The first question that pops up whenever we demonstrate a cool new feature in Deluge is

Oops – Do I need to code ??

Most people want to create an entire application (even a complex one) interactively using the GUI. Doing it programatically is not the preferred option.

Zoho Creator does allow you build a data collection and viewing application like a Contact’s list without writing a single line of code. But if we are using Zoho creator for just creating trivial applications like these, then we are not utilizing its full potential. Users with such a requirement might even prefer to use an online spreadsheet like Zoho Sheet.

Zoho Creator is an application creator. You can create forms, configure default attributes for the fields and define relationship across forms interactively in the GUI mode.

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There has been requests from users like Ted Hughes for automatically filtering picklists based on selection in the previous picklist. This can be done very easily now.

Let us take a Bug Tracker application as an example. This simple application has just three forms.

1. It has a form to fill in the modules. e.g. In the case of Zoho Creator, it could be user interface design, deluge script etc. See a list view of all the modules added.

2. It has a form to fill in the team member details. It has the name of the team member and the module he works for. See a list view of all the team members (and the respective modules).

3. It has a form for filing issues. Each of the issues filed has to be assigned to the appropriate team member. Since we have already defined the person in charge for each of the modules, it will make more sense if the items in the ‘Assigned to’ picklist gets updated every time the module is changed, listing only the relevant entries.

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We made another update in Zoho Creator and now you can

• Improve the usability of a form by validating field data even before it is submitted.

• Modify contents of the form dynamically when it is loaded.

• Modify field values based on user action (on other fields).

See the sample registration form that you can even embed in your website. You can also see the working version and the deluge script.

1. It allows users to register till 1st January 2007. If you try to access the form after 1st Jan 2007, it will just display that the registration is closed. This validation is done when the form is loaded.

Deluge code snippet:

2.

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Creating custom formula is a powerful feature and it is a beginning to providing excel-like functions in Zoho Creator. Even the simplest of applications like a student marks database( given below as an example) or an expense tracker (to calculate the total expenses) requires custom fields that are calculated based on the values of other fields. They have to be created while defining the form and could be numeric, text, date or boolean.

* You can create calculated fields by selecting the field type as formula.

* All the types of form fields except multiple select fields can be used in formulas.
* The operators / functions that can be used in formulas can be found in the Deluge docs.
* The formulas will get recalculated when
  a.

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An application that gives a free ride to input incorrect data is useless. So validating form inputs is one area that needs to be done carefully while creating applications. Zoho Creator allows you to accurately validate the form inputs and helps you to give clear feedback to the user when the form does not accept the data.

Here is an overview that will help you to utilize this feature in Zoho Creator to the fullest.

Validations during a form submit can be classified as

• User interface validation
  You can specify the constraints for the fields you are defining while creating a form. If you define a field to be of type Email, Zoho Creator checks if the data entered in the form for that field is a valid emailid, else it displays an error message to the user.

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