Is it possible to use the setNumberFormat in a custom function? - google-apps-script

Question

I am trying to create a custom function that will take in a number (or string) in another cell and format it in a certain way based on a second argument, which indicates what the format should be.
If I were to accomplish this task with a default Google Sheets function, I can easily achieve this by using the "text" function. Although there are only limited types of formats that I work with, using this function alone is inconvenient as I would need to rewrite the formula every time there is a line that does not conform to the same format as the number right above.
Also, there are times and situations when I would need to use a different or additional function to achieve my desired outcome and hence the effort to create a custom function for this.
The issue with the code that I came up with below (and it doesn't account for all the cases that I would like to ultimately write out) is that it will ultimately return an error:
"Exception: You do not have permission to call setNumberFormat (line 21)."
And I understand that this happens as the custom function is trying to change the format of a cell outside of its own cell. But I can't seem to find any method that will take a string value, format it, and return the formatted string.
I am linking a Sheet that shows what I'm trying to accomplish.
/**
* Formats texts or number based on the argument passed into the function with pre-existing formats
*
* #param {range} inputData The number or text that needs to be formatted
* #param {string} textType Description of the format
* #return A formated number or text
* #customFunction
*/
function customText(inputData, textType) {
//check if there are two arguments
//if(arguments.length !== 2){throw new Error("Must have 2 arguments")};
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet()
var sheet = ss.getActiveSheet()
var inputDataRange = sheet.getRange(inputData);
switch (textType)
{
case 'Shows numbers with thousand seperator and two decimal points. "-" sign for negative numbers. Blank for 0.':
var result = inputDataRange.setNumberFormat("#,#.00;-#,#.00;;#");
return result
break;
case 'Shows percentage with "%" sign. Shows up to 2 decimal points.':
var result = inputDataRange.setNumberFormat("0.00%;-#,#;0.00%;#")
return result
break;
}
}

Answer 1

Answer:
You're right in so much that it's not possible to do this with a custom function, but you could make a custom button which formats a highlighted range.
More Information:
Your code would need a small modification so that it can see the current highlighted range as an input rather than a range via a custom formula. From here, as the function would be run without restrictions, the .set* methods of SpreadsheetApp can be used to modify the number format of the cells in the highlighted range.
Code Modifications:
Firstly, your function will no longer need parameters to be passed to it:
function customText() {
// ...
}
and instead, we can simply take the highlighted range of cells and from this, separate out the input data and the text type:
var range = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveRange();
var dataRange = range.getValues();
var inputDataRange = dataRange.map(x => x[0]);
var textType = dataRange.map(x => x[1]);
You will also need to store the start row and column indicies of the range, as well as the sheet for which you are editing, under the assumption that your Spreadsheet has more than one sheet:
var currSheet = range.getSheet()
var startRow = range.getRow();
var startColumn = range.getColumn();
We can then loop through each element of the textType array and set the formatting of corresponding cell from inputDataRange:
textType.forEach(function(tt, index) {
switch (tt) {
case 'Shows numbers with thousand seperator and two decimal points. "-" sign for negative numbers. Blank for 0.':
currSheet.getRange(startRow + index, startColumn)setNumberFormat("#,#.00;-#,#.00;;#");
return;
case 'Shows percentage with "%" sign. Shows up to 2 decimal points.':
currSheet.getRange(startRow + index, startColumn)setNumberFormat("0.00%;-#,#;0.00%;#")
return;
}
});
Assigning the Full Function to a Button:
The full code will now look like this:
function customText() {
var range = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveRange();
var dataRange = range.getValues();
var inputDataRange = dataRange.map(x => x[0]);
var textType = dataRange.map(x => x[1]);
var currSheet = range.getSheet()
var startRow = range.getRow();
var startColumn = range.getColumn();
textType.forEach(function(tt, index) {
switch (tt) {
case 'Shows numbers with thousand seperator and two decimal points. "-" sign for negative numbers. Blank for 0.':
currSheet.getRange(startRow + index, startColumn, 1, 1).setNumberFormat("#,#.00;-#,#.00;;#");
return;
case 'Shows percentage with "%" sign. Shows up to 2 decimal points.':
currSheet.getRange(startRow + index, startColumn, 1, 1).setNumberFormat("0.00%;-#,#;0.00%;#");
return;
}
});
}
And you can create an in-sheet button which will run the script whenever you click it.
Go to the Insert > Drawing menu item and create a shape; any shape will do, this will act as your button.
Press Save and Close to add this to your sheet.
Move the newly-added drawing to where you would like. In the top-right of the drawing, you will see the vertical ellipsis menu (⋮). Click this, and then click Assign script.
In the new window, type customText and press OK.
Demo:
References:
Class SpreadsheetApp - getActiveRange() | Apps Script | Google Developers