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Zoho Creator: Creating Subforms vs. Stateless Subforms

Fri Jan 10 2025
Zoho Creator · Best Practices

Creating Subforms vs. Stateless Subforms

Subforms model one-to-many data inside a parent form. The choice between a data-storing Subform and a Stateless Subform determines how your rows are saved, reported, and integrated.

Mostafa Badawy··6 min read

Use Subform when…

  • You need each row saved in its own report
  • You’ll run reports/dashboards on line items
  • Rows are referenced later or integrated (CRM/Books)

Use Stateless Subform when…

  • Rows are temporary/transient
  • You’ll transform and send a payload elsewhere
  • You don’t want a child report for these rows

Subforms (data-storing)

A Subform captures repeating rows in a parent form and stores each row in a child form/report. Perfect for line items, notes, or anything you’ll analyze later.

  1. 1

    Create the child form

    Define fields (Product, Qty, Unit Price, Line Total).

  2. 2

    Add a Subform to the parent form

    Select your child form as the source.

  3. 3

    Save and test

    Each row is saved to the child report, linked to the parent.

Subform in parent form
Select the subform which has its own fields.
Pro tip: keep subform columns lean and compute totals on submit.

Stateless Subforms (no data storage)

A Stateless Subform is a blank subform that does not store its own records. Great for collecting and processing rows without creating a child report.

  1. 1

    Add Subform as Blank

    Choose Blank as the source.

  2. 2

    Define columns

    Only what you need for calculations/payload.

  3. 3

    Process in workflows/functions

    Validate rows; call Connections/webhooks.

Blank stateless subform
Select Blank to create a stateless subform.
Subform fields layout
Add Fields
Heads-up: stateless rows aren’t queryable later—persist them yourself if needed.

Integration pattern: flatten subform rows

subform = MainForm.subform();
subform.Name = "MOSTAFA";
subform.Notes = "This is for testing.";

subform2 = MainForm.subform();
subform2.Name = "BADAWY";
subform2.Notes = "Testing";

newCollection = Collection();
newCollection.insert(subform, subform2);
input.subformAPIName.insert(newCollection);

Loop and insert safely:

fetchRecords = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Deals", DEAL_ID);
dealSubform = ifNull(fetchRecords.getJSON("Client_Names"), null);

if (dealSubform != null)
{
  for each rec in fetchRecords
  {
    rows = MainFormName.SubformName();
    rows.Name = rec.getJSON("Name");
    rows.Notes = rec.getJSON("Notes");
    input.SubformName.insert(rows);
  }
}

Show/Hide Fields Inside Subforms (The Tricky Part)

Don’t hide dependent fields in the parent form’s On Load. Scope the logic to the subform.

  1. On Add Row: hide all dependent fields by default for the new row.
  2. On User Input of Type: show/hide based on selected value.
  3. On Edit Row: re-run the same logic so rows open correctly.
// Subform: On Add Row
On Add Row
hide FirstField;
hide SecondField;
// Subform: On User Input of Type
On User Input
if (Type == "One") 
{
  show FirstField; 
  hide SecondField;
} 
else if (Type == "Two") 
{
  show FirstField;
  how SecondField;
} 
else 
{
  hide FirstField; 
  hide SecondField;
}

Checklist

  • Use Subform when you need reporting & history
  • Use Stateless for temporary/transient rows
  • Keep columns lean; compute totals on submit
  • Include row_uid for safe integrations
  • Flatten rows for APIs and external tools