Zoho CRM Connector for Power BI

In this article you will learn how to integrate Zoho CRM data in Power BI without coding in just a few clicks (live / bi-directional connection to Zoho CRM). Zoho CRM Connector can be used to integrate Zoho CRM API in your App / BI Tools. You can exchange data on Accounts, Leads, Contacts and many other modules..

Using Zoho CRM Connector you will be able to connect, read, and write data from within Power BI. Follow the steps below to see how we would accomplish that.

Download Documentation

Video Tutorial - Integrate Zoho CRM data in Power BI

This video covers following and more so watch carefully. After watching this video follow the steps described in this article.

  • How to download / install required driver for Zoho CRM integration in Power BI
  • How to configure connection for Zoho CRM
  • Features about API Driver (Authentication / Query Language / Examples / Driver UI)
  • Using Zoho CRM Connection in Power BI

Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from Zoho CRM using Power BI we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from Zoho CRM. We will later be able to read data using Power BI. Perform these steps:

  1. Install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack.

  2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):
    Open ODBC Data Source

  3. Create a User Data Source (User DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

    ZappySys API Driver
    Create new User DSN for ZappySys API Driver
    You should create a System DSN (instead of a User DSN) if the client application is launched under a Windows System Account, e.g. as a Windows Service. If the client application is 32-bit (x86) running with a System DSN, use ODBC Data Sources (32-bit) instead of the 64-bit version.
  4. When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Zoho CRM" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Zoho CRM" is not present in the list, then click "Search Online" and download it. Then set the path to the location where you downloaded it. Finally, click Continue >> to proceed with configuring the DSN:

    ZohoCrmDSN
    Zoho CRM
    ODBC DSN Template Selection

  5. Now it's time to configure the Connection Manager. Select Authentication Type, e.g. Token Authentication. Then select API Base URL (in most cases, the default one is the right one). More info is available in the Authentication section.

    OAuth Connection for Zoho CRM API [API reference]

    Steps how to get and use Zoho CRM credentials : OAuth [OAuth]
    To register custom App, perform the following steps (Detailed steps found in the help link at the end)
    1. Go to Zoho API Console
    2. Click Add Client link
    3. Select Server-based Applications option
    4. Enter desired client name (Display purpose only)
    5. Enter some URL for Company homepage
    6. For Authorized Redirect URI enter https://zappysys.com/oauth (Or enter your own but we recommend using ZappySys one if possible). This URL must match on Zoho Connector UI.
    7. Click CREATE.
    8. Copy Client ID and Secret and paste on Zoho Connector UI.

    Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:

    ZohoCrmDSN
    Zoho CRM
    OAuth [OAuth]
    https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/[$Version$]
    Optional Parameters
    ClientId
    ClientSecret
    Permissions ZohoCRM.settings.all ZohoCRM.modules.all ZohoCRM.coql.READ
    AccountUrl https://accounts.zoho.com
    RedirectUrl https://zappysys.com/oauth
    API Version v2
    RetryMode RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
    RetryStatusCodeList 429
    RetryCountMax 5
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime True
    ODBC DSN Oauth Connection Configuration

  6. Once the data source has been configured, you can preview data. Select the Preview tab and use settings similar to the following to preview data:
    ODBC ZappySys Data Source Preview

  7. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video instructions

Read Zoho CRM data in Power BI using ODBC

Importing Zoho CRM data into Power BI from table or view

  1. Once you open Power BI Desktop click Get Data to get data from ODBC:
    Power Bi Get Data

  2. A window opens, and then search for "odbc" to get data from ODBC data source:
    Power Bi ODBC Get Data

  3. Another window opens and asks to select a Data Source we already created. Choose ZohoCrmDSN and continue:

    ZohoCrmDSN
    Power Bi Select ZappySys Driver DSN

  4. Most likely, you will be asked to authenticate to a newly created DSN. Just select Windows authentication option together with Use my current credentials option:

    ZohoCrmDSN
    Power Bi DSN Authenticaation

  5. Finally, you will be asked to select a table or view to get data from. Select one and load the data!
    Power Bi Load DSN Table Data

  6. Finally, finally, use extracted data from Zoho CRM in a Power BI report:
    Power Bi Extracted DSN Table Data

Importing Zoho CRM data into Power BI using SQL query

If you wish to import Zoho CRM data from SQL query rather than a table then you can use advanced options during import steps (as below). After selecting DSN you can click on advanced options to see SQL Query editor.

ZohoCrmDSN
                SELECT
                    ProductID,
                    ProductName,
                    SupplierID,
                    CategoryID,
                    QuantityPerUnit,
                    UnitPrice
                FROM Products
                WHERE UnitPrice > 20
            
Get REST API data in Power BI Desktop using SQL query and ODBC
Consider using Custom Objects feature in ODBC data source to encapsulate SQL query in a Virtual Table. This way, you can see a virtual table in Power BI table list where you can import multiple objects using the same connection rather than creating a new connection for each custom SQL query.

Using a full ODBC connection string

In the previous steps we used a very short format of ODBC connection string - a DSN. Yet sometimes you don't want a dependency on an ODBC data source (and an extra step). In those times, you can define a full connection string and skip creating an ODBC data source entirely. Let's see below how to accomplish that in the below steps:

  1. Open ODBC data source configuration and click Copy settings:
    ZappySys API Driver - Zoho CRM
    Zoho CRM Connector can be used to integrate Zoho CRM API in your App / BI Tools. You can exchange data on Accounts, Leads, Contacts and many other modules.
    ZohoCrmDSN
    Copy connection string for ODBC application
  2. The window opens, telling us the connection string was successfully copied to the clipboard: Successful connection string copying for ODBC application
  3. Then just paste the connection string into your script:
    ZohoCrmDSN
    DRIVER={ZappySys API Driver};ServiceUrl=https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/[$Version$];Provider=Custom;OAuthVersion=OAuth2;ScopeSeparator={space};ReturnUrl=[$RedirectUrl$];ExtraAttributesForAuthRequest=access_type=offline&prompt=consent;AuthUrl=[$AccountUrl$]/oauth/v2/auth;TokenUrl=[$AccountUrl$]/oauth/v2/token;ClientId=[$ClientId$];ClientSecret=[$ClientSecret$];Scope=[$Permissions$];ExpiresInAttribute=expires_in_sec;
    Use full connection string in Power BI Desktop to read API data
  4. You are good to go! The script will execute the same way as using a DSN.
The DSN defined in the Data source name (DSN) field will be ignored.

Have in mind that a full connection string has length limitations.

Proceed to the next step to find out the details.

Limitations of using a full connection string

Despite using a full ODBC connection string may be very convenient it comes with a limitation: it's length is limited to 1024 symbols (or sometimes more). It usually happens when API provider generates a very long Refresh Token when OAuth is at play. If you are using such a long ODBC connection string, you may get this error:

"Connection string exceeds maximum allowed length of 1024"

But there is a solution to this by storing the full connection string in a file. Follow the steps below to achieve this:

  1. Open your ODBC data source.
  2. Click Copy settings button to copy a full connection string (see the previous section on how to accomplish that).
  3. Then create a new file, let's say, in C:\temp\odbc-connection-string.txt.
  4. Continue by pasting the copied connection string into a newly created file and save it.
  5. Finally, the last step! Just construct a shorter ODBC connection string using this format:
    DRIVER={ZappySys API Driver};SettingsFile=C:\temp\odbc-connection-string.txt
  6. Our troubles are over! Now you should be able to use this connection string in Power BI with no problems.
This feature requires ODBC PowerPack v1.9.0 or later.

Editing query for table in Power BI

There will be a time you need to change the initial query after importing data into Power BI. Don't worry, just right-click on your table and click Edit query menu item:

Edit query in Power BI to get REST API data
Refer to Power Query M reference for more information on how to use its advanced features in your queries.

Using parameters in Power BI (dynamic query)

In the real world, many values of your REST / SOAP API call may be coming from parameters. If that's the case for you can try to edit script manually as below. In below example its calling SQL Query with POST method and passing some parameters. Notice below where paraAPIKey is Power BI Parameter (string type). You can use parameters anywhere in your script just like the normal variable.

To use a parameter in Power BI report, follow these simple steps:

  1. Firstly, you need to Edit query of your table (see previous section)

  2. Then just create a new parameter by clicking Manage Parameters dropdown, click New Parameter option, and use it in the query:

    						
                                = Odbc.Query("dsn=ZohoCrmDSN",
                                             "SELECT ProductID, ProductName, UnitPrice, UnitsInStock
                                              FROM Products
                                              WHERE UnitPrice > " & Text.From(MyParameter) & "
                                              ORDER BY UnitPrice")
                            
                    
    Use parameter in Power BI to get REST API data
    Refer to Power Query M reference for more information on how to use its advanced features in your queries.

Using DirectQuery Option rather than Import

So far we have seen how to Import Zoho CRM data into Power BI but what if you have too much data and you dont want to import but link it. Power BI Offers very useful feature for this scenario. Its called DirectQuery Option. In this section we will explore how to use DirectQuery along with ZappySys Drivers.

Out of the box ZappySys Drivers wont work in ODBC Connection Mode so you have to use SQL Server Connection rather than ODBC if you wish to use Live data using DirectQuery option. See below step by step instructions to enable DirectQuery mode in Power BI for Zoho CRM data.

Basically we will use ZappySys Data Gateway its part of ODBC PowerPack. We will then use Linked Server in SQL Server to Link API Service and then we will issue OPENROWSET queries from Power BI to SQL Server and it will then call Zoho CRM via ZappySys Data Gateway.

  1. First read this article carefully, How to query Zoho CRM API in SQL Server.
  2. Once linked server is configured we are ready to issue API query in Power BI.
  3. Click Get Data in Power BI, select SQL Server Database
  4. Enter your server name and any database name
  5. Select Mode as DirectQuery
  6. Click on Advanced and enter query like below (we are assuming you have created Zoho CRM Data Source in Data Gateway and defined linked server (Change name below).
    SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([ZOHO_CRM_LINKED_SERVER], 'SELECT * FROM Customers')
    SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([ZOHO_CRM_LINKED_SERVER], 'SELECT * FROM Customers')
    DirectQuery option for Power BI (Read Zoho CRM Data Example using SQL Server Linked Server and ZappySys Data Gateway)


    DirectQuery option for Power BI (Read Zoho CRM Data Example using SQL Server Linked Server and ZappySys Data Gateway)

  7. Click OK and Load data ... That's it. Now your Zoho CRM API data is linked rather than imported.

Publishing Power BI report to Power BI service

Here are the instructions on how to publish a Power BI report to Power BI service from Power BI Desktop application:

  1. First of all, go to Power BI Desktop, open a Power BI report, and click Publish button:

    Publish Power BI report to Power BI service
  2. Then select the Workspace you want to publish report to and hit Select button:

    Publish Power BI report to workspace
  3. Finally, if everything went right, you will see a window indicating success:

    Successful Power BI report publishing

    If you need to periodically refresh Power BI semantic model (dataset) to ensure data accuracy and up-to-dateness, you can accomplish that by using Microsoft On-premises data gateway. Proceed to the next section - Refreshing Power BI semantic model (dataset) using On-premises data gateway - and learn how to do that.

Refreshing Power BI semantic model (dataset) using On-premises data gateway

Power BI allows to refresh semantic models which are based on data sources that reside on-premises. This can be achieved using Microsoft On-premises data gateway. There are two types of On-premises gateways:

  • Standard Mode
  • Personal Mode

Standard Mode supports Power BI and other Microsoft Data Fabric services. It fits perfectly for Enterprise solutions as it installs as a Windows Service and also supports Direct Query feature.

Personal Mode, on the other hand, can be configured faster, but is designed more for home users (you cannot install it as a Windows Service and it does not support DirectQuery). You will find a detailed comparison in the link above.

We recommend to go with Personal Mode for a quick POC solution, but use Standard Mode in production environment.

Below you will find instructions on how to refresh semantic model using both types of gateways.

Refresh using On-premises data gateway (standard mode)

Here are the instructions on how to refresh a Power BI semantic model using On-premises data gateway (standard mode):

  1. Go to Power BI My workspace, hover your mouse cursor on your semantic model and click Settings:

    Configure Power BI semantic model settings
  2. If you see this view, it means you have to install On-premises data gateway (standard mode):

    On-premises data gateway is not installed
  3. Install On-premises data gateway (standard mode) and sign-in:

    signing in into on-premises data gateway standard
    Use the same email address you use when logging in into Power BI account.
  4. Register a new gateway (or migrate an existing one):

    registering or migrating on-premises data gateway standard
  5. If you are creating a new gateway, name your gateway, enter a Recovery key, and click Configure button:

    naming on-premises data gateway standard
  6. Now, let's get back to your semantic model settings in Power BI portal. Refresh the page and you should see your newly created gateway. Click arrow icon and then click on Add to gateway link:

    ODBC{"connectionstring":"dsn=ZohoCrmDSN"}
    Using On-premises Data Gateway Standard for Power BI Semantic Model
  7. Once you do that, you will create a new gateway connection. Give it a name, set Authentication method, Privacy level, and click Create button:

    dsn=ZohoCrmDSN
    Create new connection in Power BI On-premises data gateway
    In this example, we used the least restrictive Privacy level.

    If your connection uses a full connection string you may hit a length limitation when entering it into the field. To create the connection, you will need to shorten it manually. Check the section about the limitation of a full connection string on how to accomplish it.

    On-premises data gateway (personal mode) does not have this limitation.

  8. Proceed by choosing the newly created connection:

    ODBC{"connectionstring":"dsn=ZohoCrmDSN"}
    Selecting gateway connection in Power BI semantic model
  9. Finally, you are at the final step where you can refresh the semantic model:

    Refreshing Power BI semantic model using On-premises Data Gateway

Refresh using On-premises data gateway (personal mode)

Here are the instructions on how to refresh a Power BI semantic model using On-premises data gateway (personal mode):

  1. Go to Power BI My workspace, hover your mouse cursor on your semantic model and click Settings:

    Configure Power BI semantic model settings
  2. If you see this view, it means you have to install On-premises data gateway (personal mode):

    On-premises data gateway is not installed
  3. Install On-premises data gateway (personal mode) and sign-in:

    Sign-in to On-premises data gateway personal
    Use the same email address you use when logging in into Power BI account.
  4. Again, go to your semantic model Settings, expand Data source credentials, click Edit credentials, select Authentication method together with Privacy level, and then click Sign in button:

    dsn=ZohoCrmDSN
    Use On-premises data gateway personal for Power BI semantic model
  5. Finally, you are ready to refresh your semantic model:

    Refreshing Power BI semantic model using On-premises Data Gateway

Advanced topics

Create Custom Stored Procedure in ZappySys Driver

You can create procedures to encapsulate custom logic and then only pass handful parameters rather than long SQL to execute your API call.

Steps to create Custom Stored Procedure in ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here

  1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Procedure:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Stored Procedure

  2. Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Stored Procedure Name

  3. Select the created Stored Procedure and write the your desired stored procedure and Save it and it will create the custom stored procedure in the ZappySys Driver:
    Here is an example stored procedure for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here

    CREATE PROCEDURE [usp_get_orders]
        @fromdate = '<<yyyy-MM-dd,FUN_TODAY>>'
     AS
        SELECT * FROM Orders where OrderDate >= '<@fromdate>';
    

    ZappySys Driver - Create Custom Stored Procedure

  4. That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your Stored Procedure using Exec Command. In this example it will extract the orders from the date 1996-01-01:

    Exec usp_get_orders '1996-01-01';

    ZappySys Driver - Execute Custom Stored Procedure

  5. Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using stored procedure. Go to Code Generator Tab, select language as SQL Server and click on Generate button the generate the code.
    As we already created the linked server for this Data Source, in that you just need to copy the Select Query and need to use the linked server name which we have apply on the place of [MY_API_SERVICE] placeholder.

    SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([MY_API_SERVICE], 'EXEC usp_get_orders @fromdate=''1996-07-30''')

    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

  6. Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using stored procedure and provide you the response.
    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

Create Custom Virtual Table in ZappySys Driver

ZappySys API Drivers support flexible Query language so you can override Default Properties you configured on Data Source such as URL, Body. This way you don't have to create multiple Data Sources if you like to read data from multiple EndPoints. However not every application support supplying custom SQL to driver so you can only select Table from list returned from driver.

If you're dealing with Microsoft Access and need to import data from an SQL query, it's important to note that Access doesn't allow direct import of SQL queries. Instead, you can create custom objects (Virtual Tables) to handle the import process.

Many applications like MS Access, Informatica Designer wont give you option to specify custom SQL when you import Objects. In such case Virtual Table is very useful. You can create many Virtual Tables on the same Data Source (e.g. If you have 50 URLs with slight variations you can create virtual tables with just URL as Parameter setting.

  1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Table:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Table

  2. Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Table Name

  3. And it will open the New Query Window Click on Cancel to close that window and go to Custom Objects Tab.

  4. Select the created table, Select Text Type AS SQL and write the your desired SQL Query and Save it and it will create the custom table in the ZappySys Driver:
    Here is an example SQL query for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders also. Read more about placeholders here

    SELECT
      "ShipCountry",
      "OrderID",
      "CustomerID",
      "EmployeeID",
      "OrderDate",
      "RequiredDate",
      "ShippedDate",
      "ShipVia",
      "Freight",
      "ShipName",
      "ShipAddress",
      "ShipCity",
      "ShipRegion",
      "ShipPostalCode"
    FROM "Orders"
    Where "ShipCountry"='USA'

    ZappySys Driver - Create Custom Table

  5. That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your custom virtual table query. In this example it will extract the orders for the USA Shipping Country only:

    SELECT * FROM "vt__usa_orders_only"

    ZappySys Driver - Execute Custom Virtual Table Query

  6. Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using stored procedure. Go to Code Generator Tab, select language as SQL Server and click on Generate button the generate the code.
    As we already created the linked server for this Data Source, in that you just need to copy the Select Query and need to use the linked server name which we have apply on the place of [MY_API_SERVICE] placeholder.

    SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([MY_API_SERVICE], 'EXEC [usp_get_orders] ''1996-01-01''')

    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

  7. Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using stored procedure and provide you the response.
    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

Actions supported by Zoho CRM Connector

Zoho CRM Connector support following actions for REST API integration. If some actions are not listed below then you can easily edit Connector file and enhance out of the box functionality.
 Read Data (Query Mode - Max 200 Rows Only)
   [Read more...]
Parameter Description
sql_query Your SQL query for CRM (i.e. COQL (CRM Object Query Language)). Limtation - You can fetch maximum 200 rows using COQL Query. To read all rows use Table mode. (refer to help link to learn more about COQL)
 List Modules
   [Read more...]
Parameter Description
 List Territories
   [Read more...]
 List Module Settings
To get the metadata for a specific module. Specify the API name of the module, such as Leads, Accounts or Deals in your API request.    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
module Module name for which you like to get settings
Option Value
Accounts Accounts
Activities Activities
Calls Calls
Campaigns Campaigns
Cases Cases
Contacts Contacts
Deals Deals
Events Events
Invoices Invoices
Leads Leads
Price_Books Price_Books
Products Products
Purchase_Orders Purchase_Orders
Quotes Quotes
Sales_Orders Sales_Orders
Solutions Solutions
Tasks Tasks
Vendors Vendors
Your_Custom_Module_Name Your_Custom_Module_Name
 List Tags
List tags for module.    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
module Module name for which you like to get settings
Option Value
Accounts Accounts
Activities Activities
Calls Calls
Campaigns Campaigns
Cases Cases
Contacts Contacts
Deals Deals
Events Events
Invoices Invoices
Leads Leads
Price_Books Price_Books
Products Products
Purchase_Orders Purchase_Orders
Quotes Quotes
Sales_Orders Sales_Orders
Solutions Solutions
Tasks Tasks
Vendors Vendors
Your_Custom_Module_Name Your_Custom_Module_Name
 Gets record count for specific tag for module
Add tags for specified module and specified record id(s).    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
module Module name for which you like to get settings
Option Value
Accounts Accounts
Activities Activities
Calls Calls
Campaigns Campaigns
Cases Cases
Contacts Contacts
Deals Deals
Events Events
Invoices Invoices
Leads Leads
Price_Books Price_Books
Products Products
Purchase_Orders Purchase_Orders
Quotes Quotes
Sales_Orders Sales_Orders
Solutions Solutions
Tasks Tasks
Vendors Vendors
Your_Custom_Module_Name Your_Custom_Module_Name
Tag Id Use List Tags to findout Id for tag you like to query
 Add / Update Tags for records
Add tags for specified module and specified record id(s).    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
module Module name for which you like to get settings
Option Value
Accounts Accounts
Activities Activities
Calls Calls
Campaigns Campaigns
Cases Cases
Contacts Contacts
Deals Deals
Events Events
Invoices Invoices
Leads Leads
Price_Books Price_Books
Products Products
Purchase_Orders Purchase_Orders
Quotes Quotes
Sales_Orders Sales_Orders
Solutions Solutions
Tasks Tasks
Vendors Vendors
Your_Custom_Module_Name Your_Custom_Module_Name
Record Id(s) (comma seperated list) List of Record Id(s) you like to update
Tag Id List of Tag(s) you like to add
Overwrite Set this to overwrite exising tags for the record(s)
Option Value
true true
false false
 List Module Fields
To get the field meta data for the specified module. The fields displayed are from all layouts for the module and the response does not contain layout-specific fields like mandatory fields or picklist values.    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
module Module name for which you like to get all fields
Option Value
Accounts Accounts
Activities Activities
Calls Calls
Campaigns Campaigns
Cases Cases
Contacts Contacts
Deals Deals
Events Events
Invoices Invoices
Leads Leads
Price_Books Price_Books
Products Products
Purchase_Orders Purchase_Orders
Quotes Quotes
Sales_Orders Sales_Orders
Solutions Solutions
Tasks Tasks
Vendors Vendors
Your_Custom_Module_Name Your_Custom_Module_Name
 List Views
   [Read more...]
Parameter Description
module Module name for which you like to get all views
 Read [$parent.module_name$]
This endpoint reads records using bulk approach. Default API Version is V2 (set connection level) and its almost 2 times faster than higher API version (e.g. V3+) but V2 may return less number of columns compared to new API versions (e.g. v3...v7+). API V2 makes less number of requests and returns more records per call (200 rows), on the other side V3+ has limits of max 50 fields in each Get Records API calls. To avoid this limitation in V3+ API we used /{module}?ids={150 ids} workaround but this is still slower compred to older API (v2) approach. Choose new API if you have a valid reason (e.g. you need additional new columns exposed in v3+) else stick with older version V2 (its default setting)    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Module
Last Modified Date - Read data modified after it Supply this DateTime (ISO 8601 format) - To get the list of recently modified records
Custom View ID To get the list of records based on custom views.
Fields (Only for V2 API) To retrieve specific field values. Kepp blank to get all fields.
sort_by Specify the field name based on which the records must be sorted.
sort_order To sort the list of records in either ascending or descending order.
Option Value
asc asc
desc desc
territory_id To get the list of records in a territory. Use get_territories endpoint to list Id and names.
include_child To include records from the child territories. Default is false.
Option Value
true true
false false
converted converted
Option Value
true true
false false
both both
 Read [$parent.module_name$] (Use this for fewer than 50 Fields in v3+)
Use this endpoint if you have fewer than 50 fields and you like to utilize newer APi e.g. V3+, If you calling older API V2 then you can use any endpoint (e.g. get_contacts or get_contacts_fast or Contacts table all yeilds same speed in V2).    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Module
Last Modified Date - Read data modified after it Supply this DateTime (ISO 8601 format) - To get the list of recently modified records
Custom View ID To get the list of records based on custom views.
Fields (Only for V2 API) To retrieve specific field values. Kepp blank to get all fields.
sort_by Specify the field name based on which the records must be sorted.
sort_order To sort the list of records in either ascending or descending order.
Option Value
asc asc
desc desc
territory_id To get the list of records in a territory. Use get_territories endpoint to list Id and names.
include_child To include records from the child territories. Default is false.
Option Value
true true
false false
converted converted
Option Value
true true
false false
both both
 Search [$parent.module_name$]
Search records by criteria or email or phone or word or id (specify only one parameter for search and keep other blank)    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Search By Criteria Expression You can supply upto 10 criterias. For more complex expression use Query API. Example: ((Last_Name:equals:Burns)and(First_Name:starts_with:Ma)). You can lookup row by ID like (id:equals:1458554000067017001). Here is Syntax for expression (({api_name}:{starts_with|equals|in|between|not_equal|greater_equal|less_equal}:{value})and/or({api_name}:{starts_with|equals|in|between|not_equal|greater_equal|less_equal}:{value}))
Option Value
None
Example of Equal (id:equal:11223344)
Example NOT EQUAL (id:not_equal:11223344)
Example OR (multiple conditions) (id:equal:1111111)or(id:equal:222222222)
Example IN (id:in:1111111,222222222,333333333)
Example START_WITH (Last_Name:starts_with:pat)
Example BETWEEN (Created_Time:between:2024-02-01T18:52:56+00:00,2024-02-20T18:52:56+00:00)
Search By Email
Search By Phone
Search By any Word
Search By Id
Include only converted records
Option Value
true true
false false
both both
Include approved records
Option Value
true true
false false
both both
 Delete [$parent.module_name$]
   [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Record ID(s) - Use Comma for multiple (e.g. 111,222)
Fire Wordflow Trigger
Option Value
true true
false false
 Insert [$parent.module_name$]
   [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Triggers
 Update [$parent.module_name$]
   [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Triggers
 Upsert [$parent.module_name$] (Update or Insert)
   [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Triggers
Duplicate_Check_Fields
Option Value
By Email Email
By Phone Phone
By Mobile Mobile
 Generic Request
This is generic endpoint. Use this endpoint when some actions are not implemented by connector. Just enter partial URL (Required), Body, Method, Header etc. Most parameters are optional except URL.    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Url API URL goes here. You can enter full URL or Partial URL relative to Base URL. If it is full URL then domain name must be part of ServiceURL or part of TrustedDomains
Body Request Body content goes here
IsMultiPart Set this option if you want to upload file(s) (i.e. POST RAW file data) or send data using Multi-Part encoding method (i.e. Content-Type: multipart/form-data). Multi-Part request allows you to mix key/value and upload files in same request. On the other hand raw upload allows only single file upload (without any key/value) ==== Raw Upload (Content-Type: application/octet-stream) ===== To upload single file in raw mode check this option and specify full file path starting with @ sign in the Body (e.g. @c:\data\myfile.zip ) ==== Form-Data / Multipart Upload (Content-Type: multipart/form-data) ===== To treat your Request data as multi part fields you must specify key/value pairs separated by new lines into RequestData field (i.e. Body). Each key value pair is entered on new-line and key/value are separated using equal sign (=). Preceding and trailing spaces are ignored also blank lines are ignored. If field value has some any special character(s) then use escape sequence (e.g. For NewLine: \r\n, For Tab: \t, For at (@): \@). When value of any field starts with at sign (@) its automatically treated as File you want to upload. By default file content type is determined based on extension however you can supply content type manually for any field using this way [ YourFileFieldName.Content-Type=some-content-type ]. By default File Upload Field always includes Content-Type in the request (non file fields do not have content-type by default unless you supply manually). For some reason if you dont want to use Content-Type header in your request then supply blank Content-Type to exclude this header altogather [e.g. SomeFieldName.Content-Type= ]. In below example we have supplied Content-Type for file2 and SomeField1, all other fields are using default content-type. See below Example of uploading multiple files along with additional fields. If some API requires you to pass Content-Type: multipart/form-data rather than multipart/form-data then manually set Request Header => Content-Type: multipart/mixed (it must starts with multipart/ else will be ignored). file1=@c:\data\Myfile1.txt file2=@c:\data\Myfile2.json file2.Content-Type=application/json SomeField1=aaaaaaa SomeField1.Content-Type=text/plain SomeField2=12345 SomeFieldWithNewLineAndTab=This is line1\r\nThis is line2\r\nThis is \ttab \ttab \ttab SomeFieldStartingWithAtSign=\@MyTwitterHandle
Filter Enter filter to extract array from response. Example: $.rows[*] --OR-- $.customers[*].orders[*]. Check your response document and find out hierarchy you like to extract
Option Value
No filter
Example1 $.store.books[*]
Example2 (Sections Under Books) $.store.books[*].sections[*]
Example3 (Equals) $.store.books[?(@author=='sam')]
Example4 (Equals - Any Section) $..[?(@author=='sam')]
Example5 (Not Equals - Any Section) $..[?(@author!='sam')]
Example6 (Number less than) $.store.books[?(@.price<10)] Example7 (Regular Expression - Contains Pattern)=$.store.books[?(@author=~ /sam|bob/ )]
Example8 (Regular Expression - Does Not Contain Pattern) $.store.books[?(@author=~ /^((?!sam|bob).)*$/ )]
Example9 (Regular Expression - Exact Pattern Match) $.store.books[?(@author=~ /^sam|bob$/ )]
Example10 (Regular Expression - Starts With) $.store.books[?(@author=~ /^sam/ )]
Example11 (Regular Expression - Ends With) $.store.books[?(@author=~ /sam$/ )]
Example12 (Between) $.store.employees[?( @.hiredate>'2015-01-01' && @.hiredate<'2015-01-04' )]
Headers Headers for Request. To enter multiple headers use double pipe or new line after each {header-name}:{value} pair
 Generic Request (Bulk Write)
This is a generic endpoint for bulk write purpose. Use this endpoint when some actions are not implemented by connector. Just enter partial URL (Required), Body, Method, Header etc. Most parameters are optional except URL.    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Url API URL goes here. You can enter full URL or Partial URL relative to Base URL. If it is full URL then domain name must be part of ServiceURL or part of TrustedDomains
IsMultiPart Set this option if you want to upload file(s) (i.e. POST RAW file data) or send data using Multi-Part encoding method (i.e. Content-Type: multipart/form-data). Multi-Part request allows you to mix key/value and upload files in same request. On the other hand raw upload allows only single file upload (without any key/value) ==== Raw Upload (Content-Type: application/octet-stream) ===== To upload single file in raw mode check this option and specify full file path starting with @ sign in the Body (e.g. @c:\data\myfile.zip ) ==== Form-Data / Multipart Upload (Content-Type: multipart/form-data) ===== To treat your Request data as multi part fields you must specify key/value pairs separated by new lines into RequestData field (i.e. Body). Each key value pair is entered on new-line and key/value are separated using equal sign (=). Preceding and trailing spaces are ignored also blank lines are ignored. If field value has some any special character(s) then use escape sequence (e.g. For NewLine: \r\n, For Tab: \t, For at (@): \@). When value of any field starts with at sign (@) its automatically treated as File you want to upload. By default file content type is determined based on extension however you can supply content type manually for any field using this way [ YourFileFieldName.Content-Type=some-content-type ]. By default File Upload Field always includes Content-Type in the request (non file fields do not have content-type by default unless you supply manually). For some reason if you dont want to use Content-Type header in your request then supply blank Content-Type to exclude this header altogather [e.g. SomeFieldName.Content-Type= ]. In below example we have supplied Content-Type for file2 and SomeField1, all other fields are using default content-type. See below Example of uploading multiple files along with additional fields. If some API requires you to pass Content-Type: multipart/form-data rather than multipart/form-data then manually set Request Header => Content-Type: multipart/mixed (it must starts with multipart/ else will be ignored). file1=@c:\data\Myfile1.txt file2=@c:\data\Myfile2.json file2.Content-Type=application/json SomeField1=aaaaaaa SomeField1.Content-Type=text/plain SomeField2=12345 SomeFieldWithNewLineAndTab=This is line1\r\nThis is line2\r\nThis is \ttab \ttab \ttab SomeFieldStartingWithAtSign=\@MyTwitterHandle
Filter Enter filter to extract array from response. Example: $.rows[*] --OR-- $.customers[*].orders[*]. Check your response document and find out hierarchy you like to extract
Headers Headers for Request. To enter multiple headers use double pipe (||) or new line after each {header-name}:{value} pair

Zoho CRM Connector Examples for Power BI Connection

This page offers a collection of SQL examples designed for seamless integration with the ZappySys API ODBC Driver under ODBC Data Source (36/64) or ZappySys Data Gateway, enhancing your ability to connect and interact with Prebuilt Connectors effectively.

Read all rows    [Read more...]

SELECT * from Accounts

Update Owner of the record(s) - Account, Contacts, Deals, Leads (Update Lookup field)    [Read more...]

This examples shows how to update a lookup type fields (e.g. Account, Contact, Owner) for any module. Lookup fields are jsonobject type of fields which has id, name and sometimes email (only for Owner). This example shows how to update using unique field (E.g. email, id or name). Below example shows how to set Owner of the Account (e.g.) 1558554000137221573. We will set owner to bob-the-salesman@abc.com (or you can set by id)

UPDATE Accounts 
SET Owner='{email: "bob-the-salesman@abc.com"}'
--SET Owner='{id: "1558554000186378001"}' --you can also use Id
Where Id='1558554000137221573'

Update Account or Contact (Lookup field) by Name or Id for Deals    [Read more...]

This examples shows how to update Account and Contact field on Deals module. We used name for account and id for contact just to show how unique field can be used.

UPDATE Deals 
SET Account_Name='{"name": "Company ABCD"}',    --by name or id 
    Contact_Name='{"id": "1558554000186378001"}'  --by id 
Where Id='1558554000137221573'

Create a Deal with Lookup fields (e.g. set Account, Contact, Owner etc by Id or Name)    [Read more...]

This examples shows how to create a new record with Lookup field(s) e.g account, contact or owner.

INSERT INTO Deals(
	Deal_name,
	Amount,
	Lead_Source,
	Account_Name,
	Contact_Name,
	Owner
	)
VALUES
   (
   'My Test Deal Creatyed on <<FUN_NOW>>', --deal name
   1000.50, --amount
   'Cold Call', --lead source
   '{name:"ZappySys"}', --account name or use id '{id:"1558554000030180013"}'
   '{id:"1558554000089352998"}' --contact id 
   '{id:"1558554000089352912"}' --owner id or use email {email: "bob-the-salesman@abc.com"}
   )

Read single row by ID    [Read more...]

SELECT * from Accounts Where Id=1558554000105110008

Read reacord(s) modified after certain date    [Read more...]

SELECT * from Accounts WITH(ModifiedSince = '2020-01-07T00:00:00')

Read using COQL (Zoho Serverside Query Language)    [Read more...]

You can write server side query so you dont have to read full data on client side. For COQL LIMIT clause must be 200 or less. For more information check this URL https://zappysys.com/links?url=https://www.zoho.com/crm/developer/docs/api/COQL-Overview.html

SELECT * from get_module_data_coql WITH(sql_query= 'select Last_Name, First_Name, Company from Leads where Company like ''Test'' limit 200')

Update table for specific record    [Read more...]

Update Leads SET Designation='VP Sales', Company='Test' Where id=1558554000012181009

Update table for specific record (older version)    [Read more...]

Update Leads SET id='1558554000012181009' /* id must be supplied */, Designation='VP Sales', Company='Test'

Get accounts modified after certain date    [Read more...]

SELECT * from Accounts Where Account_Name LIKE 'Test%' WITH(ModifiedSince = '2020-01-07T00:00:00')

Search accounts by specific field (server side filter)    [Read more...]

You can use criteria listed here https://www.zoho.com/crm/developer/docs/api/v2/search-records.html

SELECT * FROM search_Accounts WITH(criteria='Account_Name:starts_with:test')

Create a new record    [Read more...]

INSERT INTO Accounts(Account_Name, Phone) VALUES('Company ABC','111-567-8888')

Create a new account record (with show output on / off)    [Read more...]

INSERT INTO Accounts(Account_Name, Phone) VALUES('Company ABC','111-567-8888') WITH(Output=1)

Delete single record by Id    [Read more...]

Delete exising record by Id (single row). You can supply upto 100 comma seperated Ids

DELETE FROM Accounts WHERE id=11111111111

Delete multiple records by Ids    [Read more...]

This example shows how to delete Account Records by multiple Ids. You can supply upto 100 comma seperated Ids

DELETE FROM Accounts WITH(Id='11111,22222,33333')

Upsert account record (Update or Insert - based on unique field(s) for module)    [Read more...]

UPSERT INTO Accounts(Account_Name, Phone) VALUES('Company ABC','111-567-8888') WITH(Output=1)

Upsert lead record (Update or Insert - based on unique field(s) for module)    [Read more...]

UPSERT INTO Leads(Last_Name, Email) VALUES('Patel','zpatel@abc.com') WITH(Output=1)

Create new account(s) in BULK (read / write from external source)    [Read more...]

This examples shows how to use SOURCE clause to read data from MS SQL Server (or other external system) and send data to Zoho using Bulk API

INSERT INTO Accounts
SOURCE(
  'MSSQL' --ODBC or OLEDB
  ,'Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=Test;Integrated Security=true'
  ,'select ''Test Account-A'' as Account_Name,''111-111-1111'' as Phone
    UNION
    select ''Test Account-B'' as Account_Name,''222-222-2222'' as Phone
   '
)

UPSERT (Update or insert) account(s) in BULK (read / write from external source)    [Read more...]

This examples shows how to use SOURCE clause to read data from MS SQL Server (or other external system) and send data to Zoho using Bulk API. Record uniqueness is checked based on Unique field setup for module (i.e. email, account name, phone etc)

UPSERT INTO Accounts
SOURCE(
  'MSSQL' --ODBC or OLEDB
  ,'Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=Test;Integrated Security=true'
  ,'select ''Test Account-A'' as Account_Name,''111-111-1111'' as Phone
    UNION
    select ''Test Account-B'' as Account_Name,''222-222-2222'' as Phone
   '
)

Update Tag(s) for exising records (add or overwrite)    [Read more...]

SELECT * FROM post_tags
WITH(
	  module='Accounts'
	, ids='1558554000105151002'
	, tag_names='mytag1,mytag2'
  , over_write='true'
)

Conclusion

In this article we discussed how to connect to Zoho CRM in Power BI and integrate data without any coding. Click here to Download Zoho CRM Connector for Power BI and try yourself see how easy it is. If you still have any question(s) then ask here or simply click on live chat icon below and ask our expert (see bottom-right corner of this page).

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