Title: Store, retrieve, and access entity-specific data in widgets using | Community | Zoho Projects

Title: Store, retrieve, and access entity-specific data in widgets using | Community | Zoho Projects

Data storage - Overview

Storing data related to the extension you are working on is essential. It can be saved as key-value pairs for an entity or extension, known as entity and extension properties, respectively. Data can be saved for the following entities using entity properties: projects, tasks, issues, and milestones. Similarly, using extension properties, data can be recorded for an app and stored for the extension.

Support and Limitations

The entity properties allow you to store, retrieve, update, and delete data for an entity, while the extension properties allow you to do the same with an extension. Learn more about data storage functions that can be performed using entity and extension properties.

The data stored for an entity using entity property will be retained if the extension is uninstalled. However, when an extension is uninstalled, any data stored using the extension property is lost. You can refer to the limitations of entity properties and limitations of extension properties for additional details.

Scenario

A manufacturing firm uses Zoho CRM to manage its production and sales units, and also uses Zoho Projects for task management. Customers of the firm may raise cases of the"feature request" type to the solution experts for an enhancement or a request for a new feature for the existing products. The solution expert logs these requests as cases in Zoho CRM and begins working on the feature request through a task in Zoho Projects. In this way, the Zoho CRM solution expert who is the task owner in Zoho Projects can handle and manage the development-related activities to provide the feature as a solution to the customer through the Zoho Projects task.

Additionally, multiple customers may request the same feature for a product. In this scenario, it would be easier for the task owner or solution expert to keep track of all their CRM cases related to a feature request in one space, so that whenever a requested feature is completed, this can be communicated with customers of these tracked cases.

What can be done to ease the solution expert/task owner work?

The task owner would benefit from viewing a list of all their open Zoho CRM cases from inside the Zoho Projects task tab. This would allow them to view and associate the cases related to the feature request they are working on from within the task.
Once they have completed the feature enhancement and come up with a solution for the request, they can simply preview all of the Zoho CRM cases related to that feature request from within the task itself and offer an update to the customers.

Goal: Ease user experience by allowing them to view and associate Zoho CRM cases within the task details tab.

Solution

To accomplish this goal, we are going to use data storage along with a few other features in our extension.
  • First, allow the task owner to view case-specific details from the list of CRM cases. For this, we can create a task details tab widget named "CRM Cases". In this widget, we can include a drop-down menu and select a case to access case-specific details. This can be accomplished using the widgets approach explained earlier in this post.
  • Using the data storage concept, store the associated case for the task entity, allowing the task owner to view it as "Associated CRM Cases" alongside the drop-down selection the next time the widget loads. This enables the task owner to associate several cases with the task and view them all in a single widget.                                                              

Required components
  • A connection between Zoho Projects and Zoho CRM needs to be established to establish a secure integration between the products.
  • An extension configuration process includes:
  1. Creating an extension.
  2. Configuring the plugin manifest.
  3. Setting up the widget code.
  • Display all open Zoho CRM cases of the task owner as a drop-down list in a task details widget tab called "CRM Cases", and thereby allow the task owner to choose a case for which they want to view further details.
  • Implement the modal box feature to display case-specific details of the chosen case and also allow the task owner to associate the case to the task through a button in the modal box
  • Store the associated case for the task using the data storage concept (entity.store) in the modal box.
  • Display the associated cases by retrieving (entity.retrieve) it from the stored data and having them displayed as part of the widget along with the drop-down that displays the open cases.
Let's explore these components now.

Connection

We have created a connection to establish a secure integration between Zoho Projects and Zoho CRM. You can refer to this post for detailed guidance on establishing a connection.
                                                                  
                                     

Extension configuration

Extension creation: We have created a new extension for Zoho Projects. Learn more about the steps to create an extension

                                      

Plugin-manifest.json configuration: Once the extension was created, we configured the plugin-manifest.json file to include the created connection and a widget. For detailed understanding on configuring the plugin-manifest.json file, refer to our earlier post.
For our extension use case, the plugin-manifest.json file is configured as shown in the below screenshot.
                                     
                                                                  
Setting up the widget code

Now that we've set up the other components, let's move on to writing our widget code and incorporating the data storage and modal box feature.
Displaying CRM cases in "CRM Cases" task tab - Please find the index.html code snippet attached in the post.
  • In the code snippet, the current Zoho Projects user's email is retrieved using the current_user instance of zohoprojects.get JS SDK method and saved in a variable called "currentuseremail".
  • The user's CRM org ID and their CRM cases are then fetched by invoking the Get Organization Details and Get Records APIs, respectively, using the Zoho Projects request JS SDK method. Certain mandatory parameters must be passed to the SDK method to invoke the mentioned CRM APIs, such as the third-party URL, data object, and connection. If you require further details on how the Zoho Projects Request method works, you can refer to our earlier post, which explains the working and the required parameters for invoking this method in detail.
  • From the Zoho CRM get records API response, a drop-down list is generated in the widget, with the Zoho Projects task owner's open CRM cases.
  • The end-user can select a value from the drop-down list to view the case-related details. This selected value (the selected case) is then fetched. When the Get Case Details button is clicked, a modal box instance is created and opened using the modal.create and instance methods. When the modal box opens, the selected case ID value is emitted using the emit method and the keyword "stored-files".
  • Using the emitted values, the case details is populated in a modal box, and if the solution expert finds that the case is related to the feature request handled in the Projects task, the case ID is saved using the entity.store method and associated with the current task. (This is addressed in the casedetails.html code in the next section).
  • The associated value stored in the modal box using the entity.store method is then retrieved in the index.html page using the entity.retrieve method. Using the retrieved associated case ID, when the widget loads, the Zoho CRM Get Records API is invoked again. From the response, the unclosed cases and the cases which have the email ID as that of the current Zoho Projects user's email address (fetched earlier and saved in variable currentuseremail) are filtered and displayed as the "Associated CRM cases" in the widget.

Modal box to display the details of the chosen case - Please check casedetails.html code snippet attached in this post
  • In the code snippet, the value emitted from the index.html, using the emit method for the keyword "stored-files" is received by the on method in the modal box UI. Using the received value, a hit is made to the Zoho CRM Get Records APIs using the Zoho Projects Request Method again.
  • The essential details are retrieved from the case-specific details returned by the Zoho CRM Get Records API and displayed to the task owner for reference. These details allow them to check on the case and associate it with the current Zoho Projects task if it is related to the feature request.
  • If the case is associated, the associated case value ID is saved with the entity.store property.
  • This stored and associated value is then received and retrieved using the entity.retrieve in index.html, from which the Associated CRM cases value are populated in the widget as mentioned earlier. This is addressed in the index.html code in the previous section.
Now that we have completed the setup and have all the extension components ready, let's go ahead and see the output.

Sample output: 

                                     

In this example, we used the data storage for an entity feature to save task-related data and retrieve it when needed. Similarly, we can store data for an app to perform various storage functions such as save, retrieve, update, and delete. We hope you found this information useful. Keep following this space for more insights!

Sign up for a Zoho Developer account and start developing extensions for Zoho Projects using Sigma.


SEE ALSO


Next>>

    • Recent Topics

    • Been getting this error, every now and then "Get count limit exceeded, please try again after 3 mins"

      it is really annoying.

    • Tags on notes aren't syncing correctly on Android

      I've created notes on the desktop version that have several tags assigned, but on both my Android devices those notes only have ONE of those tags instead of all of them, despite the actual content of the note being correctly synced, and I'm also starting

    • Campaign API Error 2001

      I'm getting a 2001 Error stating "Error in subscription. Please try after some time." I've waited but it continues to persist. I"ve copied and pasted the exact request on the API website yet that doesn't work either.

    • How to list Expenses that have not been matched to a Bank Transaction

      In ZoHo books I use expenses to record invoices I receive. I know I should probably uses Bills for this but Bills was not available in the Free edition I initially used. When I upgraded I contunued to use Expenses. I'm trying to find a way of listing

    • How are you handing birthdays?

      I'm deciding on the best way to handle contact birthdays in my set-up. None of the options seem ideal, so I am interested in how others approach this. The aim is to have a usable ui to track birthday without knowing or requiring the year. I'm currently

    • Fiverr is better than Zoho Partners

      For anyone out there looking for help with Zoho Creator's confusing Deluge, I highly recommend hiring NON ZOHO PARTNERS on Fiverr. I've had much better experiences with those who are NOT certified by Zoho. Almost every single "certified" zoho partner

    • Marketing Automation pour maximiser le ROI : évaluer les performances et optimiser les campagnes

      Le Marketing Automation a transformé la manière dont les entreprises mènent leurs actions marketing, offrant une solution efficace pour simplifier les processus, améliorer la productivité et, surtout, maximiser le ROI. Dans un environnement commercial

    • Spotlight series #25 - Create presentation outlines using Zoho Show's Chrome extension

      Hello all, the feature in this month's spotlight is Zoho Show's Chrome extension. The first step to creating a good presentation is outlining your ideas—a crucial process that sets the foundation for everything that follows. But this often involves extensive

    • Will zoho thrive be integrated with Zoho Books?

      title

    • Multi-line fields character limits

      Is there a way to set the character limit higher on multi-line fields so that we are not losing information pasted into the field? When the text is entered or pasted, there is no error to say that the text is too large. After saving and going back to view most of the text is gone.   Also, when viewing the resume, the text is not wrapped in the multi line fields and can t be read without scrolling across the page.

    • Workload Reports

      Under Reports > Workload Reports, would it be possible to get Kanban view sorted by Task Owner? Seems like it'd be an easier/ quicker view of how many tasks are assigned to each user and what status they're at. Also gives you more information about the

    • attributed automatically database section

      Hello everyone and happy holidays... here in zoho CRM, I created 3 bases: - Properties (House, apartment ...) - Transactions (Notaries, ...) - Real estate ads I want when the address is identical on these three bases, that in "Properties" the transactions

    • Custom Module I made shows the records I uploaded are there but they are not showing up.

      Here's a screenshot of the module - It shows there are around 2000 records but it says that there aren't any. The module is viewable by administrators and I am on an administrator account so I am not sure why the records aren't showing. Any help would

    • Webform & spam

      Hi, We set up 2 webform on our website, fowarding the content to Zoho CRM. Since it has been opened up, we are getting lot of spam message (for now about 20 a day). To lower the  amount of false new leads we added the captcha field and new enquieries are send to the Approval Leads list. However we still get some spam. Is there any "anti spam" mechanism built in Zoho CRM, or how is the best way to avoid these kind of spam ? Thanks

    • Need Help with Journey in Zoho Marketing Automation

      Hello everyone, I’m new to Zoho Marketing Automation and am trying to build a journey that triggers based on the contract end date of customers. My goal is to send them an email with an ebook one day before their contract ends. To achieve this, I used

    • Announcing Trident desktop app for Zoho Mail & Zoho Workplace users

      Hello Community, I hope you are doing well and staying safe. As you know, our Mail & workplace teams have been constantly working on adding more value to our offerings to ensure you and your organization continue enjoying your Zoho experience. As part

    • Kudos to the Zoho Flow Team!

      Hi Zoho Flow Team, Way to go on the new design—it looks fantastic! We especially love the festive touch with the Christmas decorations. It's a delightful and thoughtful addition that brings a bit of holiday cheer to the experience. Keep up the amazing

    • Website not found when trying to unlock Zoho vault with fingerprint(authenticator) in windows 11

      Whenever I try to unlock the Zoho vault with fingerprint(authenticator) it shows the Website not found on the server. To replicate the issue follow the below steps: Download the zoho vault extension and login. And now open the zoho vault extension ->

    • Kaizen #170: FAQs on Notification APIs

      Hello all!! Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series! In this post, we will address the most frequently asked questions about Zoho CRM's Notification APIs from the Zoho CRM Developer Community Forum. Notification API This API allows you to subscribe

    • Extracting data from cells in zoho sheets for zoho books

      I am currently uploading my bank statment in excel format to zoho workdrive. I would like flow to extract certain data and send it to zoho books. Would scripting in zoho flow be able to help me with this? By this I mean should I attempt this in zoho flow

    • Multiple templates (Settings > Email templates)

      Hi Zoho, We would like to have more options to select a template when sending an email in Zohosign. Currently we can only add 1 template per option: Is this possible? Kind regards, Tristan

    • How to find the number that appears most often in a list (the Mode of a list)

      I have a list that contains a list of 5 string values. I want to find which value is repeated most often and place that value into a single line text field Example List1 = Learning,Learning,Shaping,Leading,Learning In List1 the value “Learning” appears

    • Sorting and previewing notes

      I use the method of sorting notes by edit date in both the desktop and android clients, newest notes on top. When I edit a note on Android and exit it to the notebook, it does not move to the very top. Only when I exit the notebook and enter it again,

    • Pivot table with Text values - "Matrix Report"

      User Story - As a user, I would like the ability to display textual data in a two-way table, matrix format (text datatypes, not numerical datatypes displayed as a dimension) One major feature missing from the Pivot tables in Zoho Analytics is the ability

    • Domain not usable

      We have not used this domain because the Chrome systems on our office devices are not compatible with your technology. I am sorry if no one has never advised you of this. Please cancel if it has not already been canceled. Ticket# 7526594 Please see

    • Bigin iOS, macOS and Android app update - File Cabinet

      Hello Everyone! In the most recent iOS (v1.7.1) and macOS (v1.5.1) updates of the Bigin app, we have included support for the File Cabinet functionality. You can access this feature as a topping within the web app (bigin.zoho.com) and conveniently use

    • Power of Automation :: Automatically close the associated tasks once the Issues are closed

      Hello Everyone, A Custom Function is a user-written set of code to achieve a specific requirement. Set the required conditions needed as to when to trigger using the Workflow rules (be it Tasks / Project) and associate the custom function to it. We have

    • Meeting vs Zoom and why we are moving

      Dear Meeting team,                                   I want to share my thoughts on Meeting vs Zoom and explain why we are moving back to Zoom for all our video conferencing, even though it is part of our Zoho One Subscription. 1). Video & Audio quality - We see a significant downgrade in video quality when using Meeting vs Zoom, even when using the same internet connections.  Meeting video is blurry and not sharp compared to Zoom.  Audio is also hit and miss on Meeting with frequent drop outs and

    • booking link that expires

      I have a suggestion that is  crucial. When i send booking URL to clients they keep the link and they book appointment whenever they want multiple times. You should give us the Booking URL feature. We should be able to send it and the user can use it only

    • Accessing Subform Data using getRecordByID

      I am getting data from Zoho Creator using deluge zoho.creator.getRecordByID task, from another application. The report contains a subform, and that subform is in the detail view of the report. I do not appear to have any subform data in the JSON response,

    • Print record summary to pdf page breaks

      Hello. I created a record summary and would like to export to pdf. Rich text fields or photos can get printed on 2 pages cutting them in half. Is there a way to add page breaks? Thanks.

    • The email address you have entered belongs to a different deployment/region.

      Hi, I am trying to create the user - mprust@crombiecomputers.co.uk but keep getting the message below -  The email address you have entered belongs to a different deployment/region. Please contact support@zohoaccounts.com for assistance. Look forward

    • Pre-fill TO and CC fields for Email Templates

      This would be a game changer to be able to set either specific email addresses or merge fields based on deal role titles into email templates. Please pass this along to *hopefully* add to future features of Zoho CRM.

    • Leads and Deals Issue

      Hi! Is Zoho having trouble today? I've been experiencing issues today. When I move a deal to closed/won, it previously would require a closing date but today the screen just went blur and the closing date did not pop up. And then under leads, I was trying

    • QR codes in templates

      I'm excited about the new QR code generator. I have included a QR code that contains the record ID setting "${ID}" as input data. In the report detail it works perfectly but when printing it in a template the code is not shown.

    • How do I hide all leads from Standard users in my CRM ZOHO

      I want to configure my crm zoho in such a way that standard users will only see leads owned or assigned to them. How do I go about doing this? I have tried all i could, but nothing...can anyone help me?

    • How to Implement Time-Based Filters in Zoho Workflows?

      Hi everyone, I’m looking for a workaround to implement time-based filters in Zoho workflows. Specifically, I need a workflow to trigger only within certain hours (e.g., between 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM, Sunday to Friday). Currently, Zoho workflows execute

    • is there a better way to routinely export my project timesheets?

      Hi there, I am somewhat happy with how Zoho books handles time.  One thing that is missing is more user driven control over my data.  I have a workflow where I constantly need to give customers feeds of work done.  So I pick a project, and would ideally

    • Portal Default View

      Hello! My company is about roll out portals for some users, but we were wondering if it was possible to set the Record Detail Page View to default to a custom view that we made. That way the information they need would be streamlined and easier to see.

    • Does zoho rest api support token exchange from microsoft entra id token

      i want to get access token from the Microsoft user token in rest api. so it is possible to exchange microsoft user access token to zoho's access token or auth token ( token should be user specific not super admin).

    • Next Page