Zoho Creator 2.0: Free And Easy-to-use Database Tools
Zoho just rolled out a significant upgrade to its database tool, Zoho Creator, which features a much improved interface complete with drag-and-drop functionality and a new script building tool that allows users to create complex queries without learning the Deluge script language.
Creator 2.0, as the company calls the new version, is aimed at providing MS Access-like database functionality to users who may not understand all the intricacies of relational database management.
The new point-and-click and drag-and-drop actions do indeed make creating forms for data input fairly easy, though Zoho’s claims about the new drag-and-drop script editor may be slightly exaggerated.
Yes it’s easy to add code to process your form data and perform other actions, but it still helps to have a general understanding of Zoho’s Deluge scripting language.
Luckily Zoho has some nice online help materials and tutorials.
And don’t think that just because Zoho Creator 2.0 has added a pretty new interface that the application lacks flexibility, there’s still plenty of power under the hood and you can always write scripts by hand to accomplish more complex tasks.
Zoho Creator 2.0 also includes some additional new features that bring it up to speed with other apps in the Zoho suite, like the ability to share applications with other Zoho users, new ways embed applications in your website and the ability to export your data in multiple formats.
To mark the release Zoho has posted the following video which gives users an overview of the new features and demonstrates how to get started using the app:
Setting up a new form:
Adding new fields to your database input form is drag-and-drop simple:
Once form elements are added, users can edit the elements values, attach scripts and more:
The new script editing interface, also with drag-and-drop functionality:
Interface for editing script elements:
Scripting in “free-flow” mode allows you to write your own scripts if you’re already familiar with the Deluge language:
