A peek into Deluge's file functions

A peek into Deluge's file functions

Hello everyone,

Recognizing the importance of files in Zoho products, Deluge implements FILE as a unique type of data. It also comes with a set of built-in functions that operate on FILE data type to identify the properties of files, zip or unzip files, and more. In this post, we will cover Deluge file functions that let you work with your digital documents using Deluge.

Files in Deluge
Files in Deluge must be fetched from the web or cloud service. It doesn't operate on offline files. The following are the ways you can bring files into Deluge scripting:
Irrespective of the format, all the files fetched using any of the above-mentioned methods, except the "fetch records" task and "input" keyword, are treated as file objects (or FILE data type). For example, be it a .pdf format file or a .jpeg format file, both are categorized under FILE data type. The files fetched using the "fetch records" task and "input" keyword are not considered as FILE data type, and hence file functions cannot be applied on them. However, such files can be used in integration tasks (for example in attach file crm task), or in the send mail task to send as a file attachment, or to assign the file as a value to another Zoho Creator file field.

File functions
File functions are built-in functions that operate on file objects (or FILE datatype). These functions cannot be applied on files fetched using the Zoho Creator "fetch records" task or "input" keyword.

The following table lists the file functions available in Deluge:

Function
Description
Checks if a variable is of FILE data type.
Converts a TEXT or COLLECTION value into file object. This function is supported in all Zoho services except Creator.
Returns the name of the input file.
Returns the size of the input file.
Returns the content of the input file.
Returns the type of the input file. This function is supported in all Zoho services except Creator.
Renames the input file with the specified name.
Compresses one or more file into a single zip file.
Extracts the content of the input zip file.

Apart from the above-mentioned functions, we also have setCharset, setFileType, and setParamName which can be used only on invoke URL task to set file properties.

Example 1: Uses setFileName and compress functions
Imagine you want to rename a few documents, convert them into a single zip file, and send the compressed zip file as an email attachment. The following example performs these actions in the below order:

  1. Fetches an invoice from Zoho Books. 
  2. Generates file name based on the customer name and current date & time, and renames the fetched invoice using the setFileName function.
  3. Fetches the customer's contract from Zoho Workdrive.
  4. Generates file name based on the customer name and current date & time, and renames the fetched contract using the setFileName function.
  5. Converts the fetched invoice and contract documents into a zip file using compress function.
  6. And lastly, sends the renamed file as attachment of sendMail task.

Step 1:
  1. // Fetch the required invoice from Zoho Books. invoice_pdf variable holds the fetched file object
  2. invoice_pdf = invokeUrl
  3. [
  4. url:"https://books.zoho.com/api/v3/invoices/pdf?organization_id=70XXXX516&invoice_ids=2155XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX09"
  5. type: GET
  6. connection: "books_connection"
  7. ];

Step 2:
  1. // Generate the file name with customer name and current time. Here, customer_name is the input parameter of the custom function
  2. generated_pdf_name = customer_name + "_invoice_" + zoho.currentTime.toString("dd-MMM-yyyy_hh:mm");

  3. // Rename the file with the generated file name
  4. invoice_pdf.setFileName(generated_pdf_name);

Step 3:
  1. // contract variable holds the document fetched from Zoho Workdrive
  2. contract = invokeUrl
  3. [
  4. url: "https://workdrive.zoho.com/api/v1/download/5crsmXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXf16b8"
  5. type: GET
  6. connection: "workdrive_connection"
  7. ];

Step 4:
  1. // Generate the file name with customer name and current time. Here, customer_name is the input parameter of the custom function
  2. generated_doc_name = customer_name + "_contract_" + zoho.currentTime.toString("dd-MMM-yyyy_hh:mm");

  3. // Rename the file with the generated file name
  4. contract.setFileName(generated_doc_name);

Step 5:
  1. // Create a list to add files that need to be compressed
  2.  filesList = List();
  3.  filesList.add(invoice_pdf);
  4.  filesList.add(contract);

  5.  // Perform compress function
  6.  zip_file = filesList.compress("invoice");

Step 6:
  1. // Send email with the compressed file as attachment
  2. sendmail
  3. [
  4. from: zoho.loginuserid
  5. to: customer_email
  6. subject: "Invoice"
  7. message: "Please check attachment to find your invoice "
  8. attachments: file:  zip_file
  9. ]

Example 2: Uses extract and getFileContent functions
The following example extracts .csv files from a .zip file and uploads the content of the extracted files into a Zoho Sheet worksheet:

Step 1:
  1. // Extract .csv files from .zip file. file_collection holds the extracted files as KEY-VALUE collection
  2. file_collection = compressed_file.extract(); 

Step 2:
  1. // Iterate through the collection to access individual .csv files
  2. for each file in file_collection
  3. {
  4. // Fetch the content of the extracted .csv file
  5. content = file.getFileContent();
  6. // Use Sheet integration task to insert the fetched CSV into the specified Zoho Sheet
  7. response = zoho.sheet.insertCSV("6fbyeXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX44b56", "Sheet1", content);
  8. }

Learn more about file functions from our help documents and do let us know your questions and suggestions in the comments.

    • Sticky Posts

    • Function #41: Sync Associated Subforms!

      Welcome back everyone! The last custom function showed how to update a Contact with Product details from it's Related list in Deals. This week, let's look at a function that lets you update subform records in two modules simultaneously when one of them is updated. Business scenario Let's look at how subform helps in an education institution that has deployed Zoho CRM. National Public School, Austin (made up, of course!) has set up Zoho CRM and it follows the same relationship pattern of "Students",
    • Recent Topics

    • Spell check sucks

      Come on guys, it's 2024 and your spell check is completely retarded. You gotta fix it.
    • How to include total km for multiple trips in expense report.

      Whenever I create a mileage report it only shows the total dollar amount to be reimbursed. The mileage for each individual trip is included but I also need to see the total distance for all trips in a report? How do I do this?
    • Outgoing blocked: Unusual activity detected.

      I just made payment for my Zohomail Today and have been debited so i will like to be Unblocked because this is what it says (Outgoing blocked: Unusual activity detected) Thank you i await your swift responses
    • Zoho One Login Issue - Unable to receive OTP

      Hi Support Team, I am experiencing a unique login issue with Zoho One. I am attempting to log in from India using Zoho Login credentials provided by a USA-based client. Their Zoho account is hosted on a US data center. After entering the username and
    • Question Regarding Managing Sale Items in Zoho Books

      Good day, I was wondering about something. Right now, Zoho Books doesn’t seem to have a way to flag certain items as being on sale. For example, if I want a list of specific items to be on sale from October 1 to October 12, the user would have to export
    • In the Zoho Creator Customer Payment form i Have customer field on select of the field Data want to fetch from the invoice from based on the customer name In the Customer Payment form i Have subf

      In the Zoho Creator Customer Payment form i Have customer field on select of the field Data want to fetch from the invoice from based on the customer name In the Customer Payment form i Have subform update Invoice , there i have date field,Invoice number
    • Problem of Import Client Users From CRM and or Expense

      I am premium plan user on Projects. I have about 500 customers on Expense and CRM that integrated with each other. According to at below link, I am trying to import clients from CRM, system not allowed to select any customer. If I import from Expense,
    • Unable to see free plan option

      Hello Zoho Support Team, I hope you are doing well. I am trying to sign up for Zoho Mail, but I am unable to see the option for the free plan. Could you please guide me on how I can access or activate the free plan? Thank you for your assistance.
    • unblock my zoho mail account. outlines@zoho.com

      please unblock my zoho mail account, outlines@zoho.com
    • domain not verified error

      Hi when i try to upload a video from zoho creator widget to zoho work drive iam getting domain not verified error.I don't know what to do .In zoho api console this is my home page url https://creatorapp.zoho.com/ and this is my redirect url:www.google.com.Iam
    • equest to Disassociate Bigin from Zoho One and Migrate to Standalone (Upgrade to Bigin Premier – 3 Seats, Annual)

      Dear Zoho One Support Team, I’m writing to request your assistance to disassociate (remove) the Bigin application from our Zoho One organization while preserving all existing Bigin data. After the disconnection is successfully completed, we intend to
    • SMTP email sending problem

      Hello, I've sent emails before, but you haven't responded. Please respond. My work is being disrupted. I can't send emails via SMTP. Initially, there were no problems, but now I'm constantly receiving 550 bounce errors. I can't use the service I paid
    • billing

      hi, I am being billed $12/year, and I can't remember why. My User ID is 691273115 Thanks for your help, --Kitty Pearl
    • How to add receipts

      How to add receipts
    • Unable to enable tax checkboxes

      Hi Zoho Commerce Support, I'm writing to report an issue I'm having with the tax settings in my Zoho Commerce store. I've created several tax rates under Settings > Taxes, but all of them appear with the checkbox disabled. When I try to enable a checkbox,
    • Zoho Commerce - Enable Company Name and Tax Number collection for B2B orders in Global Edition

      Please enable Company Name and Tax Details option on checkout settings in Zoho Commerce Global Edition. It is still important to collect Company Name and Tax Number for B2B sales in many countries. My business is based in Ireland (in the EU) and I have
    • ZohoSign and ZohoBooks Integration/Workflow

      Hello All, We utilize ZohoSign for signatures on tax eFiles. We utilize Dynamic KBA. Additionally, we use ZohoBooks for invoicing for these services. Is there a way to accomplish the following: Send a copy of the Tax Return, Invoice and eFiles in one
    • Manage monthly tasks with projectsf

      Hi All I run a finance and operations team where we need both teams to complete monthly tasks to ensure we hit our deadlines. Can Zoho projects be used for this. There many finance focused tools but we have Zoho one so want to explore Thanks Will
    • Zoho Suite is very slow

      Since today Zoho is incredibly slow over all applications! What's going on?
    • Combine and hide invoice lines

      In quickbooks we are able to create a invoice line that combines and hides invoices lines below. eg. Brochure design         $1000 (total of lines below, the client can see this line) Graphic Design           $600 (hidden but entered to reporting and
    • Zoho Devops

      We have a Zoho one account which we have integrated with an SAS educational product, sold on a subscription model, using webhooks and API calls. We make some use of custom fields and cross module lookups and relationships. We utilize CRM, Books and billing
    • Fuel up your sales with the Zoho SalesIQ + Bigin integration

      Hi everyone! We’re happy to bring you the all-new Zoho SalesIQ + Bigin integration. With this, every prospect from your website instantly becomes a contact in Bigin, complete with transcripts and follow-up tasks, so you never lose a lead again. Let's
    • Introducing AI-powered Assessments & Zoho's native LLM, Zia

      We’ve shipped a cleaner, faster way to create assessments in Zoho Recruit. 🚀 Instead of manually building question banks or copying old templates, you can now generate ready-to-use assessments in just a few clicks, all tailored to the role you’re hiring
    • Ability to Reset Visitor Fields During an Active Chat Flow

      Hello Zoho SalesIQ Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to propose a feature enhancement to Zoho SalesIQ regarding the management of visitor fields within Zobot flows. Use Case: Our bot asks the visitor to provide information about a 3rd person
    • External ID in Zoho CRM

      Hello everyone! We know that Zoho CRM allows you to integrate third-party apps and manipulate data through APIs. While you integrate a third-party application, you may want to store the third-party reference IDs in Zoho CRM's records. To meet this need
    • Some emails are not being delivered

      I have this problem where some of my mail just seems to disappear. When I send it, it appears as sent with no mention of any problem, but my recipient never gets it, not even in the Spam folder. Same for receiving, I have a secondary e-mail address, and
    • New in Zoho Chat : Search for contacts, files, links & conversations with the all new powerful 'Smart Search' bar.

      With the newly revamped 'Smart Search' bar in Zoho Chat, we have made your search for contacts, chats, files and links super quick and easy using Search Quantifiers.   Search for a contact or specific conversations using quantifiers, such as, from: @user_name - to find chats or channel conversations received from a specific user. to: @user_name - to find chats or channel conversations sent to a specific user. in: #channel_name - to find a particular instance in a channel. in: #chat_name - to find
    • Template modifiactions

      Hello, I am struggling with the templates in ZOHO Books. Especially with the placement of some items, like company address, ship to, bill to etc.  For example: One item I like from template X (placement of ship to and bill to next to each other in the
    • Aggregating the First Value in the Group By of a dataset

      Hi I am trying to get the following Aggregate Formula to work in my chart, but cannot seem to get the right format. I have a series of data that I am running an include_groupby and want to SUM only a column in the first row of each group. So for example.
    • Admin Control Over Profile Picture Visibility in Zoho One

      Hello Zoho Team, We hope you are doing well. Currently, as per Zoho’s design, each user can manage the visibility of their profile picture from their own Zoho Accounts page: accounts.zoho.com → Personal Information → Profile Picture → Profile Picture
    • Track Zoho Campaign and Workflow sales impact

      I am attempting to measure the performance of our marketing workflows and campaigns by comparing the date each campaign was sent to a contact with the purchase date of the contact. For example, if Contact A was sent Email A on 9/1 and made a purchase
    • What is a line break code for zoho?

      Hi, I am archiving data by adding values from a single line field from one form to a multi-line field in another form. So I need a code/function that starts a new line on that multi-line field so it does not just keep adding it on the same line. Example, doing something like this means that it will be on a same line. archive.field1 = archive.field1 + input.Field1 I need a code so the input.Field1 can just start on the next line. Instead of "value 1, 2,3,4,5" It will be: "1 2 3 4 etc.".  something
    • Automatic Project Owner change

      Is there a way to change Project Owner automatically once a specific Milestone in a project is marked as completed. Different Teams are working on projects in our Org, they have their own Milestones to complete and so we transfer the project from team
    • Button to add product to cart

      Is there a way to have a button on a page, that when clicked, will add Qty 1 of a product to the cart?
    • Problem with Submit Button Design

      I have made a template to apply to my forms and under the button controls, I have it set to "standard" and yet it's still filling the container. This is super frustrating and looks weird. Why do we not have full control over button size? How can I fix
    • Zoho CRM- Authorize your Microsoft Teams account issue

      Hi, I tried to link Zoho CRM with Teams and I got the following message: Clicking "Authorize now" sent me to the following page, Microsoft tried to start a session but, after 3 seconds the page closed and nothing happened. I get the same message each
    • Passing the CRM

      Hi, I am hoping someone can help. I have a zoho form that has a CRM lookup field. I was hoping to send this to my publicly to clients via a text message and the form then attaches the signed form back to the custom module. This work absolutely fine when
    • Is there a way to associate an email in ZOHO Main to a Vendor record in ZOHO CRM

      My situation is as below, I have a vendor in ZOHO CRM lets say "Vend A" and an associated contact, "Cont A" If Cont A sends me an email using the email I've registered in the contact record the standard OOTB email sync will work. But the vendor has some
    • Bank charges are applied. Please select a bank account.

      Hello, I'm trying to add bank charges to a customer payment, but I get the error message "Bank charges are applied. Please select a bank account." I found this old thread, where it says that I need to "select a Bank account for the 'Deposit To' dropdown
    • Kaizen #207 - Answering your Questions | Advanced Queries using COQL API

      Hi everyone, and welcome to another Kaizen week! As part of Kaizen #200 milestone, many of you shared topics you would like us to cover, and we have been addressing them one by one over the past few weeks. Today, we are picking up one of those requests
    • Next Page