Deluge Tips & Tricks: Mastering dates and times

Deluge Tips & Tricks: Mastering dates and times

Hello everyone!

We're bringing back our Deluge Tips & Tricks series, where we show you how to make the most of Deluge for achieving a wide range of use cases.

Working with dates and times is a fundamental part of almost any business application. Whether you're timestamping entries, scheduling tasks, or sending notifications, knowing how to manipulate date and time values in Deluge is a crucial skill.
 
Deluge provides simple yet powerful functions to help you fetch the current time, reformat values, and perform time zone conversions. This post highlights how Deluge can become your go-to for handling many different use cases.
 
Zoho variables 
Let's begin with the basics. Zoho variables are special predefined variables in Deluge that can be used across different Zoho services. Currently, Deluge offers two such variables related to dates and times: zoho.currentdate and zoho.currenttime. These return the current date, and the current date and time respectively, based on the format you've configured in the settings of the respective Zoho service. For more information, visit the Zoho Variables help doc.

While the aforementioned Zoho variables are your go-to for fetching the current date and time, their default format is primarily useful for basic logging. But, in many scenarios, you may need to display this information in a different format or even convert it to another time zone. Fortunately, Deluge has you covered. Let's take a look at how:

Customizing date and time formats   

Converting date formats
Different users often prefer different date formats when entering data, and Deluge makes it easy to handle these variations. For example, if you have a date stored as a string and need to convert it into a date variable, either to perform calculations or reformat it, you can use the toDate() and toString() built-in functions.

Here's a sample script which converts date from the dd/mm/yyyy format to the dd-mm-yyyy:

// Convert a string to a date variable

dateAsString = "03/12/2024 03:15:35";

dateObject = totime(dateAsString, "dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss");

info dateObject;

// Convert the date object back to a string in a new format

info dateObject.toString("dd-MM-yyyy hh:mm:ss");

 

Converting time formats (24 hours to 12 hours)

You may sometimes need to switch between a 24-hour format and a 12-hour format when using zoho.currenttime. Thankfully, Deluge makes this simple. Here’s how you can do it:

currentTime = zoho.currenttime;

info currentTime.toString("dd-MM-YYYY hh:mm:ss a");

// Example output: 25-09-2025 11:11:11 AM

Handling time zone conversions  

In today's globalized world, your customers may be spread across different time zones, and to add to the complexity, large countries like the USA or Russia have multiple time zones even within their own borders. This can easily lead to head scratching scenarios when working with time-based data. Fortunately, Deluge has got your back here too.

The trick is to first convert the date-time string into a unixEpoch timestamp and then use toDateTimeString() to display it in the target time zone.

Converting your account's time to a user's time zone 

The zoho.currenttime variable returns the time based on the setting you've chosen. Let's assume that your account is set for IST (Indian Standard Time) and you want to display it for a user in Los Angeles. Here's how to do it:

// zoho.currenttime returns an IST time

datetimeString = "21-Aug-2025 15:50:13";

 

// Convert the string to a Unix timestamp

unixValue = datetimeString.unixEpoch();  

// Convert the Unix timestamp to a datetime string in the target timezone

info toDateTimeString(unixValue, "dd-MMM-yyyy hh:mm:ss", "America/Los_Angeles");

// Output: 21-Aug-2025 03:20:13

 

 

Converting between two specific time zones 

What's more, the same approach can also be applied to convert between two time zones. You can specify the source time zone during the Unix conversion to do this. This is particularly useful when your input string is from a known time zone that isn't your server's default.

 

The below script demonstrates time conversion from IST to Sydney time:

// Specify the source timezone (IST) when converting to Unix epoch

unixValue = "25-Aug-2025 14:28:53".unixEpoch("IST");

 

// Convert to the target timezone (Australia/Sydney)

info toDateTimeString(unixValue,"dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss","Australia/Sydney");

// Output: 25-Aug-2025 18:58:53

 

You can learn more about toTime and toDateTimeString functions at these help links.

 

We hope these tips help you handle date and time operations in your Deluge scripts more effectively—they can be used across all Zoho services that support Deluge.

 

Deluge is a vast and powerful language and we aim to help you master it to make your life easier. We'll be back with more tips and tricks soon, so stay tuned!

 

And if you have any questions or other cool tricks, please share them below!

 

Until next time,

The Deluge Team
    • Recent Topics

    • Users Not Automatically Being Added To WorkDrive Team

      I have already created a ticket for this issue, but the support team doesn't seem to understand what's happening. Our organization started with a trial of Zoho Workplace around November 10, 2025. I created 10 users, including myself. I sent out the invites,
    • Synchronization between Gmail and Zoho Mail

      Hello! I am using Zoho Mail within the Zoho One platform. I have completed the basic setup and added all the required DNS records with our domain provider. Our goal is to set up two-way synchronization between our current Gmail inbox and Zoho Mail, but
    • IMAP login problem

      I have my domain hosted with zoho @wilson.ie I have added a new user and have enabled IMAP access to this user account The user can login to zoho mail on the web. When we enter the server settings into Outlook as per below, Outlook cannot login to the
    • Contact data removes Account data when creating a quote

      Hi, Our customer has address fields in their quote layout which should be the address of the Account. They prefill the information, adding the account name - the address data is populated as per what is in the account - great. However when they then add
    • Changes to subform in Zoho CRM Portal Timeline History Unavailable

      Hi Support Team, We have noticed a feature limitation in the Zoho CRM portal. We created a portal for our vendors to edit records directly, but when vendors make updates, the Modified Time and Date fields are not being updated. Additionally, these updates
    • This mobile number has been marked spam. Please contact support.

      Hi Support, Can you tell me why number was marked as spam. I have having difficult to add my number as you keep requesting i must use it. My number is +63....163 Or is Zoho company excluding Philippines from their services?
    • Zoho CRM Portal Field Level Permission Issue

      Hi Support Team, I am using the Zoho CRM Portal and configuring field-level editing permissions. However, we are unable to restrict portal users from editing certain fields. We have created a portal and provided View and Edit (Shared Only) access for
    • Function #11: Apply unused credits automatically to invoices

      Today, we bring you a custom function that automatically applies unused credits from excess payments, credit notes, and retainer payments to an invoice when it is created. Prerequisites: Create a Connection named "zbooks" to successfully execute the function.
    • Edit Contact Roles in the Potentials Mod

      New to ZOHO so I need some help.  I work the same people on different projects concurrency. Their contact info remains the same but their role changes from project to project.  In the Potential Mod you can pick contacts and assign a Role to them.  I know how to edit the roles. What I want to do is add some fields. Specifically I want to add the following "Expectation" "Requirements" and "Communication "Requirements." This will allow me to look at a Potential and see information associated with this
    • Duplicating report but custom layout does not

      Dear Zoho Creator, I need to duplicate a report into 10 copies, but unfortunately the custom layout (detail view) doesn’t copy along with it. I tried exporting and importing the custom layout, but the field mappings are incorrect. I believe everyone are
    • Credit Card Readers?

      We would like to use our commerce website at conferences (and eventually in store) to swipe credit cards to pay for orders. How would we accomplish this? Does Zoho have anything available for a developer write code to integrate something like Stripe Terminal
    • AI generated meeting notes associated to Account or Deal

      As our organization works to improve efficiency we are looking for a solution to leverage AI to generate meeting notes and then add those notes to a CRM record such as an Account or Deal. I see Zoho has a Notebook AI offering that talks about the ability
    • Stock count by bin location

      Is there a configuration to make a stock count by bin or area and not by product. these is useful to manage count by area Regards
    • Add Prebuilt "Partner Finder" Template with Native Zoho CRM Integration in Zoho Sites To: Zoho Sites Product Team

      Hi Zoho Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request a prebuilt "Partner Finder" template for Zoho Sites, modeled after your excellent implementation here: 🔗 https://www.zoho.com/partners/find-partner-results.html ✅ Use Case: Our organization
    • How Do I Refund a Customer Directly to Their Credit Card?

      Hi, I use books to auto-charge my customers credit card. But when I create a credit note there doesn't seem to be a way to directly refund the amount back to their credit card. Is the only way to refund a credit note by doing it "offline" - or manually-
    • Can we generate APK and IOS app?

      Dears, I want to know the availability to develop the app on zoho and after that .. generate the APK or IOS app  and after that I added them to play store or IOS store.. Is it possible to do this .. I want not to use zoho app or let my customers use it. thanks 
    • Limitation with Dynamic Email Attachment Capture

      I've discovered a flaw in how Zoho Creator handles email attachments when using the Email-to-Form feature, and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. The Issue According to the official documentation, capturing email attachments
    • Zoho Learn Course Completion Notifications/Triggers/API

      Zoho Learn works great and will suit our course creation needs, but it appears to be lacking a bit when it comes to integration with other Zoho services (creator etc.) when it comes to course completion. 1) Is there an API or Zoho Flow trigger for when
    • Sorting a list of record acquired from the zoho.crm.searchRecords function.

      This is something for which I'm trying to figure out a straightforward way to do. The searchRecords does a great job fetching me the records that I want. However, in some cases, where it returns multiple records, I want it to sort the returned list by date of creation of that record, so that when I do records.get(0), I get the most recent record.  As an example, here's my sample pseudo code: records = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Clients", "Office_Number:equals:123456"); Now the "records" list above contains
    • Enhanced Recording Permission Controls for Zoho Cliq Meetings (Similar to Zoom)

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the recording permission functionality in Zoho Cliq Meetings. Current Limitation: in Zoho Cliq Only hosts and co-hosts can record a meeting. Participants cannot
    • Phone Connection

      When on a call the person on the other end complains that there is static, I am cutting in and out or they can't hear me all. This happens on the cell connection as well.
    • Can't add a sender adress from zoho campaigns

      hi, I need to change the sender address for a campaign.  When i try to add it i get a message to say 'duplicated email address found while adding your sender address'.  This is the first campaign i'm sending so I don't understand why this message is displayed? Thanks Jane 
    • Admin asked me for Backend Details when I wanted to verify my ZeptoMail Account

      Please provide the backend details where you will be adding the SMTP/API information of ZeptoMail Who knows what this means?
    • This domain is not allowed to add. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

      I am trying to setup the free version of Zoho Mail. When I tried to add my domain, theselfreunion.com I got the error message that is the subject of this Topic. I've read your other community forum topics, and this is NOT a free domain. So what is the
    • This user is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

      Hello, Just signed up to ZOHO on a friend's recommendation. Got the TXT part (verified my domain), but whenever I try to add ANY user, I get the error: This user is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details I have emailed as well and writing here as well because when I searched, I saw many people faced the same issue and instead of email, they got a faster response here. My domain is: raisingreaderspk . com Hope this can be resolved.  Thank you
    • Export History timeline

      Hi, I have an idea, bout zoho desk history of the ticket it would be great if the agent or admin of the zoho desk can export the timeline of the ticket history for agent report or on other matter.
    • Desk fails to create a new ticket on Reply email

      When I send a direct email to support@mysite.com, Desk will create a new ticket as expected. When I REPLY to an email sent from support@mysite.com, Desk will NOT generate a new ticket. This is very bad. How can I fix this? Use case: In a separate system
    • Condition based aggregate fields in subforms

      Hello everyone, We're excited to inform you about the latest enhancements made to our aggregate field capabilities in subforms; create aggregate fields based on conditions! An aggregate field is a column on which a mathematical function has been applied.
    • Is there a way to disable the Activity Reminders Pop-Up Window every time I log in?

      Just wondering if there is a setting to disable the window from opening every time I open my CRM? Thanks Chris
    • Ask the Experts 25: Experience the full spectrum of Zoho Desk’s autumn and spring releases for 2025

      Hello Everyone, We’re on the 25th episode of our ATE series! It's a true milestone in our live community interactions! It’s been an amazing journey since we started in October 2018. Zoho Desk has come a long way, evolving with the support of a wonderful
    • Printing Multi-Page Reports (PDF Export)

      Hi, I am moving a report from Google's Looker Studio to Zoho Analytics and trying to reproduce the Looker page by page dashboard editing experience. With Google, what you see is what you get when you print to PDF. But I can't seem to create the same experience
    • Addin Support in Zoho Sheet

      Is there any addin support available in zoho sheet as like google marketplace to enhance productivity by connecting with other apps, providing AI data analysis, streamlining business processes, and more?
    • Mass Update of Lookup Fields not possible

      Hello List I've created a custom field for Leads and Contacts 'Current Campaign'. This is very Handy as I can filter leads and then related them to a campaign. Everything ready, but then I realized that mass update doesn't work for lookup fields... a
    • 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
    • Function #61: Automatically add free item to the invoice based on item quantity

      Hello everyone, and welcome back to another Custom Function Friday! During holiday seasons or special promotions, businesses offer deals like BOGO (Buy One, Get One), Buy 3 Get 1 Free, Buy 2 at 50% off, and much more to attract customers. These promotions
    • Notes for Items for Future Purchase Order

      Next time when I order an item, tau have to make some changes in it, that order has to be placed after 4-5 months, I want to save those changes or points somewhere in the item, how will that be possible..
    • Schemes of different tyoe

      How can easily apply hourly, day wise or month wise  schemes on Bill, Quantity, and other schemes. Like I want to apply a scheme  Form today to next 7 days .where i can mention in zoho books so scheme will implement automatically to all customers and
    • Alphabetically

      How can i arrange alphabetically - (Manage Manufacturer) Field in Item Master 
    • Zohomail

      Im trying to setup email address zoho
    • Clients not receiving emails

      I've been informed that my emails are not being received. Is there anything that I should look into to rectify this? Many thanks!
    • Next Page