My Love / Hate relationship with Deluge

My Love / Hate relationship with Deluge

Ok... so I should first say that I very much have an appreciation for all of the awesome things that I can do with Deluge.  It really can be quite powerful in a variety of ways, and allows for all kinds of customization that otherwise would not be possible.

Admittedly however, I've had days (and sometimes late nights that turn into early mornings) that I end up feeling like my head is going to explode when coding in Deluge.  Now let me emphasize something here... Deluge is a terrific language... but... it suffers enormously by the glaring lack of basic functionality within the web-based IDE.

So some of my gripes include:

1.  There are several variations of Deluge running across the various Zoho applications, and with various degrees of functionality.  Some are better than others - the best of these being being almost tolerable, the worst being barely usable.

2.  Depending on context and the relevant module, I can usually enter in an item ID, or a PO ID, or whatever other ID to run a test execution of my code with.  This is great, except that I have to enter the ID in every single time I want to run my code (CRM being one notable exception).  It's not a big deal, until you're testing and making changes in your code and end up having to deal with it 100 or 500 times... so much as to the extent that I've found myself writing key macros just to automate entry of the IDs while I run test executions.

3.  Depending on the module, error reporting is frequently misleading, often without providing line numbers (or frequently the incorrect line number), or using language that's either too obscure or written such that it really is a chore to decipher what it's even saying.  AppleSoft Basic provided better errors in 1976.  Granted, there are appreciable differences, but I stand by the fact that in 2020, even the most rudimentary basic ways of developing code should always give you a line number.  Always.  Always.

4.  In addition to specifying the line number, why not just highlight the point in the code in red so that you can just go right to the problem area and get down to business.

(Feel free to pass points 3 & 4 to the Sites and Commerce Face teams as well.)

5.  How about incorporating break points to halt the code where you can evaluate variables?

And so after contemplating the various issues, thought I'd put forth one possible approach that I would see as a way that could potentially catapult Deluge into the next level and beyond, while also reducing the anxiety experienced by seasoned programmers who relentlessly find themselves pulling their hair out, wondering why this otherwise useful language is so unbearably painful to develop with. (Granted, I can't speak for others, but I know there are others who have voiced similar sentiments.)

So if I were to imagine a path for redemption for Deluge, it might be by way of using Visual Studio Code as a catalyst.  Visual Studio Code has quickly and increasingly become one of the most commonly used code editors in recent years - largely because it's a Microsoft product vetted through years of development since Visual C++ was initially launched around 30 years ago.

It's become so ubiquitous that there even already exists a very basic code formatter for Zoho's Deluge as one of the available extensions - and could provide a starting place for more substantive integration to begin to take things a step further.

What could really take Deluge to the next level in this regard would potentially incorporate the use of a "live" connector that could operate between a user's Visual Studio Code installation and the Deluge Runtime Engine.  In essence, it could serve to automatically upload the most recent versions of an edited Deluge script from VS Code into whichever relevant Zoho module is in context, as well as invoke test executions of your code directly from the VS Code IDE.  Furthermore, the DRE would subsequently be able to report back error codes (with line numbers and relevant code to be highlighted) in realtime across the link. 

Taking it even a step further, such a link could also serve as means of proving a data connector to providing context while working on your Deluge code.  In other languages (and their related development environments), an ODBC connector can often be instantiated... not only during runtime, but also "live linked" during development so that you can develop your code while contextually aware of the data and relevant data types you're coding against.  

And because the aforementioned functionality has already been previously incorporated into VS Code for other languages, the UI in VS Code is already primed to be able to handle these tasks without reinventing the wheel.  Things like breakpoints, watch variables, data connectors are already either in place, or can likely be adapted.  This of course would dramatically shorten the time and effort needed to make something of this sort feasible. 

In effect, hardware debuggers for embedded solutions (like a microcontroller in a microwave oven or a cable TV set-top box) work the same way.  The execution of code, breakpoints, uploading of code, etc, are all traversing a simple link.  Typically, such hardware debugging in this regard can even be run remotely - even across the Internet over port forwarded IP addresses.

Ultimately my point is not to educate anyone on how debugging works, as I'm sure that Zoho's engineer's are already well versed in these concepts... but only as a means underscore that the model of debugging over IP is commonplace, and could probably easily be applied to the Deluge Runtime Engine as well.

Now I could be wrong, but if I were to guess... I'd be inclined to believe that much of the functionality that I've highlighted above is probably already in existence.  I say this not because I know of some secret codebase I've stumbled across or have some sort of secret insider knowledge that there's some stash of advanced tools lying in some hidden Zoho vault.

Rather, I say this only because so many of the aforementioned issues that I point out here would have been addressed long ago if the software engineers at Zoho were forced to use the same web-based tools as its client base.  I can't think of a single engineer that go to such lengths as to create a language like Deluge, and then not build in the most basic rudimentary means of providing error codes, debugging, and usable feedback.

Based on that assumption, it's almost a certainty IMHO that there are in-house tools in existence that provide this type of feedback, but few within Zoho's customer base have expressed enough dissatisfaction so far in order to warrant the efforts that would be required to bring such functionality to web-based Deluge IDE used by Zoho's client base. Naturally this just comes down to priorities, and would be the case in most any organization, these priorities are typically determined by the collective voice of its customer base.

Sometimes however, these needs might be a step removed from what the customer states vs what they don't know they should be asking for.  A business owner might, for example, choose one platform over another... not because of the degree of feedback provided by the web-based IDE used to implement customizations, as that's not even on their radar.

What might be on their radar however is that one platform has vastly more third partly customizations available, which might be the case if developers are much more inclined to develop for it, which can a directly impacted by the tools they have available to work from.

So all that to say... if it's the squeaky wheel that get's the most oil, "SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK".

Thanks for consideration of the aforementioned issues.,
Bryan

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Dropshipping Address - Does Not Show on Invoice Correctly

        When a dropshipping address is used for a customer, the correct ship-to address does not seem to show on the Invoice. It shows correctly on the Sales Order, Shipment Order, and Package, just not the Invoice. This is a problem, because the company being

      • Zoho unreliable

        Some mails are delivered, others not. How can I trust Zoho any more? Some friends get my e-mail, some don't. Same with receiving e-mails: Some I get, some not. If I use Google, everything works well. But Zoho?!!! How to solve this problem? I already reported this problem before, but didn't get any reply. Thanks, Kim

      • the custom domain forwards by default to the old career site / how to switch it off??

        dear friends, how to switch off the old version of the career site?? The set up custom domain forwards directly to the old site, so that I cant publish it... Any ideas? Thank you! KR, Victoria

      • Preserve Ticket Issue Mapping When Migrating from Jira to Zoho Projects

        Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We are currently exploring a full migration from Jira to Zoho Projects, and we identified a critical limitation during the migration process involving Zoho Desk integration. Current Situation: We use

      • Recording Shopify/Amazon fees in Zoho Books - Zoho Inventory

        We are currently flushing out the connections between Shopify/Amazon and Zoho Inventory. For other users of Zoho Books - Zoho Inventory, where and at what point do you record the merchant fees associated with theses channels? I have gotten mixed responses

      • Pre-fill webforms in Recruit

        I don't want to use the career site portal (as I have my own already), but I would like to direct users to the application forms for each role, from my website job pages. Is there a way to pre-fill fields in Recruit application forms, so that I only have

      • Function #8: Add additional charges to invoices

        Here goes one of the highly sought-after custom functions in Zoho Books. If you find yourself needing to apply additional charges to customers on their invoices (say credit card surcharges, or fuel charges applicable to customers from a certain region,

      • Taxes Payable Adjustment

        I am from Canada and I need to make an adjustment to my Taxes Payable (HST) account.  Basically I need to take a portion of the amount within Taxes Payable and expense that portion to another account.  The adjusting entry would like like the following:

      • ASAP Widget Not showing "My Tickets"ed

        Hello Team, I have created a ZOHO ASAP Widget and embedded to my portal app.clearvuiq.com , widget renders ok and I can open tickets from widget. However I want my opened tickets to be visible in the widget. How can I achieve that?

      • Bug Causing Major Sync & SO Access Failures in Zoho POS

        We are experiencing critical and recurring issues in Zoho POS that all trace back to role-permission handling defects in the latest POS app version. These issues directly affect syncing, login ability, and Sales Order access for role-restricted users

      • How to view CRM Sales Orders in Desk

        What's the usual way to view all CRM sales orders linked to a contact, when viewing a ticket in Desk? I don't want to have to open a new tab to see the order in CRM. And the Desk CRM sidebar doesn't seem to be configurable. Would I have to use an extension

      • Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1

        Hello all!! Welcome back to a fresh Kaizen week. In the previous weeks, we covered Workflow Rules APIs, Actions APIs - Email Notification APIs, Tasks Update API, and Field Update API. This week, we will continue with another Actions API - Webhooks API

      • Pricing Strategies: #3 Services never Stop with just Plans

        "Hey, while you're here, could you also take a look at the vegetable patch?" Aaron hears that line almost every week. He runs a small gardening service, the kind where customers subscribe to a simple monthly plan that includes basic maintenance, mowing,

      • Cropping Photos for Zoho Sites

        Hi, I'm wondering if there is a built in crop tool for zoho sites for my photos so I can crop them and see what the crop looks like on the site?

      • bulk edit records and run internal logic

        hi there is few logics in manner "it this than that" logics work well when i edit entry openning it one by one (via workflow "on add/edit - on success" , for custom field "on update/on user input") but when i try bulk edit records - logic does not work.  how can i turn on logic to work as programmed - for mass editing records via bulk edit?

      • Possible for first Signer of Sign Form to specify the next signer in the sequence

        We have many use cases where multiple signers need sign the same document. We'd love to be able to use sign forms, where the a signer who uses the Sign Form link can specify the name and email address for the next person in the sequence.

      • BUG: Can't copy-paste data outside Sheet

        Currently I can't paste data copied from inside any of my Zoho Sheet files to any other app. Copy-paste works inside the sheet It does NOT work between two different sheets These sheets are built from automation templates Everything works fine if I create

      • Zoho CRM Community Digest - November 2025 | Part 1

        Hello Everyone! Here’s what came through in the first half of November: new updates and a few helpful community discussions with real, notable solutions. Product Updates: Android App Update: Inctroducing Swipe Actions You can now swipe left or right on

      • Upload own Background Image and set Camera to 16:9

        Hi, in all known online meeting tools, I can set up a background image reflecting our corporate design. This doesn't work in Cliq. Additionally, Cliq detects our cameras as 4:3, showing black bars on the right and left sides during the meeting. Where

      • Truesync for Linux

        Is Truesync available on linux ?

      • Hidding/excluding specific picklist options from filter

        Hi. Is it possible to hide/exclude specific picklist options from this filter? I don't want them to be shown when someone tries to filter in the leads module

      • Subforms to Capture Multi-Row Data in Job Sheets

        Subforms transform your job sheets from simple checklists to powerful, data-rich forms. In field service work — whether maintenance, inspection, installation, or repair — a single job can involve multiple repeatable entries: readings, parts used, activities

      • Add "Fetch Composite Item" Action for Inventory

        I want to make a Flow that uses information returned in the GET call for Composite Items, and it's not currently available in Zoho Flow. Please consider adding this functionality.

      • Adress Labels for sending of the oder und barcode

        We want to print with my address labels to stick on the order of the ware can. there are these options?

      • printing individual labels - Dymo LabelWriter

        I am trying to print individual labels to my Dymo LabelWriter - has anyone done this? Latest Update (December 2025): The Canvas Print View is now available! We encourage you all to try it out and share your feedback with us. Learn more here: Zoho CRM

      • Zoho Creator for Agriculture

        Greetings, I am starting to work on  Zoho Creator specifically for the agricultural field, any recommendations, tips or ideas that might be helpful ? Also, if you are interested by any means in working on such project, kindly contact me. The project is

      • Custom Print Layout

        I would like to create a custom print layout of a Lead or Contact. Is there a way to do that? What I mean is that if I'm viewing a specific lead or contact I'd like to be able to print or export that lead/contact and only print and/or export certain information.

      • Print View

        Nothing happens when I'm in a module , ie; Contacts, and I hit the Print View Button. Even when it does come up and say "loading", nothing loads

      • Get Holiday ready with Zoho Mail's Offline mode

        With the holiday season right around the corner, this is the perfect time to get ready to unplug, relax, and enjoy a well-deserved break. In addition to preparing yourself, you can also make sure your organization members are set for their time away from

      • Solution to Import PST File into Office 365.

        MailsDaddy OST to Office 365 Migration Tool is an outstanding solution to recover OST files and migrate them into Office 365 without any hassle. Using this software users can multiple OST files into Office 365 with complete data security. It offers users

      • Zoho CRM Kiosk issues

        Firstly this is for a system on the AU servers if that makes a difference. Issues are as follows (For Kiosk): 1. Re-ordering fields in the screen builder is broken. The fields seem to be re-ordering themselves, unless you order everything by moving the

      • Email Template Edits Not Saving

        I can make an edit, click save, and see the blue bar annimation at the top, but the edits don't actually save. Important, because my email templates are now broken and clients are receiving bad emails. Tried on Chrome, Firefox and IE.

      • Default Ticket View - Table?

        Guys, We mostly use the table view to queue tickets. Maybe I am missing it - but how can I set that view as 'default" for all our agents? Thanks JV

      • Can I have different users see different pick list values for Potential Stage?

        We have some users focusing on new business and others focusing on existing business, and they follow different sales processes/cycles, so we would like them to see different pick list values for Stage (eventually leading up to Closed Won/Lost in both cases).   And just to keep it interesting - some of these users will of course do a combination, so would need to see one pick list for their New business potentials and a different pick list for their Existing business ones.   Salesforce does this

      • Tracking Snippet not working in Zoho Marketing Automation!

        First off, the fact that you have to wait about 12-24 hours for every response is terrible. How are we supposed to conduct business? Second, we have been trying for several days to get the Tracking Code Snippet in marketing automation to work, to no avail.

      • Is there any way to send an Excel received by email to Dataprep?

        Every day I receive an email alert with an Excel file that I want to process through a Dataprep pipeline. To do this, I need to: -Save the file to disk -Open the pipeline -Run the pipeline -Update the source -Several clicks to select and open the saved

      • Read webpage - MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP

        I have the following VBA script, put together from various sources (mainly zoho forum/help/support, so it once worked, I guess): private Sub GetListOfSheets() Dim url As String Dim xmlhttp As Object Dim parameters As String Dim html As String range("B1").value

      • Zoho Creator Form Search

        I'm new to Zoho Creator and so far i do like it but im shocked there seems to be no easy way to add a search function and/or navigation to there forms as this readily available in every platform i have used in the past. Anyway i have a form which i have

      • How to setup DKIM / SPF in Zoho Mail

        Hello there! I'm having a hard time understanding how to setup the TXT records for SPF and DKIM with Zoho Mail. I'm following the instructions here: https://www.zoho.com/campaigns/help/setup-spf-dkim.html Specifically, when it comes to the value for the

      • Mass update cant trigger a workflow?

        Hello there, Is this a normal Creator behaviour? In a report, if I manually edit each data row, it will pass those changes to all other reports. However, if I perform a Mass Update on a few data rows at once, the new data is not pushed to other reports.

      • Next Page