Function #41: Sync Associated Subforms!

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", "Teachers", "Courses", "Timings"(assume that the said names are Modules in the CRM). Let's say there are 10 students, 3 teachers, 6 classes and 8 hours per day. All these are all interlinked.

Sales data is no different. They are often updated in different modules, such as "Contacts", "Deals", "Products", etc. Hence, it becomes necessary to have many-to-many record associations.Subforms in Zoho CRM helps enable association of multiple data records across modules.

The function for this week lets users sync two subforms in the Accounts module, such that if one subform is updated, the other one gets updated too. Let's say there are two branches for a particular organization. Instead of having the entire organization's info in a single Account record, it's smarter to create multiple Accounts for branches. Hence, you need to associate the Main branch with a sub-branch as well as the sub-branches themselves.

In this function, assume 2 Accounts records, A and B, have subforms each. Every time a row (Account B) is added to subform on account A, the function adds a new subform row (Account A) to the subform on Account B. In other words, when a new branch is opened, the records of the main branch and the other branches are updated. In addition, the information about the rest of the branches are updated in the subform under the new branch.

Getting started with the custom function

  1. Go to Setup > Automation > Actions > Functions > Configure Function > Write your own.
  2. Provide a name for the function. For example: "Auto-Subform updates". Add a description (optional).
  3. Copy the code given below.
  4. Click “Edit arguments”.
  5. Enter the name as “acctId” and select the value as “Account Id”.
  6. Click Save&Execute Script to check the code.
  7. Save the function.

The Code:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

acctDetails = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Accounts", input.acctId.toLong());
subformDetails = ifnull(acctDetails.get("Related_Accounts"),"");
count = 1;
sub_forms = List();
for each form in subformDetails
{
if ( count == 1)
{
formacctname = form.get("Related_Account").get("name");
formacctId = form.get("Related_Account").get("id");
info "formacctId:" +formacctId ;
formaccttype = ifnull(form.get("Related_Account_Type"),"");
formacctdesc = ifnull(form.get("Description"),"");
subform = Map();
subform.put("Related_Account",input.acctId);
sub_forms.add(subform);
}
count = count + 1;
}
formacctDetails = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Accounts", formacctId.toLong());
formsubformDetails = ifnull(formacctDetails.get("Related_Accounts"),"");
for each forms in formsubformDetails
{
info "formsId:" + forms.get("Related_Account").get("id");
subform1 = map();
subform1.put("Related_Account",forms.get("Related_Account").get("id"));
subform1.put("Related_Account_Type", ifnull(forms.get("Related_Account_Type"),""));
subform1.put("Description",ifnull(forms.get("Description"),""));
sub_forms.add(subform1);
}
parammap = Map();
parammap.put("Related_Accounts",sub_forms);
update = zoho.crm.update("Accounts",formacctId.toLong(),parammap);
info parammap;
info update;

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note:

  • The code given above works only for V2 version of Zoho APIs. Please note that the code WILL NOT work for Version 1.0 APIs.
  • Use the function in a Workflow Rule, to automate the process of update.

Found this useful? Try it out and let me know how it works! If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask! Share this with your team if you find it useful. Do check out other custom functions shared in this series here.

See you all next week with another interesting custom function. Ciao!


    • 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

    • Out of Office for Just One of My Alias Email

      Can I set up the Out of Office Reply for Just One of my Alias Email Addresses?
    • Can I map multiple Surveys into the CRM using the same fields?

      Hello, We are a healthcare practice that offers two distinct services (Nutrition and Primary Care). We use Zoho Survey for our lead generation form (Get Started Survey), which allows people to express interest in one of the two services and even allows
    • Dealing with API responses where integers have more than 16 digits

      Hi there How do I deal with an api response contaning an int or float with more than 16 digits (before any decimal places for a float). I constantly receive the response "Unable to cast the 'BigInteger' value into a 'BIGINT' value because the input is
    • To Zoho customers and partners: how do you use Linked Workspaces?

      Hello, I'm exploring how we can set up and use Linked Workspaces and would like to hear from customers and partners about your use cases and experience with them. I have a Zoho ticket open, because my workspace creation fails. In the meantime, how is
    • [Webinar] Automate sales and presales workflows with Writer

      Sales involves sharing a wide range of documents with customers across the presales, sales, and post-sales stages: NDAs, quotes, invoices, sales orders, and delivery paperwork. Generating and managing these documents manually slows down the overall sales
    • Can't change form's original name in URL

      Hi all, I have been duplicating + editing forms for jobs regarding the same department to maintain formatting + styling. The issue I've not run into is because I've duplicated it from an existing form, the URL doesn't seem to want to update with the new
    • Need Inactive accounts to be visible in Reports in Zoho Books

      I N=need Inactive accounts to be visible in Reports in Zoho Books to do recons of the accounts but when i see the same they are not visible in the Accountant - Account Transactions report
    • unblock e-mail

      please unblock my e-mails info@meatnews.gr and myrtokaterini@meatnews.gr
    • Add Zoho Mail for users who do not need Zoho One

      We have licenses for ZOho One for teams that need to use the suite of products that Zoho One offers.  We have 8 more people who only need email access and we would like to add just a Zoho Mail.  They do not need the Zoho One license.  We are currently
    • Zoho Projects - Q2 Updates | 2025

      Hello Users, With this year's second quarter behind us, Zoho Projects is marching towards expanding its usability with a user-centered, more collaborative, customizable, and automated attribute. But before we chart out plans for what’s next, it’s worth
    • ZML vs HTML Snippet - which is better?

      Are there certain use cases where one is better than the other?
    • Auto CheckOut Based On Shift.

      This Deluge script runs on a scheduled basis to automatically set the 'Actual_Check_Out' time for employees who haven't manually checked out. If the current time is past their scheduled 'Shift_End_Time', the script updates the check-out time to match
    • How to remove some users in zoho accounts

      How to remove some users in Zoho accounts.
    • Customizing Form Questions per Recipient Group in Zoho Campaigns/Forms

      Hello everyone, I would like to ask if it’s possible in Zoho Campaigns or Zoho Forms to send out a campaign where the form questions can be customized based on the group of recipients. Use case example: I have prepared 20 questionnaire questions. For
    • Infinite loop of account verification

      Hi I can't do anything on my zoho account.  I always get this message Hi Sheriffo Ceesay As a security measure, you need to link your phone number with this account and verify it to proceed further. When ever I supply the details, it displays that the number is associated with another account. I don't have any other account on zoho so this is really annoying. 
    • Load PO_Date field (Purchase Order) with current date in Deluge

      Hi, I'm not a full time developer, just helping to customize our CRM, in the small company I work for. There must be something wrong with me, because I can't do something so simple as complete a field with the current date in a function using Deluge.
    • Zoho CRM in Microsoft Power Automate Custom Connector

      Hi everyone, I’m building a Power Automate flow that integrates Microsoft Bookings with Zoho CRM. The goal is to automatically create a meeting (event) in Zoho CRM whenever a new appointment is booked via Microsoft Bookings. To achieve this, I created
    • 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,
    • Does Zoho Learn integrate with Zoho Connect,People,Workdrive,Project,Desk?

      Can we propose Zoho LEarn as a centralised Knowledge Portal tool that can get synched with the other Zoho products and serve as a central Knowledge repository?
    • 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?
    • How can I track which zoho users are actively using Zoho CRM

      I have several licenses of Zoho CRM. We now need to add a new user. I could purchase a new license, but before I do, I would like to see if any of our existing users are not actively using the license assigned to them. How can I determine the activity
    • Is anyone else having trouble saving a custom image in their email signature, or is it just me?

      When I try to save the image I get an error that says "Operation Failed" I opened a support ticket two weeks ago and received a response that it would be debugged, but it still isn’t working
    • 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
    • Next Page