ZohoCreator: Using .toFile and Uploading to a Creator field

: Category: Zoho; 25 March 2024; Hits: 20909

What?
This is a quick article on generating a file with the Zoho Deluge function .toFile() and uploading it to a file upload field within Zoho Creator.

Why?
The use-case here is that we want a file to be hosted within Zoho Creator for use by a JS widget that will download the CSV (in this case a Text *.txt) file for use by a dynamic auto-suggester dropdown; one of those fancy ones that includes photos and a bit of fuzzy logic.

I thought I could simply update the field with the new file but as I'm not downloading it, this is apparently not the process.

How?
As a high-level overview: we'll generate the CSV rows and then a file; then we'll use invokeURL to upload the file.

Generating the CSV
Here's the simplified code to generate the CSV - note that I am replacing commas with the HTML entity equivalent and enclosing the ID in double-quotes in case I open it in MS Excel or another system that likes rounding 64-bit signed integers (long numbers):

copy raw

//
	// Generate a CSV of a Report in ZohoCreator
	l_CsvLines = List();
	l_ApplicableProducts = Products[Display_in_Widget=="Yes"] sort by Product_Name;
	for each c_Product in l_ApplicableProducts
    {
		l_CsvRow = List();
		l_CsvRow.add(c_Product.Photo);
		l_CsvRow.add(c_Product.Product_Name.replaceAll(",", "&comma;", true));
		l_CsvRow.add(c_Product.Product_Desc.replaceAll(",", "&comma;", true));
		l_CsvRow.add("\"" + c_Product.ID + "\"");
		l_CsvLines.add(l_CsvRow.toString());
    }

//
// Generate a CSV of a Report in ZohoCreator
l_CsvLines = List();
l_ApplicableProducts = Products[Display_in_Widget=="Yes"] sort by Product_Name;
for each c_Product in l_ApplicableProducts
{
l_CsvRow = List();
l_CsvRow.add(c_Product.Photo);
l_CsvRow.add(c_Product.Product_Name.replaceAll(",", ",", true));
l_CsvRow.add(c_Product.Product_Desc.replaceAll(",", ",", true));
l_CsvRow.add("\"" + c_Product.ID + "\"");
l_CsvLines.add(l_CsvRow.toString());
}

Generate the file
You may note that this generates a text file rather than a CSV, this is because our JS widget won't pack a CSV but it will pack text files.

copy raw

//
	// generate a CSV or TXT
	v_CSVFilename = "applicable_products.txt";
	f_CSVFile = l_CsvLines.toString(zoho.encryption.urlDecode("%0A")).toFile(v_CSVFilename);
	f_CSVFile.setParamName("file");

//
// generate a CSV or TXT
v_CSVFilename = "applicable_products.txt";
f_CSVFile = l_CsvLines.toString(zoho.encryption.urlDecode("%0A")).toFile(v_CSVFilename);
f_CSVFile.setParamName("file");

Get current file name (optional)
To check on filename changes, I run this bit of code to get the internal and current file name:

copy raw

//
	// get original document file (optional) - you need your own record ID here
	v_ZC_DocumentRecordID = 1234567890123456789;
	c_ExistingDocument = Document[ID == v_ZC_DocumentRecordID];
	info c_ExistingDocument.Document_File;

//
// get original document file (optional) - you need your own record ID here
v_ZC_DocumentRecordID = 1234567890123456789;
c_ExistingDocument = Document[ID == v_ZC_DocumentRecordID];
info c_ExistingDocument.Document_File;

Upload the generated file to the record
Note that this is overwriting the existing record and associated file. We have no intention of creating a new record per file... Saying that, the file name will change every time it is updated as you will see. Also note, I have a form called "Document", a report called "All Documents", and the file upload field is called "Document File":

copy raw

//
	// now upload updated file
	v_Endpoint = "https://creator.zoho.com/api/v2.1"+zoho.appuri+"report/All_Documents/"+v_ZC_DocumentRecordID+"/Document_File/upload";
	r_Upload = invokeurl
	[
		url :v_Endpoint
		type :POST
		files: f_CSVFile
		connection:"zcreator"
	];
	info r_Upload;

//
// now upload updated file
v_Endpoint = "https://creator.zoho.com/api/v2.1"+zoho.appuri+"report/All_Documents/"+v_ZC_DocumentRecordID+"/Document_File/upload";
r_Upload = invokeUrl
[
url :v_Endpoint
type :POST
files: f_CSVFile
connection:"zcreator"
];
info r_Upload;

Display new file name (optional)

copy raw

//
	// get updated document file (optional: integrity check)
	c_ExistingDocument = Document[ID == v_ZC_DocumentRecordID];
	info c_ExistingDocument.Document_File;

//
// get updated document file (optional: integrity check)
c_ExistingDocument = Document[ID == v_ZC_DocumentRecordID];
info c_ExistingDocument.Document_File;

I have all of the above in the same function. I've split it out to explain parts but otherwise it is intended to be all in the same function as there are references to some variables in earlier snippets of code on this page.

Error(s):

2945: UPLOAD_RULE_NOT_CONFIGURED
Was happening when I was trying to update the Zoho Creator record, specifically the file upload field, with the file object directly, eg. <collection>.<field>=<file_object>.
2945: UPLOAD_RULE_NOT_CONFIGURED
Also got this error if I failed to add the setParamName such as:
copyrawstyler
```
f_CSVFile.setParamName("file");
```
1. f_CSVFile.setParamName("file");
3700: Unable to upload a file. Please check and try again.
If I test my connection or even change how I upload the file, this error no longer appears. This error seems to be at the end of a function which has already done a lot of processing. Here's a quick test snippet of code:
copyrawstyler
```
void fn_UploadTest()
{
	//
	// selecting a record which has a file upload field that we want to upload to
	c_Check = My_Form[ID == 123456];
	if(c_Check.count() > 0)
	{
		//
		// A quick CSV line
		f_TestFile = "Test 1,Test 2,Test 3".toFile("test.csv");
		f_TestFile.setParamName("file");
		//
		// found if you open the report properties and select rename from the vertical ellipsis icon in the top right
		v_ReportLinkName = "All_Weekly_Calendar_Caches";
		v_FileUploadFieldName = "Cached_DataFile";
		v_RecordID = c_Check.ID.toString();
		//
		// using API upload file endpoint (either endpoints seem to be valid)
		//v_Endpoint = "https://creator.zoho.com/api/v2.1"+zoho.appuri+"report/"+v_ReportLinkName+"/"+v_RecordID+"/"+v_FileUploadFieldName+"/upload";
		v_Endpoint = "https://www.zohoapis.com/creator/v2.1/data"+zoho.appuri+"report/"+v_ReportLinkName+"/"+v_RecordID+"/"+v_FileUploadFieldName+"/upload?skip_workflow=['all']";
		info v_Endpoint;
		//
		// upload the file
		m_Params = Map();
		m_Params.put("file", f_TestFile);
		//
		// this will work
		r_Upload = invokeurl
		[
			url :v_Endpoint
			type :POST
			parameters: m_Params
			content-type: "multipart/form-data"
			connection:"zcreator"
		];
		//
		// this also works
		r_Upload = invokeurl
		[
			url :v_Endpoint
			type :POST
			files: f_TestFile
			connection:"zcreator"
		];
		info r_Upload;
	}	
}
```
1. void fn_UploadTest()
2. {
3. //
4. // selecting a record which has a file upload field that we want to upload to
5. c_Check = My_Form[ID == 123456];
6. if(c_Check.count() > 0)
7. {
8. //
9. // A quick CSV line
10. f_TestFile = "Test 1,Test 2,Test 3".toFile("test.csv");
11. f_TestFile.setParamName("file");
12. //
13. // found if you open the report properties and select rename from the vertical ellipsis icon in the top right
14. v_ReportLinkName = "All_Weekly_Calendar_Caches";
15. v_FileUploadFieldName = "Cached_DataFile";
16. v_RecordID = c_Check.ID.toString();
17. //
18. // using API upload file endpoint (either endpoints seem to be valid)
19. //v_Endpoint = "https://creator.zoho.com/api/v2.1"+zoho.appuri+"report/"+v_ReportLinkName+"/"+v_RecordID+"/"+v_FileUploadFieldName+"/upload";
20. v_Endpoint = "https://www.zohoapis.com/creator/v2.1/data"+zoho.appuri+"report/"+v_ReportLinkName+"/"+v_RecordID+"/"+v_FileUploadFieldName+"/upload?skip_workflow=['all']";
21. info v_Endpoint;
22. //
23. // upload the file
24. m_Params = Map();
25. m_Params.put("file", f_TestFile);
26. //
27. // this will work
28. r_Upload = invokeUrl
29. [
30. url :v_Endpoint
31. type :POST
32. parameters: m_Params
33. content-type: "multipart/form-data"
34. connection:"zcreator"
35. ];
36. //
37. // this also works
38. r_Upload = invokeUrl
39. [
40. url :v_Endpoint
41. type :POST
42. files: f_TestFile
43. connection:"zcreator"
44. ];
45. info r_Upload;
46. }
47. }
Additional: I thought having a file and then using ZohoCreator .content would be a good way to store data exceeding 64Kb but instead I found using additional multi-line fields performance-wise was better:
copyrawstyler
```
//
		// bigger than 64kb
		c_Check.Cached_HTML = v_HtmlToCache;
		if(v_HtmlToCache.len()>65000)
		{
			c_Check.Cached_HTML = v_HtmlToCache.subString(0,65000); 
			c_Check.Cached_HTML_2 = v_HtmlToCache.subString(65000); 
		}
		if(v_HtmlToCache.len()>129999)
		{
			c_Check.Cached_HTML_2 = v_HtmlToCache.subString(65000,130000); 
			c_Check.Cached_HTML_3 = v_HtmlToCache.subString(130000); 
		}
```
1. //
2. // bigger than 64kb
3. c_Check.Cached_HTML = v_HtmlToCache;
4. if(v_HtmlToCache.len()>65000)
5. {
6. c_Check.Cached_HTML = v_HtmlToCache.subString(0,65000);
7. c_Check.Cached_HTML_2 = v_HtmlToCache.subString(65000);
8. }
9. if(v_HtmlToCache.len()>129999)
10. {
11. c_Check.Cached_HTML_2 = v_HtmlToCache.subString(65000,130000);
12. c_Check.Cached_HTML_3 = v_HtmlToCache.subString(130000);
13. }