Client Scripting for

Zoho CRM
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This document is intended only for internal use and may not be distributed externally or
reproduced for external distribution in any form without express written permission of
Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd.

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Table of Contents

1. What is a client script? ......................................................................................................... 4

2. Pre-requisites ......................................................................................................................... 4

3. Supported Browser Versions ............................................................................................ 4

4. Events and Actions ................................................................................................................ 4

5. Advantages of Client Script ................................................................................................ 6

6. Creating a Client Script ........................................................................................................ 6

7. ZDK Client Apps ................................................................................................................... 11

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 1. What is a client script?
Client script is a piece of JavaScript code that runs on your web browser instead
of the server, thus returning an immediate response. Using the Client script, you
can perform event-triggered UI actions on the client-side. For example, when a
user fills the email address of a Lead/Contact, you can perform email discovery and
automatically populate relevant data in the form.
Likewise, you can implement any highly interactive custom business logic with
ease.

2. Pre-requisite
You should be on the Enterprise or Ultimate edition of Zoho CRM to use this feature.

3. Supported Browser Versions

Browser Recommended Version
Chrome 73
Firefox 69
Safari 13
Opera 60

Note:
Using client script, you can handle only the UI on the client-side. It does not have
any effect on the server configurations.

4. Events and Actions

A client script has two primary components, namely:

(i) Events: The client script gets executed when an associated event is triggered in the
client.
(ii) Actions: You can perform client-side actions using ZDK. There are various helpers
available in ZDK, which you can use to perform client operations, hit APIs, and call
functions.

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4a. Application Events

Application events are triggered from inside the Zoho CRM application. The event can be
triggered either from a page or field.

(i) Page Events : These are the events that occur on a specific page in Zoho CRM.
It can be a create page, clone page, or an edit page of a module. For instance,

• onLoad: The system automatically runs the client script when a

page(create/clone/edit) gets loaded. For instance, you can load the address
details of a lead, in the create lead page, based on the territory of the current
user.
• onChange: The system automatically runs the client script when you
update any field in the page.
• onSave: The system automatically runs the client script when you save a
record. For instance, you can display the score points of the current user,
when a contact is saved.

(ii) Field Events: These are the events that occur in a specific field in Zoho CRM.

• onChange: The system automatically runs the client script when you
update a specific field. For instance, you can update the scale of a company
based on the entry in the number of employees field.

4b. Actions
Some of the sample page actions you can achieve using client script are:

• Read and write data in any type of field on the current page. For instance,
you can load the address details of a lead, in the create lead page, based on
the territory that the current user belongs to.
• Show error/alert/warning/info messages in the native style of the
application. For instance, you can throw an error message when the input
given for a custom field is invalid.
• Freeze or unfreeze a page. For instance, you can freeze a
page(create/clone/edit) until an internal process is complete.
• Display inline error messages for a field. For instance, you can display an
inline error message if the pin code entered is invalid.

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 • Mark a field as mandatory and convey it through a text.

5. Advantages of Client Script

• No latency as you do not have to wait for a response from the server as all
the processing happens in the client's browser itself.
• Perform more responsive client-side validation of fields using the ZDK.
• Auto-populate field data while creating or editing a record. Example:
Auto-updating the state or county field when a user enters the pin code.
• Apply advanced formula computation to the fields. Example: Calculating
and updating the age of a person based on the birth date entered in a form.
• Achieve field validation, auto-correction, and data enrichment.
Example: Automatically detecting whether the card is a VISA or Master
Card.
• Display custom error messages for a specific set of users or fields.
Example: Throwing an error when the user enters a personal email ID in the
organization email ID field.

6. Creating a Client Script

You can add a client script in two ways in Zoho CRM:

1. Through the setup page

2. Through create/clone/edit page of a record in a module

Let us discuss each one of them in detail.

6a. To add a client script through the setup page

Step 1: Go to Setup > Developer Space > Client Script. Click +New Script.

Step 2: In the Create Script pop up, enter the Name and Description of the script.

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Step 3: In the Page details section, choose the following:

• Category – Choose Module. In the upcoming enhancements, we will

provide option to add the client script to pages other than the module.
• Page - Choose the page to which you want to add the client script. It can
be: Create Page, Clone Page, or Edit Page.
• Choose the module. It can be: Leads, Contacts, Accounts, Deals, Products,
Quotes, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Invoices, Campaigns, Vendors,
Price Books, Cases, Solutions, or Custom Module.
• Choose the layout. It can be Standard or any other custom layout.

Step 4: In the Event Details section, select the Event Type (page or field event).

• For a field event, select the Field (list of fields on that page) where the
event occurs and the Field Event i.e., onChange.
• For a page event, select the Event. It can be: onLoad, onChange, or
onSave.

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Step 5: Click Next.

Step 6: The client script editor opens. This is similar to the Visual Studio Code
IDE.

Step 7: Click Save and Close to save your script. You can see the client script
setup page that lists all the scripts you have created. It shows the name of the script,
the size, the name of the user who last modified the script, and the status (enabled
or disabled). You can enable a script by sliding the toggle button.

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Step 8: You can also edit or delete any script from this setup page.

6b. To add a client script through the

create/clone/edit page of a record in a module
Step 1: Choose a desired module in Zoho CRM, and open either create, clone, or
edit page of any record in that module. For example, consider the create lead page.

Step 2: In the right-most corner of the page, click Client Script.

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Step 3: Click Add Script.

Step 4: The page details will be pre-populated by the system. Fill the other details
of the client script, such as Name, Description, and the Event Details of the client
script. Further, click next and add your script to the script editor and click Save and
Close.

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 7. ZDK Client Apps
The Zoho Development Kit (ZDK) javascript library offers a rich set of client and
server interfaces that broaden the scope of Zoho Applications. The Dot Notation in
ZDK allows you to instantly access various pre-defined functions. You can utilise
them to perform UI operations and trigger REST API calls.

7a. UI Actions
Function Description
ZDK.Message.Info(message) To display info message in a page.
ZDK.Message.Success(message) To display success message in a page.
ZDK.Message.Warning(message) To display warning message in a page.
ZDK.Message.Error(message) To display error message in a page.
ZDK.Message.Inline(message) To display inline message below a specific
field in a page.
ZDK.Form.Read() To get list of fields and their
corresponding values in JSON format.
ZDK.Form.Write(JSON) To set values for multiple fields in a page.
ZDK.Form.Field.Read(field_api_name) To get the value of a specific field in a
page.
ZDK.Form.Field.Write(field_api_name,value) To set the value of a specific field in a
page.
ZDK.Form.Field.Mandate(field_api_name) To set a field as mandatory.
ZDK.UI.Freeze() To freeze a page.
ZDK.UI.UnFreeze() To un-freeze a page.
ZDK.App.Page_Info() To get information about the current page.
ZDK.App.URL() To get the URL of the current page.

In addition to performing the above UI actions, you can also trigger REST API
calls, execute functions, and invoke connections using ZDK. It gets auto-bundled
in the client script environment. Also, the system implicitly handles both
authentication and authorization. Here are the sample codes for all the API
methods available in our ZDK.

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7b. Record Operations (REST API)
a. SingleCreate: To create a record in a module.

var lead = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads();

lead.Last_Name = "dot sdK";

var response = lead.create();

log(response);

b. SingleUpdate: To update a record in a module.

var lead = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.fetchById("4312588000000381015");

lead.Last_Name = "updated Name"

var response = lead.update();

log(response);

c. SingleDelete: To delete a record in a module.

var lead = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.fetchById("4312588000000381015")

var response = lead.remove();

log(response);

d. Create: To create multiple records in a module.

var leads = new Array();

var lead1 = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads();

lead1.Last_Name = "first lead";

leads.push(lead1);

var lead2 = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads();

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lead2.Last_Name = "second lead";

leads.push(lead2);

var response = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.create(leads);

log(response);

e. FetchRecords: To retrieve all the records in a module.

var leads = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.fetch()

for(var i=0; i<leads.length; i++){

log(leads[i].Last_Name);

f. FetchUsingPageNumber: To retrieve all the records in a page.

var leads = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.fetch(1);

for(var i=0; i<leads.length; i++){

log(leads[i].Last_Name);

g. FetchParams: To filter records based on parameters.

var leads = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.fetch(1, 20, "Last_Name", "desc");

for(var i=0; i<leads.length; i++){

log(leads[i].Last_Name);

h. Update: To update multiple records in a module.

var leadsArray = new Array();

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var lead1 = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.fetchById("423383000005261048");

lead1.Last_Name = "Updated Name";

leadsArray.push(lead1);

var lead2 = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.fetchById("423383000005267521");

lead2.Last_Name = "Updated Name2";

leadsArray.push(lead2);

var response = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.update(leadsArray);

log(response[0].status);

i. Delete: To delete multiple records in a module.

var idsArray = new Array();

idsArray.push("4312588000000381013");

var response = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.deleteByIds(idsArray);

log(response);

j. UsageOfPicklist: To add values to picklist fields of a record.

var lead = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads();

lead.Last_Name = "picklist test";

lead.Lead_Status = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.Models.Lead_StatusPicklist.CONTACTED;

var response = lead.create();

log(response);

k. UsageOfMultiselectPicklist: To add values to multi-select picklist fields of a

record.

var lead = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads();

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lead.Last_Name = "test";

var multi = new Array();

multi.push("Option 1");

multi.push("Option 2");

lead.Mutli_Select_1 = multi;

var response = lead.create()

log(response);

l. UsageOfLookup: To add values to lookup fields of a record. The getters and

setters are methods only for lookup fields.

var lead = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.fetchById("4312588000000381015");

var user = lead.Created_By();

log(user.state);

m. LookupCreate: To create a record and add it to the lookup field of a record.

var account = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Accounts();

account.Account_Name = "test";

var parent_account = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Accounts.fetchById("2000000065057");

account.Parent_Account(parent_account);

account.create();

n. UsageOfMultiselectLookup: To add values to the multi-select lookup of a

record.

var multi = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.LinkingModule3();

var lead = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.fetchById("2000000074021");

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multi.lead(lead);

var contact = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Contacts.fetchById("2000000065057");

multi.Alternate_Contacts(contact);

var response = multi.create();

log(response);

n. UsageOfLookupDirectly: To directly assign lookup_id rather than fetching an

object through id and assigning an object using the field (field_name)_Lookup_Id.

var account = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Accounts();

account.Account_Name = "test";

account.Parent_Account_Lookup_Id = "2000000065057";

account.create();

o. CreateSubforms: To create subforms.

var lead = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads();

lead.Last_Name = "name";

var subform = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Subform_1();

subform.Single_Line_1 = "single line";

var subforms = new Array();

subforms.push(subform);

lead.Subform_1 = subforms;

var response = lead.create();

log(response);

p. FetchSubforms: To read subforms.

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var subforms = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Subform_1.fetch();

log(subforms);

q. ConvertLeads: To convert leads into contacts or accounts.

var convertLead = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.Models.ConvertLeads();

convertLead.Accounts = "735220000004375005";

convertLead.Deals = {

"Pipeline":
ZDK.Apps.CRM.Deals.Models.PipelinePicklist.STANDARDSTANDARD,

"Deal_Name": "Robert",

"Closing_Date": "2020-11-20",

"Stage": "Closed Won",

"Amount": 56.6

};

var response = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Leads.convert(convertLead, "735220000003635975");

r. AddingSpecialInputsToRecord: To add Line_Items to records in the inventory

modules, Pricing_Model in price books, and Participants in Events.

var invoice = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Invoices();

invoice.Subject = "testing2";

var account = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Accounts.fetchById("2000000136022");

invoice.Account_Name(account);

var line_item = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Invoices.Models.Line_Items();

var product = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Products.fetchById("2000000136027");

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line_item.product(product);

line_item.quantity=3.0;

var line_items = new Array();

line_items.push(line_item);

invoice.Product_Details=line_items;

invoice.$line_tax = [{ "percentage": 8.7, "name": "VAT"} ]

var response = invoice.create();

log(response);

s. CreatePriceBooks: To create PriceBooks.

var book = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Price_Books();

book.Price_Book_Name = "test";

book.Pricing_Model = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Price_Books.Models.Pricing_ModelPicklist.FLAT;

var pricing_detail = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Price_Books.Models.Pricing_Details();

pricing_detail.from_range = 10;

pricing_detail.to_range = 100;

pricing_detail.discount = 5;

var pricing_detail2 = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Price_Books.Models.Pricing_Details();

pricing_detail2.from_range = 1000;

pricing_detail2.to_range = 2000;

pricing_detail2.discount = 10;

var details = new Array();

details.push(pricing_detail);

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details.push(pricing_detail2);

book.Pricing_Details = details;

var response = book.create();

log(response);

t. AddParticipants: To add participants to events.

var event = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Events();

event.Event_Title = "testing";

event.Start_DateTime = "2020-10-22T21:00:00+05:45";

event.End_DateTime = "2020-10-24T21:00:00+06:45";

event.Description = "test";

event.Currency = "USD";

var participant = new ZDK.Apps.CRM.Events.Models.Participants();

participant.participant= "423383000004997180";

participant.type= "lead";

var participants = new Array();

participants.push(participant);

event.Participants = participants;

event.Tag = [{'id': "735220000001193166"}];

var response = event.create();

log(response);

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7c. Execute Functions
a. ExecuteFunctions: To trigger functions that are enabled as REST API.

var response = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Functions.execute("dealtoquote2")

log(response);

b. ExecuteFunctionsWithParams: To trigger functions along with parameters.

//parameters is of json type - {"amount": 100, "name": "test"}

var response = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Functions.execute("dealtoquote2", parameters);

log(response);

7d. InvokeConnections
a. InvokeConnections: To invoke connections.

//headers and parameters are json, if they are empty need to pass empty json {}

var response = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Connections.invoke("mailchimp4",

"http://mailchimp.api/sample_api", "POST", 1, parameters, headers);

log(response);

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