Kaizen #194 : Trigger Client Script via Custom buttons

Kaizen #194 : Trigger Client Script via Custom buttons



Hello everyone!

Welcome back to another interesting and useful Kaizen post.

We know that Client Scripts can be triggered with Canvas buttons and we discussed this with a use case in Kaizen#180. Today, let us discuss how to trigger Client Script when a Custom Button is clicked. Using this, you can execute Client Script when a custom button is clicked.

In this post,

1. Event Details 
2. Supported Pages
3. Use Case - Export Subform Rows to Zoho Sheet in a Single Click!
4. Solution
5. Summary
6. Related Links


Client Script support for Custom Buttons opens up possibilities for automation, personalization, and enhanced user interactions in Zoho CRM when a custom button is clicked.
Here is a detailed walkthrough to help you understand it better.

1. Event Details 

The Button event triggers the Client Script when a custom button is clicked. Each time this event is invoked, the context argument is passed to the Client Script. The context contains information about the page from which the button was clicked.


Click here to know more about Client Script Events.

2. Supported Pages

A Custom Button can be placed in different positions based on the Page.


You can add a  custom button in the Util Menu, in Each Record or in the Mass Action Menu of the List Page.


Also, a Detail Page can have a custom button either In Record or in the Related List. Click here for more details about the different possible positions of a custom button.

The following table lists the supported pages and the corresponding context argument, which provides different details based on the page type.


To create a Client Script and make it trigger when a custom button is clicked, first create a Custom button and associate it with a Client Script as shown in the following image.


 Click here to view the steps to create a custom button and configure a Client Script. 

Note:

You can configure the Client Script only from the Buttons page to trigger it when a user clicks a custom button, and not the usual way of Creating Client Script via setup page. Once a script is created, it can be edited and updated from the Client Script setup page

3. Use Case - Export Subform Rows to Zoho Sheet in a Single Click!

Zylker manufactures medical instruments, and its sales representatives frequently need to share bulk order details with distributors and hospital partners using Zoho Sheets. These details such as product names, quantities, and prices are captured in a Subform on the Purchase Order Detail(Standard) Page.
To simplify this, the admin wants to add a custom button called "Export Products" on the Purchase Order Detail Page. When clicked, it should export the Purchase Items from the Subform and move the content to the specified sheet.

4. Solution

To export subform rows to Zoho Sheet with a single click, you can add a custom button to the Detail Page of the record. When clicked, a Client Script will be triggered to fetch the subform data from the Detail Page and pass it to a Function that uses zoho.sheet.createRecords() to insert data into Zoho Sheet.

Here’s how to implement this:

  • Add  “Export Products” custom button on the Detail Page.
  • Add the script to collect subform rows which invokes the Function.
  • Write a Function to create entry in Zoho Sheets  

A. Add “Export Products” custom button on the Detail Page.

  • Go to Setup → Modules and Fields under Customization.
  • Select a Module as Purchase Order.
  • Click on Buttons → Then click + New Button.
  • Enter Button Name and select Action Type as "Client Script"
  • Choose Button Position and Layout details as shown in the following image.
  • Click Create in Configured Client Script, enter the script, and click Add.
  • Select the profiles for which these buttons should be visible.
  • Click Save.



B. Add the Script to collect subform rows and invoke the Function

Use the following Client Script when you configure the custom button.

  1. var casesheetid = ZDK.Client.getInput([{ type: 'text', label: 'Enter the Sheet ID' }], 'Sheet details', 'OK', 'Cancel');
  2. if (casesheetid == null) {
  3.         ZDK.Client.showAlert("Enter the *Case Sheet ID - Import* to import data");
  4.  }
  5. var purchase_items = ZDK.Page.getField('Purchase_items).getValue();
  6. ZDK.Client.showLoader({type: 'page', template:'spinner', message: 'Export in progress, please wait'});
  7. var c=1;
  8. if (sheetid == null) {
  9.     ZDK.Client.hideLoader(); 
  10.     ZDK.Client.showAlert("Enter the *Case Sheet - Export* ID to export data");
  11. }
  12. purchase_items.forEach((r,i) => {
  13.             try {
  14.                resp = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Functions.execute("csvWrite", { "Product_Name": r.Product_Name.name, "List_Price": r.List_Price, "Discount": r.Discount, "Total": r.Total,"Sheetid":casesheetid }); }
  15.             catch (error) {
  16.                 c = 0;
  17.                  ZDK.Client.hideLoader(); 
  18.                 ZDK.Client.showAlert("Unexpected issue occured while adding data in row number "); }
  19.     });
  20.     ZDK.Client.hideLoader(); 
  21.     if (c) {
  22.         ZDK.Client.showMessage("Export completed. Please check the Sheet");
  23.     }
  24.     else
  25.     {
  26.        ZDK.Client.showMessage("Unexpected error "); }}

In this code, several ZDKs are used for various purposes. Click on the ZDK hyperlinks to learn more.


Note

The Client Script you intend to link with the button will be saved only after the custom button is saved.

C. Write a Function to create entry in Zoho Sheets 

  • Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Functions.
  • In the Functions page, click + Create New Function.
  • Choose the category as Button.
  • Click Create.
  • In the Create Function page, enter a name as csvWrite and description for your function.
  • Enter the following function code and click Save.
  1. string standalone.csvWrite(String product,String qty,String up,String amt, String Sheetid){
  2. queryData = Map();
  3. writeData = Map();
  4. header = Map();
  5. writeData.put("Product",product);
  6. writeData.put("Quantity",qty);
  7. writeData.put("Unit_Price",up);
  8. writeData.put("Amount",amt);
  9. SheetData = zoho.sheet.createRecords("Sheetid","Sheet1",writeData,queryData,"sheetconnection");
  10. return SheetData;
  11. }

Click here to know more about zoho.sheet.createRecords().

In the code above:
  • sheetconnection refers to the name of the Zoho Sheet connection, which must have the scopes: ZohoSheet.dataAPI.UPDATE and ZohoSheet.dataAPI.READ.
  • Click here to know how to create a Connection with the required scopes.
  • sheetid is the unique identifier of the Zoho Sheet, available in the sheet’s URL.
  • Sheet1 represents the name of the worksheet (i.e., the tab name shown at the bottom of the Zoho Sheet).
  • Now, when the custom button is clicked, the Client Script is triggered. It prompts for the Sheet ID, fetches the contents of the Purchase Order subform, and invokes a function that writes the content to the Sheet.
Here's how the Client Script works.



5. Summary

In this post we have seen,
  • What is a Button event?
  • How to configure Client Script for a custom button
  • How to write data into Zoho Sheets from Client Script
  • How to create a Function and call it from Client Script

6. Related Links


We are thrilled to be nearing the 200th post in our Kaizen series. As we approach this exciting milestone, we would love to hear from you. Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your input helps us improve and shape the series to serve you better.

Please take a moment to share your thoughts using ✨ this form ✨

We hope you found this post useful!

Happy Client Scripting! 😊

    • Recent Topics

    • Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field

      How we can use Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field field? Please help.

    • Multiple columns in a form

      I am evaluating Zoho Creator. However, I am seeing almost no layout control on a form.  Just a basic 1 or 2 column format that is then imposed on the entire form.  That's not going to work for many, many real world cases. We need multiple columns per line, and we need each line/section to occupy a single column or be able to span the columns.   Someone please tell me that I'm missing something and the capability is actually there.  

    • Global search

      Hi! I think it would be great to have a global search that would give you results from all records of a database, no only for a single field of a single form as we have now. Thanks!

    • Any insights about API/v2? Having problem for a while.

      I don't know why it is throwing a 404 error, my report name is correct. Has someone had this issue and how you fix it?

    • Custom Related List Inside Zoho Books

      Hello, We can create the Related list inside the zoho books by the deluge code, I am sharing the reference code Please have a look may be it will help you. //..........Get Org Details organizationID = organization.get("organization_id"); Recordid = cm_g_a_data.get("module_record_id");

    • Edit QR code with redirect to form

      Guten morgen, wir haben ein Formular Reklamation_erstellen. Dort soll ein QR Code erstellt werden, der im Lieferschein angezeigt wird. Beim Scannen auf dem soll das jeweilige Formular zum BEARBEITEN geöffnet werden. Leider bekomme ich es nur so hin, dass

    • Getting all the ingredients together for baking an app

      Good day everyone. After reading a lot of the help docs and watching videos, I now started on my app. To prevent hours and hours wasted on going down the wrong track, I would like some clarification on the following. But first some background: I have

    • Help Needed with Configuring ZC Microservice

      I'm attempting to create a simple microservice, but am running into problems with scope and auth. Using Custom API Builder, here's my setup: 1. Method: GET 2. Auth: OAuth2 3. User Scope: All users 4. Response: Standard 5. Function: A function that returns

    • Creator Simplified #10: Predefine Form Field Values and Make Them Read-Only for Users

      Hey Creators, Ready for this week's tip in the Creator Simplified series? Today, we will explore how to have read only fields in a form. Use Case: Assume a scenario where the default value for a Department field needs to be English Literature, but you

    • Zoho Books | Product updates | November 2025

      Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From translating email notification templates to the new transaction locking restrictions, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience. Making Tax Digital

    • Direct link to Record Summary

      Hi everyone, In one of my reports, I have built a Record Summary template to display the details of one record. I would like to be able to link directly to this Record Summary once I submit a new record, without having to go to the list of records first and click on View. Is there a possibility to do so ?  Should I use the URL by passing some parameters ? Thank you very much for your help ! Guillaume

    • To Assign a genrated pdf to a file upload field using delug

      content = "<html><body>HTML Content on page One <div style='page-break-after:always'></div> HTML Content on page Two </body></html>"; file = zoho.file.convertToPDF(content); file.setFileName("Name of the file"); <variableName> = <FormLinkName>[ID == input.ID];

    • Zoho Mail : Email Outgoing Blocked

      I suddenly received the following message yesterday. I cannot send any mail. Please resolve as soon as possible, I cannot work without sending email. Dear User, We regret to inform you that your email outgoing has been blocked and you will not be able

    • Creator and Tables

      Good day. I am trying to create my first application. I have imported my data into Tables and am creating my app in Creator. I do not see my tables and cannot see how to write forms data to a table. Even the Workflow just uses the form. In one of the

    • Calendar week view: Today + 6

      Is there anyway to have the calendar change dynamically based on the date? Due to the amount of events, we only display a week at a time, but towards the end of the week, we can no longer see ahead to next week (without changing it manually every time).

    • customer Name and address details

      i created one application there is no customer details in that . how to add customer details and

    • Recalculate every row in the subform

      Hello, Can anyone help me with a script, please? I have an issue. Sometimes it happens, that in a multi row subform one of the rows show an incorrect row total value. Not really understand how it can happen, if I have a 20 row subform, 19 rows show correct

    • Creating Repeat Forms that remove redundancies

      I wanted to understand if you can make multi-layer forms that reduce the need for users to input information in again and again. We want a form that our suppliers fill out per ingredient they sell, and the end result should have the Ingredient (Section

    • What is the difference between the free plan and the mail lite plan?

      What is the difference between the free plan and the mail lite plan? How many emails can I send per day?

    • Unblock email

      Hi The outgoing mail from a client of me is blocked. I already made tickets and tickets are send to the EU desk but nobody is responding. The problem is already 4 days! There is absolutely no help from the support. I am really not satisfied at all! Can

    • Domain verification failure

      Hello Zoho Support, I purchased my domain directly through Zoho Mail, but the domain verification keeps failing with the message “TXT verification failed.” I’ve already waited and retried several times, but it still won’t verify. Could you please manually

    • Unable to send message;Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

      My email account is unable to send emails, and I urgently need to use it. How can I resolve this?If there is anything we have done wrong, please let us know in advance so we can actively cooperate to improve. User ID: 850482493

    • URGENT: Email stopped workin - can't access admin panel

      For some reason email sending stopped working. When I try to send an email it fails with "Unable to send message;Reason:451 4.7.1 Temporary system error" I can receive email just fine I see in my notifications some errors about the MX records, however

    • Can I associate an invoice to a Project after the fact?

      We have generated an invoice but would like to assoicate it to a Zoho Project after the fact.  Is there any way to accomplish that? Thanks, Scott

    • Emails I send as a cc or bcc NEVER GO THROUGH TO THA RECEIVER !!

      every time i send a cc or bcc copy of an email to anyone when I’m using my zohomail.com email - no one ever gets the cc of bcc copy if the email: why???? And i triple check that the email addresses are correct; then i get back an email message (EVERYTIME)

    • Cannot see correct DNS config for mail after moving domain to another provider

      I have moved my domain from one provider to another and after that zoho mail stopped working (expected). Problem is, zoho mail admin panel still shows (10 hours after move) that all records are correct while I haven't changed anything in my domain DNS

    • Add Support for Authenticator App MFA in Zoho Desk Help Center

      Hello Zoho Desk Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement related to security for the Zoho Desk Help Center (customer portal). Currently, the Help Center supports MFA for portal users via SAML, JWT, SMS authentication,

    • Zoho Desk - Custom Module Related List Columns on Tickets

      I have a custom module in Zoho Desk called Asana Tasks, each task has a lookup to a Ticket. On the Ticket I want to see the columns of the Asana Tasks in the related list . Is there a way to do this? Right now it just has the name of the record and I

    • What is your opinion of the new UI?

      Hi Everyone, I would like to see what everyone thinks of the new Zoho One Dashboard. I don't get it, but perhaps I'm missing something. What are your thoughts?

    • How to unlink a SAML user from the existing Zoho Desk user (domain change case)

      Hi everyone, I’m trying to understand how to handle a situation where a customer changes their company domain. In our setup, users authenticate via SAML, so when the domain changes, the SAML system treats them as a new user. However, in Zoho Desk, I’d

    • Price Managment

      I have been in discussions with Zoho for some time and not getting what I need. Maybe someone can help explain the logic behind this for me as I fail to understand. When creating an item, you input a sales rate and purchase rate. These rates are just

    • Related to zoho survey

      Hi team. I want to know something regarding zoho survey question builder. I have two questions each of dropdown (One answer) - question type. In the first question, there are 16 answer choices and in the second question, there are 3 answer choices. For

    • Creator HTML page refresh

      Hi, I have added around 5 different html snippets in single creator page. I understand, I can refresh the entire page from page script using Navigational URLs https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/creator/developer-guide/others/url-patterns/articles/navigational-urls

    • 60 Days Into Zoho - Tiktok Branding Startup -7 Questions?!

      Wsp Everybody I co-own a TikTok Branding / Consulting Startup & have been using Zoho for the past 60 days - Am now looking to make our overall operations & processes more Efficient & Effective! Curious to know how others are using the platform & what's

    • Text Message

      When trying to sent a text message, it says its an error i should contact a zoho agent

    • Zoho POS is now available for Canadian retailers

      Hey everyone, We're excited to introduce the all-new Canadian edition of Zoho POS, which helps retail businesses simplify and manage their end-to-end business operations. Start by signing up and exploring the 15-day free trial. Sign up now How does Zoho

    • Zoho CRM - Option to create Follow-Up Task

      When completing a Zoho CRM Task, it would be very helpful if there was an option to "Complete and Create Follow-Up Task" in the pop-up which appears. It could clone the task you are closing and then show it on the screen in edit mode, all the user would

    • Payroll In Canada

      Hi, When can we expect to have payroll in Canada with books 

    • Mass update to change or shift all project dates and keep project structure + shift all sub-tasks dates with main tasks

      Most users would expect that if they change the start date of their project then that will be reflected inside the actual project and any project structure would be retained.  Additionally if a task list with associated sub-tasks is moved, most users would expect that those sub-tasks would also be moved along with their parent task.  This is not the case. For a total Project shift of dates: * the start and end date from > "Edit Project" page can have a radio button added to "shift all project tasks

    • Closing Accounting Periods - Invoice/Posting dates

      Hi, I have seen in another thread but I'm unsure on how the 'transaction locking' works with regards to new and old transactions. When producing monthly accounts if I close December 24 accounts on 8th Jan 25 will transaction locking prevent me from posting

    • Next Page