When creating a picklist from a sales order in Zoho Inventory, all line items are listed in the picklist regardless of item's stock value. This default behavior sometimes confuses the picker who is assigned to pick up items according to the picklist when the items are out of stock.

This will be solved if the stock on hand value is displayed for line items in the picklist because the picker knows wether the items are in stock in advance and efficiently pick up items without wasting their time.

• ZOHO Developer account

In order to develop an extension using ZOHO Sigma.

First, go to ZOHO developer site (https://developer.zoho.com) and sign in. 

Then select "Sigma"  and click "Start Building" button as shown below screenshot.

Click "New Extension" button to create an extension.

Add the extension name, and type a description of the extension.

Select ZOHO Inventory icon in service section.

Check the agreement statement.

Then, click "Create" button.

ZOHO Inventory Developer Portal is displayed.

In order to access ZOHO Inventory data, you need first to create an connection for ZOHO Inventory integration. 

Follow below steps:

1. Click "Build" tab.
2. Select "Connections" from left-side menu.
3. Click "New Connection" button.

Type "Inventory" in the search box on the top left.

Then, click "Zoho Inventory" as a default service. 

Click "Connect".

Click "Connect"  for ZOHO Flow access.

Click "Accept" to allow an access.

The connection to ZOHO Inventory is created.

In order to display "stock on hand" value for line items in a Picklist, a custom fields need to be created first.

To create a custom field, follow these steps:

1.  Select "Preference" from Menu.
2. Select "Items" module from Submenu.
3. Click "+New Custom Field".

Configure the custom field:

1. Enter "Label Name".
2. Select "Decimal" as "Data Type".
3. Enter "Help Text" if necessary.
4. Enter "0" as "Default Value".
5. Select "Yes" for "Show when creating transactions".
6. Select "Picklist" for "Includes in modules".
7. Select "Yes" for "Show in ALL PDFs".
8. Click "Save" to create the custom field.

"Stock on Hand" custom field is created in Items module.

In order to display the stock on hand value, a custom function needs to be created.

Follow below steps to create a custom function.

1. Enter "Function Name".
2. Enter "Description".
3. Select "Picklist" module.
4. Click "Proceed".

Refer to the below sample code to write deluge scripts in the editor and click "Save" button.

Now that the connection for ZOHO Inventory integration is established and workflow action is created, next step is to create an automation workflow rule.

    Workflow Rule condition: 

• Execute when a picklist is created or edited.
• Execute the workflow when Any field is updated.

    Criterion 1:  Execute for all the picklist.

    Immediate Action: Execute a custom function to get stock on an value for the line items and set the value in a custom field of item module.

1. Select "Workflow Rules" menu.
2. Click "+ New Workflow Rule" button.

Follow below steps to configure Workflow Rule:

1. Enter "Workflow Rule Name".
   
2. Enter "Description".
3. Select "Picklist" module.
4. Click "Next".

1. Select "Event Based".
2. Select "When picklist is created or edited".
3. Select "Any field is updated".
4. Select "Edited each time". 
5. Click "Next".

Configure Criteria:

Click "New Criteria".

1. Select "No" to execute for all the picklist.
2. Click "Done"

Configure immediate actions:

Click "Immediate actions".

1. Select Type, "Custom Functions".
2. Select the custom function created above.
3. Click ""Associate".

The workflow associated with picklist module is created.

In order to test the extension, you can use the sandbox.

1. Click "Test Your Extension" link on the top left corner.
2. The sandbox ZOHO Inventory app opens in the separate window. 

You need to enable "Picklists" module in the settings first.

Click the gear icon on the top right corner.

Click "General" menu under "Preferences"

1. Make sure to check "Picklists" module.
2. Click "Save".

Close the setting page and click "Sales Orders" menu.

Click "+New" on the top right corner.

1. Make sure to select inventory items in "Item Table".
2. Click "Save as Draft".

Click "Mark as Confirmed".

Nest, create a picklist from the sales order just created.

Click "Create" -> "Picklist".

Make sure you see "Stock on Hand" field is displayed in item details.

Click "Generate picklist".

Refresh the browser after a while. It takes a while to execute the custom function.

"Stock on hand" value is populated for line items. 

The value is updated when a picklist is created or edited.

1. Select "Publish" tab.
2. Click "Publish" button.

1. Select "Version".
2. Typer "Rerease Notes".
3. Click "Publish"

You can install the extension with the Private Installation URL.

Note: You can only install he extension for the same Zoho Inventory account you develop the extension. You need a private review to install it for your client Zoho account.

By connecting ZOHO Inventory with ZOHO Creator, you can further develop custom functionalities that the standard Inventory app cannot implement by itself.

In this demo, I want to demonstrate 2 scenarios:

1. When a sales order is created and issued in ZOHO Inventory, the order record is synchronized to the sales module in the ZOHO Creator app.
2. When a purchase order is received in ZOHO Inventory, the order record is synchronized to the purchase order module in  the ZOHO Creator app.

• ZOHO Developer account
  
• ZOHO Creator account
  

I will use pre-built application in ZOHO Creator in order to integrate with ZOHO Inventory.

I picked the Inventory Management application.

After sign-in, click "Create Solution" button on the top right corner.

Select "Inventory Management" app and click "install" button.

Then, click "Pick" button in "Create from Gallery" box.

Type "inventory" in the search box located on the top right corner.

Select "Inventory Management" app and click "install" button.

Selected application will be installed shortly.

Now that we have installed Inventory Management app in ZOHO Creator, we are ready to develop an extension using ZOHO Sigma.

Go to ZOHO developer site (https://developer.zoho.com) and sign in. 

Then select "Sigma"  and click "Start Building" button as shown below screenshot.

Click "New Extension" button to create an extension.

Add the extension name, and type a description of the extension.

Select ZOHO Inventory icon in service section.

Check the agreement statement.

Then, click "Create" button.

ZOHO Inventory Developer Portal will be displayed.

In order to access ZOHO Creator app, you need first to create an connection for ZOHO Creator. 

Follow below steps:

1. Click "Build" tab.
2. Select "Connections" from left-side menu.
3. Click "New Connection" button.

Type "Creator" in the search box on the top left.

Then, click "Zoho Creator" as a default service. 

Configure the connection details.

1. Enter "Connection Name".
2. Turn this "Off"
3. Select following Scopes:

ZohoCreator.form.CREATE

ZohoCreator.report.CREATE

ZohoCreator.report.DELETE

ZohoCreator.report.READ

ZohoCreator.report.UPDATE

Click "Connect".

Click "Connect"  for ZOHO Flow access.

Click "Accept" to allow an access.

The connection to ZOHO Creator is created.

Now that the connection between ZOHO Inventory and ZOHO Creator is established, next step is to create an automation rule.

I will create 2 rules to trigger custom actions.

Rule 1: When a Sales Order is created and issued.

Rule 2: When Purchase Order is created and received.

1. Select "Workflow Rules" menu.
2. Click "+ New Workflow Rule" button.

Follow below steps to configure Workflow Rule 1. (Refer to below screenshot.)

1. Enter "Workflow Rule Name".
   
2. Select "Sales Order" Module.
3. Select "Event Based".
4. Select "Created or Edited"
5. Select "Any field is updated".

1. Configure the trigger to select  "Status",  "is" and "Open".
2. Select "Just Once".
3. Configure the actions. (For now, just select "in-app Notification" and create a in-app notification with a message. )*
4. Click "Save"  to create a Workflow rule.

*This will be replaced by a custom action we will create later. 

Follow below steps to configure Workflow Rule 2. (Refer to below screenshot.)

1. Enter "Workflow Rule Name".
   
2. Select "Purchase order" Module.
3. Select "Event Based".
4. Select "Created or Edited"
5. Select "Any field is updated".

1. Configure the trigger by selecting  "Purchase Receive Status",  "is" , "Received", "OR",  "Purchase Receive Status",  "is" and "Partially Received".
2. Select "Just Once".
3. Configure the actions. (For now, just select "in-app Notification" and create a in-app notification with a message. )*
4. Click "Save"  to create a Workflow rule.

*This will be replaced by a custom action we will create later. 

As workflow actions, I will develop the following custom functions:

1. Creating a sales order in Inventory Management app in ZOHO Creator when a sales order is created in ZOHO Inventory.
2. Creating a purchase order in Inventory Management app in ZOHO Creator when a purchase order is created and received.

Follow below steps to create a custom function.

1. Type "Function Name".
2. Select "Sales Order" module.
3. Check "Global Fields" to allow use of global fields.

Refer to the below sample code to write deluge scripts in the editor and click "Save" button.

Follow below steps to create a custom function.

1. Type "Function Name".
2. Select "Purchase Order" module.
3. Check "Global Fields" to allow use of global fields.

Refer to the below sample code to write deluge scripts in the editor and click "Save" button.

Now that custom functions are created, we need to update actions in workflow rules.

1. Select "Workflow Rules" menu.
2. Click workflow name, "Sales Order Created".

1. Scroll down to "4. Action" setting.
2. Select  "Custom Function"  as "Type" 
3. Select the custom function, "create_sales_order_in_inventory_management",  you just created for the sales order module.
4. Click "Save" button to apply the change.

Next, click Workflow name, "Purchase Order Created".

1. Scroll down to "4. Action" setting.
2. Select  "Custom Function"  as "Type" 
3. Select the custom function, "create_purchase_order_in_inventory_management",  you just created for the sales order module.
4. Click "Save" button to apply the change.

When connecting ZOHO Creator app from ZOHO Inventory extension, we need to configure the API endpoint in deluge scripts.

We need to specify "Space" name and "App Name" as a part of the endpoint URL.

However, those vales are depends on user's account for which the extension will be installed.

To solve this, we can use global fields to hold those values and paas them to custom functions as parameters.

Follow below steps to set up "Global Fields".

1. Select "Configure" tab.
2. Select "Global Fields" Menu.
3. Click "+ New Field" button.

1. Type field "Name".
2. Type "Description".
3. Select "Text Box (Single Line)" as Data Type.
4. Type your account's space name.
5. Select "Read Only".
6. Click "Save".

You can find the "space name" and "app name" in the creator app URL.

Follow the same steps to configure the global field for "app name".

To get global field values in deluge, refer to the below scripts.

You need the "placeholder" name to retrieve values in the script.

In order to test the extension, you can use the sandbox.

1. Click "Test Your Extension" link on the top left corner.
2. The sandbox ZOHO Inventory app opens in the separate window. 

You need to add, at least, an organization, a warehouse, and a product.

Those records must match between ZOHO Inventory and ZOHO Creator app.

1. Create new sales order.
2. Click "Save as Draft".

Click "Mark as Confirmed".

1. Open Inventory Management app in ZOHO Creator.
2. Confirm new sales order is created in Sales Details module.

Next, test for a purchase order.

1. Create new purchase order.
2. Click "Save as Draft".

Click "Receive" button.

Click "Save as Received".

1. Open Inventory Management app in ZOHO Creator.
2. Confirm new purchase order is created in Purchase Details module.

1. Select "Publish" tab.
2. Click "Publish" button.