Google Sheet Appscript Changelog to Track Deleted Row - google-apps-script

Question

I have a changelog in my spreadsheet to keep track of information that is added, edited, or removed. The issue is that the changelog cannot detect if a user "Delete row". Is it even possible to have the changelog track deleted row or am I out of luck? Thanks 🙏.
function onEdit(e){
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheetNameTracker = ss.getActiveSheet().getName();
if (sheetNameTracker !== "Changelog") {
let sheet = ss.getSheetByName('Changelog');
var range = e.range.getA1Notation();
var user = e.user.getUsername();
var function_source = "onEdit";
var time = new Date();
var changeType = 'EDIT';
console.log(user);
var oldValue = e.oldValue;
var newValue = e.value;
var lastRow = sheet.getLastRow();
sheet.getRange(lastRow+1,1,1,8).setValues([[time.toLocaleString(),function_source,changeType,sheetNameTracker,range,user,oldValue,newValue]]);
}
}
Example Google Sheet with Appscript

Answer 1

About I am asking if there is a way I can have changelog track deleted row. Or is it not possible?, in the current stage, the event object of the OnEdit trigger doesn't include the property of changeType. So, in this case, it is required to use the installable OnChangge trigger. When this is reflected in your script, how about the following modification?
Modified script:
After you copy and paste the following modified script, please install OnChange trigger to the function onChange. By this, when a row is removed, the value of REMOVE_ROW is returned as e.changeType.
function onEdit(e) {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheetNameTracker = ss.getActiveSheet().getName();
if (sheetNameTracker !== "Changelog") {
let sheet = ss.getSheetByName('Changelog');
var range = e.range && e.range.getA1Notation(); // Modified
var user = e.user.getUsername();
var function_source = "onEdit";
var time = new Date();
var changeType = e.changeType || 'EDIT'; // Modified
console.log(user);
var oldValue = e.oldValue;
var newValue = e.value;
var lastRow = sheet.getLastRow();
sheet.getRange(lastRow + 1, 1, 1, 8).setValues([
[time.toLocaleString(), function_source, changeType, sheetNameTracker, range, user, oldValue, newValue]
]);
}
}
// Please install OnChange trigger to this function.
function onChange(e) {
if (e.changeType == "EDIT") return;
onEdit(e);
}
In this modified script, when a row is removed, onChange is automatically run by the installable onChange trigger. And, the event object is sent to onEdit, and the log is recorded by your script.
Note:
In the case of the OnEdit trigger, even when a row is deleted, this trigger is not fired while the trigger is fired when a cell is edited. On the other hand, in the case of the installable OnChange trigger, the trigger is fired for both the editing cell and removing a row. In this modification, this situation is used.
In the case of OnChange trigger, in the current stage, the event object of OnChange trigger doesn't include range object. By this, the removed row is not known while it can be found that a row is removed. If you want to know the removed row, as a workaround, it is required to compare the old sheet and the new sheet before and after the edit. I'm worried that in this case, the script might be complicated. So, in this answer, I proposed a simple modification.