_n_str: " + indices_n_str;
// Convert these comma-separated strings into lists of long values.
indices_m = list();
numList_m = indices_m_str.toList(",");
for each  numStr in numList_m
{
if(numStr.trim() != "")
{
indices_m.add(numStr.trim().toLong());
}
}
indices_n = list();
numList_n = indices_n_str.toList(",");
for each  numStr in numList_n
{
if(numStr.trim() != "")
{
indices_n.add(numStr.trim().toLong());
}
}
//info "indices_m list: " + indices_m.toString();
//info "indices_n list: " + indices_n.toString();
// ------------------------------
// Initialize matrix as a map-of-maps.
// Each row is a map keyed by the column index.
// ------------------------------
matrix = Map();
for each  i in indices_m
{
rowMap = Map();
for each  j in indices_n
{
rowMap.put(j,0);
}
matrix.put(i,rowMap);
}
// Set up the first column: matrix[i][0] = i.
for each  i in indices_m
{
rowMap = matrix.get(i);
rowMap.put(0,i);
}
// Set up the first row: matrix[0][j] = j.
firstRow = matrix.get(0);
for each  j in indices_n
{
firstRow.put(j,j);
}
// ------------------------------
// Compute Levenshtein distances.
// ------------------------------
for each  i in indices_m
{
if(i == 0)
{
continue;
}
for each  j in indices_n
{
if(j == 0)
{
continue;
}
// Determine cost: 0 if characters are the same, otherwise 1.
if(s.subString(i - 1,i) == t.subString(j - 1,j))
{
cost = 0;
}
else
{
cost = 1;
}
deletion = matrix.get(i - 1).get(j) + 1;
insertion = matrix.get(i).get(j - 1) + 1;
substitution = matrix.get(i - 1).get(j - 1) + cost;
minValue = deletion;
if(insertion < minValue)
{
minValue = insertion;
}
if(substitution < minValue)
{
minValue = substitution;
}
rowMap = matrix.get(i);
rowMap.put(j,minValue);
}
}
result = matrix.get(m).get(n);
//info "Levenshtein distance: " + result.toString();
return result.toString();
}

Recursive Helper Function: standalone.UtilitygetListOfLength

📌 Input: {"myLength": 6}
📌 Output: "0,1,2,3,4,5"

Code:

string standalone.UtilitygetListOfLength(Map args)
{
myLength = args.get("myLength");
//info "Input myLength: " + myLength;
if(myLength == null || myLength <= 0)
{
//info "Base case reached (myLength <= 0). Returning empty string.";
return "";
}
else
{
// Recursively get the string for (myLength - 1)
prevStr = standalone.UtilitygetListOfLength({"myLength":myLength - 1});
//info "Previous string returned for myLength " + (myLength - 1).toString() + ": " + prevStr;
if(prevStr.equals(""))
{
result = "0";
}
else
{
result = prevStr + "," + (myLength - 1).toString();
}
//info "Returning result for myLength " + myLength.toString() + ": " + result;
return result;
}
}

This helper function is completely unnecessary, but I made it anyway. Instead of just looping, it recursively builds a CSV string of numbers—which is both inefficient and hilarious. 😆

Why Did I Do This?

Because it wasn't supposed to work—but it does.

  • Zoho doesn’t support Levenshtein distance? I built it anyway.
  • Zoho doesn’t have fuzzy matching? Now it does.
  • Zoho doesn’t support 2D arrays? I brute-forced a matrix using Maps.
  • Does this scale for massive data? Nope, but it’s perfect for low-volume cases.

Thoughts? Ideas? Have you ever done something in Zoho just because you wanted to see if it was possible? Let me know. 😆

TL;DR:

📌 I brute-forced Levenshtein Distance into Zoho
📌 Zoho wasn’t built for this, but I made it work anyway
📌 Does it scale? No. Does it work? Yes.
📌 Do I use it? Nope. Was it fun? Absolutely.

Let me know what you think! 🚀


      • Recent Topics

      • Let's Talk Recruit: Super-charge hiring with Zoho Recruit add-ons

        Welcome back to our Let’s Talk Recruit series! This time, we’re diving into something that might seem like a small upgrade but has a huge impact on recruiter productivity: Zoho Recruit add-ons. Think about how much of your day is spent in your inbox or

      • Vendor Signatures Needed for Purchase Orders

        Hello everyone, We have a unique requirement that necessitates that Vendors & Suppliers formally acknowledge our Purchase Orders upon receipt. I was hoping that there would be an option to do so in Zoho Books, but that does not appear to be the case.

      • Is there an API to "File a Ticket" in Desk

        Hi, Is there an API to "File a Ticket" in Desk to zoho projects?

      • Store "Sign in with Google/Microsoft/GitHub etc." details

        Quite often now, users are using a sign-in provider like Google or Microsoft to sign into various apps and services. It would be great if Vault could remember which providers you use for each website and sign you in with that provider instead of a username

      • Critical Issue: Tickets Opened for Zoho Support via the Zoho Help Portal Were Not Processed

        Hi everyone, We want to bring to your attention a serious issue we’ve experienced with the Zoho support Help Portal. For more than a week, tickets submitted directly via the Help Portal were not being handled at all. At the same time no alert was posted

      • Tip of the Week #72– Assign thread ownership to avoid confusion.

        When teams handle a large volume of emails, managing threads becomes important to stay organized. Without a clear system, duplicate replies, missed follow-ups, or confusion over responsibilities can happen. Thread assignment solves this by designating

      • Unarchive tickets

        How can I manually unarchive tickets?

      • Optimize your Knowledge Base for enhanced accessibility by adding alt tags for images

        Let's learn why alt tags are crucial for your articles. You can add alternative tags (alt tags) and alternative text (alt text) to the images you share on your community forums or when embedding them in articles. Alt tags refer to the HTML attribute,

      • FSM trying again

        have not linked FSM yet to the rest of out Zoho suit. It certainly looks like the apointment and service part is more manageable for our staff. The question is that our engineers multi task examples 1. deliver products to customers not fitted 2. Service

      • Feature Request: Conditional Field Mandatoriness Based on Display Status

        Hello Zoho Creator Team, I would like to suggest an enhancement to improve the flexibility of form validations. Currently, when we need a field to be mandatory only if it's displayed on the form, the only option is to: Set the field as not mandatory in

      • Data Migration Strategies for Moving to a Cloud Solution

        Hi everyone, I’ve been working on moving some of our critical systems, including CRM and project data, to a Zoho cloud solution, and one of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered is data migration. Transferring large volumes of data while keeping it

      • Commerce Order as Invoice instead of Sales Order?

        I need a purchase made on my Commerce Site to result in an Invoice for services instead of a Sales Order that will be pushed to Books. My customers don't pay until I after I add some details to their transaction. Can I change the settings to make this

      • How to set different item selling prices for Zoho Commerce and Zoho Books

        Item selling prices for Zoho Commerce and Zoho Books are in sync. If we update the Item selling price in Books, the same will happen in commerce and vice versa. I need a separate commerce selling price for online users and a separate books selling price

      • Time Entry Notifications

        Hi All - I have support staff who place notes of their work in the time entry section of Zoho Desk. Is there a specific workflow or setting I need to enable to have the ticket holder updated via email when an entry is saved?

      • How to report 'Response violation' OR 'Resolution violation'

        Hi, I want to report on SLA Violation Type. I grouped my tickets on this column. It seems I only get 'Response and Resolution Violation' or 'Not Violated'. The former seems to be given to a ticket if only the Response Time was violated. I would expect

      • [Webinar] Automate sales and presales workflows with Writer

        Sales involves sharing a wide range of documents with customers across the presales, sales, and post-sales stages: NDAs, quotes, invoices, sales orders, and delivery paperwork. Generating and managing these documents manually slows down the overall sales

      • Power of Automation :: Quick way to associate your Projects with Zoho CRM

        A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate complex tasks and

      • Date triggering Workflow rule

        I have a function triggered by a workflow rule. The function takes a date and creates a task for that date and fills in a field with the name of the day for that date. It also updates the status field of the record. The workflow rule is set to run whenever

      • Restricting contact creation

        Hi all! I am looking to use Zoho Desk in a part of the business that takes end user enquiries. These are generally single interactions, and not linked to an account name. As Desk is Account centric, has anyone designed a way to manage these incoming emails

      • Import Holiday Calendars

        HI Zoho Is there anyway of importing an online calendar like https://www.calendarlabs.com into the business hours calendars, to speed up setup of holiday calendars. Also could we also request a feature where you can specify a Holiday as hours, i.e it could be that the company is on a 1/2 day due to a holiday or when it is Eid in the UAE and they are only allowed to work restricted hours so we need the calendar to be flexible to allow for this. Regards Jamie

      • Filtering Tickets based on Email headers

        We're starting to get a lot more junk coming into our Zoho Desk, which is then triggering unnecessary email alerts to agents. Once thing we could do to cut this junk in half, is to filter tickets based on email headers. Any email containing the `List-Unsubscribe`

      • Error 550 5.4.1

        I’ve tried sending an email to someone but keep receiving this back. Any help would be greatly appreciated 

      • Billing Management: #2 Fair way of Billing- Prorated Billing

        Hello, From speaking about the traditional ways of billing in the previous post, we are moving into the deep sea of billing. We are now in a zone to break out the most complex yet, I would call it the fairest way of billing, the Prorated Billing. Prorated

      • Has Anyone successfully integrated Zoho and Sage Intact?

        Hey all, We’re evaluating Zoho One + Sage Intacct and I’m trying to connect with anyone who has actually implemented the two together.Specifically, I’d love to know: -- Which functions you kept in Zoho vs. Intacct (e.g., Product Catalog, AR/AP, invoicing,

      • How can I filter a field integration?

        Hi,  I have a field integration from CRM "Products" in a form, and I have three product Categories in CRM. I only need to see Products of a category. Thanks for you answers.

      • Adding image in HTML report page

        Hi, I want to know two things: 1. Can anyone advise how to add an image in HTML report. The tagged used is <img> but what path do I mention for the image to be added in the HTML report. 2. Also, I want to know if I am creating an application for the market

      • How to change view of HTML report based on device but always print in A4

        Hello everyone, I am aware that HTML report view can be configured to adjust according to the screen size like Laptop, Tablet and mobile using media queries. But my concern is no matter on which device the reports is opened when printed should always

      • Age Calculation

        I've attempted to calculate the age of someone based on their birthday input by using the formula field. It works but I don't want all those decimals on there. I then tried to use "set variable" after birthday input but I get a field type mismatch, long vs. floating. Any ideas would be wonderful.

      • Search on Custom Field

        We're working on an integration with the Zoho FSM API and are trying to retrieve companies based on a custom field we added to the Companies module. However, we can't find a way to filter or query records using custom fields through the API. We have a

      • Sendmail function / custom action?

        I've setup a function hoping to email various business departments the details of a record once all work in that record is complete so gone about setting up a custom action in such way that each record line on the report has a button to click. Question is how do I actually include data from that record in the email that is sent when the button is clicked? I had thought that since this were being sent per record the email would include the data which had been entered

      • API to post drafts for social media

        I we want to post draft posts to our zoho social account and then approve and schedule them within Zoho social. is this possible with for example: https://apis.zoho.com/social/v2/post TIA Jon

      • Canvas View in Zoho Recruit

        Is it possible or would it be possible to have the new 'Canvas View' in Zoho Recruit?

      • What impactful sales coaching techniques have you used to boost your team's performance?

        I'm curious about the real-world impact of sales coaching on team performance. What specific techniques or strategies have you found most effective in driving consistent improvement and growth in your sales team? Any success stories or lessons learned

      • Adding Taxes to paid consultations in Zoho Bookings

        I created a 'paid' consultation under Zoho Booking and integrated it with payment gateways for online/instant payment before a booking is done. How can I add 'taxes' to the price of consultation? I can add taxes to other Zoho apps (liks Books, Checkout,

      • Zoho Finance Suite - Customer Custom Tabs - Dynamic Link

        Hi Finance Suite team, When creating a Custom Tab for a Client Portal, there is no option to add dynamic parameters. This would be very helpful for adding Zoho Analytics dashboards which can be dynamically filtered through the URL to only show information

      • Possible to bold or indent text in the description field?

        As part of one item, I often have a detailed description that would be much easier to read if there was the ability to have a bulleted list or bold text and the like. Is this possible? My last invoicing software allowed markup in the field so, for example, an asterisk meant a bullet. I haven't been able to find any documentation related to this.  Any information would be appreciated. Thank you.

      • How can I setup Zoho MCP with Chat GPT

        I can set up custom connections with Chat GPT but I cat an error when I try to set it up. The error is: "This MCP server can't be used by ChatGPT to search information because it doesn't implement our specification: search action not found" Thoughts?

      • Formatting of Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Reports

        The default format of the Balance Sheet and P&L Reports are based on the Account Types and then the individual accounts within the Chart of Accounts. These are then ordered alphabetically under these sub-headings and one is unable to re-order these or

      • UK MTD reports concerning turnover and cerash accounting

        Hi I am a sole trader, and I have just started with Zoho Books in order to comply with the new HMRC requirements. I use 'cash basis' - which I understand to mean that income is when the cash comes in (not the invoice date) and expenses are when they are

      • Retainer Invoice.

        Why ZOHO not have facilities to deduct partially advance payment from an invoice.

      • Next Page