Adding a delay to a function - google-apps-script

Question

I currently am able to successfully write the code for locking a single cell after editing (and only owner can edit after) correctly. But I want that function to execute after a delay of around 10-15 minutes (in case the editor changes their mind). So far this is what I have... the lockrow function works fine but I am unable to get the time trigger to work.
This is what I currently have:
function setUpTrigger() {
ScriptApp.newTrigger('lockRow')
.timeBased()
.after(600000)
.create() ;
}
function lockRow(e){
const sh = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();
let protection = e.range.protect();
protection.removeEditors(protection.getEditors());
if (protection.canDomainEdit())
protection.setDomainEdit(false);
}
At Work, one thing I am tasked with is managing our on-call sign up sheet and need to lock the cells after someone signs up for a shift. This would make my job a lot less tedious.
I by no means would consider myself a "coder". I've gotten this far through trial and error but I have been stuck on this for 2 almost 3 weeks.
Any help would be much appreciated.
EDIT:
I asked a YouTuber for help and this is what he explained to me:
The 'e' value won't transfer through properly like this. You should
adjust your script so you declare and instanciate the needed values
(in this case just the range) in the setUpTrigger() function then pass
that value to the active function. So:
const r = e.range;
lockRow(r){
...
let protection = r.protect();
...
}
I'm honestly not even sure what he means.

Answer 1

Your lockRow function doesn't work when it's called by a time driven trigger because the time driven event object, in this case assigned to e, hasn't a range property, so it's very likely that you are getting a error on the following line:
let protection = e.range.protect();
You need to rethink your solution to define a way to set the range to be protected. One way to do this is by using the Properties Service, i.e. you could store a property having a list of all the ranges references (like A1) to be protected.
Please bear in mind that the property service can only store string values.
Example:
Here are a simple functions to set and get the range reference to be protected.
/**
* Run this function before creating the trigger, i.e. it might be called by the setUpTrigger function
*/
function setRangeToProtect(){
const properties = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties();
properties.setProperty('range','A1');
}
function getRangeToProtect(){
const properties = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties();
return properties.getProperty('range');
}
Then in the lockRow function replace
let protection = e.range.protect();
by
const range = sh.getRange(getRangeToProtect());
let protection = range.protect();
Depending on how your spreadsheet will be used, you will have to adapt the setRangeToProtect and getRangeToProtect and the way that they will be used / called.