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Zoho CRM: Mapping a Multi-User or Multi-Lookup field using Deluge

Category: Zoho
Hits: 23093
What?
This is a very quick article with examples of managing a multi-user or multi-lookup field in CRM using Zoho Deluge.

Why?
Sometimes you might need this when data mapping fields from one module to another, sometimes you need to manage existing multi-lookups/users in a record.

How?
So the key point to remember is that all multi-select lookup and multi-user lookup fields are held in temporary CRM modules called a "LinkingModule" (as opposed to standard modules and custom modules).

Quick way to determine the API name of the linking module:
  1. Go to setup > Developer Space > functions.
  2. Create a standalone function called "Test".
  3. Type in line 1: r_Record = zoho.crm.getRecords
  4. then press Enter (DO NOT START TYPING FOR A MODULE NAME - LET THE SYSTEM POPUP YOUR OPTIONS AS PER THE FOLLOWING SCREENSHOT - USE ARROW KEYS OR MOUSE): Zoho Deluge - Mapping a Multi-Lookup - Quick Select
As you can see from the screenshot above, there are modules concatenated with one module an "X" and then the name of the linked module. A module called "Opportunities_X_Products" is likely to be a linking module which has a multi-select lookup on both the deal/opportunity and products module. A multi-user lookup will tend to have something like "ModuleName_X_Users".

Find records relevant to this module:
copyraw 
l_LinkedRecords = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Opportunities_X_Products","(Opportunity:equals:" + v_DealID + ")");
  1.  l_LinkedRecords = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Opportunities_X_Products","(Opportunity:equals:" + v_DealID + ")"); 

Find records relevant to this user:
copyraw 
v_SearchCriteria = "(field0:equals:" + v_UserID + ")";
l_SearchResults = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Vendors_X_Users",v_SearchCriteria);
  1.  v_SearchCriteria = "(field0:equals:" + v_UserID + ")"; 
  2.  l_SearchResults = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Vendors_X_Users",v_SearchCriteria); 

Code to Add a value to a multi-lookup (on Create Record):
copyraw 
// sample code when creating a record in a module that contains a lookup
m_Create = Map();
m_Create.put("Name","Joels Amazing Test");
r_Create = zoho.crm.createRecord("Tests", m_Create);

// now take the ID that was created and use the following code to populate the multi-lookup field
if(!isnull(r_Create.get("id")))
{
    m_Link = Map();

    // using record IDs cos there's nothing better
    m_Link.put("Test",r_Create.get("id"));

    // using record IDs cos there's nothing better
    m_Link.put("Joel",123456789012345678);

    // create link
    r_Link = zoho.crm.createRecord("Tests_X_Contacts", m_Link);
}
  1.  // sample code when creating a record in a module that contains a lookup 
  2.  m_Create = Map(); 
  3.  m_Create.put("Name","Joels Amazing Test"); 
  4.  r_Create = zoho.crm.createRecord("Tests", m_Create); 
  5.   
  6.  // now take the ID that was created and use the following code to populate the multi-lookup field 
  7.  if(!isnull(r_Create.get("id"))) 
  8.  { 
  9.      m_Link = Map(); 
  10.   
  11.      // using record IDs cos there's nothing better 
  12.      m_Link.put("Test",r_Create.get("id")); 
  13.   
  14.      // using record IDs cos there's nothing better 
  15.      m_Link.put("Joel",123456789012345678); 
  16.   
  17.      // create link 
  18.      r_Link = zoho.crm.createRecord("Tests_X_Contacts", m_Link); 
  19.  } 

Code to Add a value to a multi-lookup (on Update Record):
copyraw 
v_DealID = ifnull(input.p_DealID,0);
if(v_DealID != 0)
{
    m_Link = Map();
    m_Link.put("Deal", v_DealID);
    m_Link.put("Product", 123456789012345678);
    r_Link = zoho.crm.createRecord("Deals_X_Products", m_Link);
}
  1.  v_DealID = ifnull(input.p_DealID,0); 
  2.  if(v_DealID != 0) 
  3.  { 
  4.      m_Link = Map(); 
  5.      m_Link.put("Deal", v_DealID); 
  6.      m_Link.put("Product", 123456789012345678); 
  7.      r_Link = zoho.crm.createRecord("Deals_X_Products", m_Link); 
  8.  } 

Code to Delete a value from a multi-lookup:
copyraw 
v_ID2Delete = 123456789012345678;
v_SearchCriteria = "(field0:equals:" + v_myRecordID + ")";
l_SearchResults = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Tests_X_Users",v_SearchCriteria);
for each  r_Link in l_SearchResults
{
    if(!isnull(r_Link.get("id")) && r_Link.get("Test").get("id")==v_ID2Delete)
    {
        m_Delete = Map();
        m_Delete.put("module","Tests_X_Users");
        m_Delete.put("id",r_Link.get("id"));
        r_Delete = zoho.crm.invokeConnector("crm.delete", m_Delete);
    }
}
  1.  v_ID2Delete = 123456789012345678; 
  2.  v_SearchCriteria = "(field0:equals:" + v_myRecordID + ")"; 
  3.  l_SearchResults = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Tests_X_Users",v_SearchCriteria); 
  4.  for each  r_Link in l_SearchResults 
  5.  { 
  6.      if(!isnull(r_Link.get("id")) && r_Link.get("Test").get("id")==v_ID2Delete) 
  7.      { 
  8.          m_Delete = Map(); 
  9.          m_Delete.put("module","Tests_X_Users"); 
  10.          m_Delete.put("id",r_Link.get("id")); 
  11.          r_Delete = zoho.crm.invokeConnector("crm.delete", m_Delete); 
  12.      } 
  13.  } 


Update 2025
Having to do this again in 2025 and things seem to have changed. I've added a multi-user lookup on the quotes record called "Requires_Approval_Users". A quick setup method is now to use the CRM interface to add a couple of users to the field and then save the changes. I now query all the records held so far in this linking module which I'm guessing is called Quotes_X_Users (would appear in the popup once you start typing zoho.crm.getRecords. I'll get an array back of 2 records and I'll be looking for the 2 lookup fields (contains an ID and name) per record. In my case:
copyraw 
..
"Requires_Approval_Users":{
     "name":"Joel Lipman",
     "id":"12345600000987654"
},
...

AND

..
"userlookup221_2":{
     "name":"Another Joel",
     "id":"12345600000987653"
},
...
  1.  .. 
  2.  "Requires_Approval_Users":{ 
  3.       "name":"Joel Lipman", 
  4.       "id":"12345600000987654" 
  5.  }, 
  6.  ... 
  7.   
  8.  AND 
  9.   
  10.  .. 
  11.  "userlookup221_2":{ 
  12.       "name":"Another Joel", 
  13.       "id":"12345600000987653" 
  14.  }, 
  15.  ... 
So I'll just refer to https://www.zoho.com/crm/developer/docs/api/v8/insert-records.html and here's the code to associate 1 user in the multi-user lookup:
copyraw 
m_AssociateMultiUserLookup = {"data":[{"id":p_QuoteID, "Requires_Approval_Users":[{"Requires_Approval_Users":{"id":m_ApprovalUser.get("id")}}]}]};
r_AssociateMultiUserLookup = invokeurl
[
	url: "https://www.zohoapis.eu/crm/v8/Quotes"
	type: PUT
	parameters: m_AssociateMultiUserLookup.toString()
	connection: "my_crm_connection"
];			
info "Response from associating user " + _ApprovalUser.get("id");
info r_AssociateMultiUserLookup;
  1.  m_AssociateMultiUserLookup = {"data":[{"id":p_QuoteID, "Requires_Approval_Users":[{"Requires_Approval_Users":{"id":m_ApprovalUser.get("id")}}]}]}; 
  2.  r_AssociateMultiUserLookup = invokeUrl 
  3.  [ 
  4.      url: "https://www.zohoapis.eu/crm/v8/Quotes" 
  5.      type: PUT 
  6.      parameters: m_AssociateMultiUserLookup.toString() 
  7.      connection: "my_crm_connection" 
  8.  ]; 
  9.  info "Response from associating user " + _ApprovalUser.get("id"); 
  10.  info r_AssociateMultiUserLookup; 
Another method to check for API names is to query the metadata in the linking module:
copyraw 
//
// used for checking api names and the linking module (not visible via the interface)
v_Endpoint = "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/settings/fields?module=Quotes_X_Users";
r_MetaData = invokeurl
[
	url: v_Endpoint2
	type: GET
	connection:"my_crm_connection"
];
info r_MetaData;
//
// I can see 2 api names for lookups
// userlookup221_2
// Requires_Approval_Users
  1.  // 
  2.  // used for checking api names and the linking module (not visible via the interface) 
  3.  v_Endpoint = "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/settings/fields?module=Quotes_X_Users"; 
  4.  r_MetaData = invokeUrl 
  5.  [ 
  6.      url: v_Endpoint2 
  7.      type: GET 
  8.      connection:"my_crm_connection" 
  9.  ]; 
  10.  info r_MetaData; 
  11.  // 
  12.  // I can see 2 api names for lookups 
  13.  // userlookup221_2 
  14.  // Requires_Approval_Users 
My full snippet of code
copyraw 
//
	// loop through users to find the approver
	for each  m_User in l_Users
	{
		if(m_User.get("Job_Title").equalsIgnoreCase("CFO"))
		{
			l_ApprovalUsers.add(m_User.get("id"));
		}
	}
	//
	// check list of IDs
	if(l_ApprovalUsers.size() > 0)
	{
		//
		// reset multi-user lookup field (clear out values)
		v_SearchCriteria = "(userlookup221_2:equals:" + p_QuoteID + ")";
		l_SearchResults = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Quotes_X_Users",v_SearchCriteria);
		info l_SearchResults;
		for each  m_DeleteResult in l_SearchResults
		{
			if(!isNull(m_DeleteResult.get("id")))
			{
				m_Delete = Map();
				m_Delete.put("module","Quotes_X_Users");
				m_Delete.put("id",m_DeleteResult.get("id"));
				r_Delete = zoho.crm.invokeConnector("crm.delete",m_Delete);
				info "Deleted record " + m_DeleteResult.get("id");
			}
		}
		//
		// update linking module
		for each  v_ApprovalUserID in l_ApprovalUsers
		{
			m_AssociateMultiUserLookup = {"data":{{"id":p_QuoteID,"Requires_Approval_Users":{{"Requires_Approval_Users":{"id":v_ApprovalUserID}}}}}};
			r_AssociateMultiUserLookup = invokeurl
			[
				url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Quotes"
				type :PUT
				parameters:m_AssociateMultiUserLookup.toString()
				connection:"my_crm_connection"
			];
			info "Response from associating user " + v_ApprovalUserID;
			info r_AssociateMultiUserLookup;
		}
	}
  1.  // 
  2.      // loop through users to find the approver 
  3.      for each  m_User in l_Users 
  4.      { 
  5.          if(m_User.get("Job_Title").equalsIgnoreCase("CFO")) 
  6.          { 
  7.              l_ApprovalUsers.add(m_User.get("id")); 
  8.          } 
  9.      } 
  10.      // 
  11.      // check list of IDs 
  12.      if(l_ApprovalUsers.size() > 0) 
  13.      { 
  14.          // 
  15.          // reset multi-user lookup field (clear out values) 
  16.          v_SearchCriteria = "(userlookup221_2:equals:" + p_QuoteID + ")"; 
  17.          l_SearchResults = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Quotes_X_Users",v_SearchCriteria); 
  18.          info l_SearchResults; 
  19.          for each  m_DeleteResult in l_SearchResults 
  20.          { 
  21.              if(!isNull(m_DeleteResult.get("id"))) 
  22.              { 
  23.                  m_Delete = Map(); 
  24.                  m_Delete.put("module","Quotes_X_Users"); 
  25.                  m_Delete.put("id",m_DeleteResult.get("id")); 
  26.                  r_Delete = zoho.crm.invokeConnector("crm.delete",m_Delete); 
  27.                  info "Deleted record " + m_DeleteResult.get("id"); 
  28.              } 
  29.          } 
  30.          // 
  31.          // update linking module 
  32.          for each  v_ApprovalUserID in l_ApprovalUsers 
  33.          { 
  34.              m_AssociateMultiUserLookup = {"data":{{"id":p_QuoteID,"Requires_Approval_Users":{{"Requires_Approval_Users":{"id":v_ApprovalUserID}}}}}}; 
  35.              r_AssociateMultiUserLookup = invokeUrl 
  36.              [ 
  37.                  url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Quotes" 
  38.                  type :PUT 
  39.                  parameters:m_AssociateMultiUserLookup.toString() 
  40.                  connection:"my_crm_connection" 
  41.              ]; 
  42.              info "Response from associating user " + v_ApprovalUserID; 
  43.              info r_AssociateMultiUserLookup; 
  44.          } 
  45.      } 
Category: Zoho :: Article: 742

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