Google Sheets appendRow and add values to specific columns - google-apps-script

Question

I have developed a sidebar form that appends values to an existing spreadsheet.
The form works; however, the new values are added starting at column A. I would like to adapt my code to select the columns to which appended values are inserted. The backend code used to append data is:
function addNewRow(rowData) {
const ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
const ws = ss.getSheetByName("Recruitment_Contacts");
ws.appendRow([rowData.LnRT,rowData.FnRT,rowData.Gn,rowData.St,rowData.Dtr,rowData.Trn,rowData.Td]);
return true;
}
The code used within HTML script to add data after the submit button is selected is:
function afterButtonClicked(){
var ln = document.getElementById("LnRT");
var fn = document.getElementById("FnRT");
var gn = document.getElementById("Gn");
var st = document.getElementById("St");
var dtr = document.getElementById("Dtr");
var trn = document.getElementById("Trn");
var td = document.getElementById("Td");
var rowData = {LnRT: ln.value, FnRT: fn.value, Gn: gn.value, St: st.value, Dtr: dtr.value, Trn: trn.value, Td: td.value};
google.script.run.withSuccessHandler(afterSubmit).addNewRow(rowData);
}
Any support that the community can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Answer 1

I think this is what you're looking for:
Selecting content by id
function addNewRow(rowData) {
const ss=SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
const sh=ss.getSheetByName("Recruitment_Contacts");
const hA=sh.getRange(1,1,1,sh.getLastColumn()).getValues()[0];
idx={};
hA.forEach(function(h,i){idx[i]=h;});
ws.appendRow([rowData[idx[0]],rowData[idx[1]],rowData[idx[2]],rowData[idx[3]],rowData[idx[4]],rowData[idx[5]],rowData[idx[6]]]);
return true;
}
I do this a lot and I just hide the top row and it doesn't seem to bother anybody and warn them that if the screw it up I get to come and charge more for fixing it.

Answer 2

Solution
To achieve what you are aming for of appending a new row from the column index you want, you must use the Apps Script method setValues on the right range. Here is the code implementation with self explanatory comments to achieve this:
// you can pass a column index to this function as a new parameter (or inside rowData)
function addNewRow(rowData,column) {
const ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
const ws = ss.getSheetByName("Recruitment_Contacts");
// Set as the data what we want to insert to then be able to know how many
// columns will this fill
// We need to wrap the data into [] as it is expecting a nested array for [cols] and [rows]
var data = [[rowData.LnRT,rowData.FnRT,rowData.Gn,rowData.St,rowData.Dtr,rowData.Trn,rowData.Td]];
// Set the values on the first row of the sheet (reproducing the behaviour of appendRow)
// and starting from the row index you want (5 for example).
// It will be 1 row and the length of the data
// long in terms of columns.
ws.insertRows(1,1);
ws.getRange(1, column,1,data[0].length).setValues(data);
return true;
}
I hope this has helped you. Let me know if you need anything else or if you did not understood something. :)

Answer 3

To resolve my issue, I created a server side function called "recruitInfo" and listed all the columns in my worksheet. I then called that function in my HTML code. The video I used to walk me through this process is Web App - Google Sheets CRUD, Part 5
function addRecruit(recruitInfo){
const ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
const ws = ss.getSheetByName("sheetName");
const uniqueIds = ws.getRange(2, 1, ws.getLastRow()-1, 1).getValues();
var maxNum = 0;
uniqueIds.forEach(r => {
maxNum = r[0] > maxNum ? r[0] : maxNum
});
var newID = maxNum + 1;
ws.appendRow([newID,
recruitInfo.lastName,
recruitInfo.firstName])
}
function addRecruit(){
var recruitInfo = {};
recruitInfo.firstName = document.getElementById("firstName").value;
recruitInfo.lastName = document.getElementById("lastName").value;
google.script.run.withSuccessHandler(function(){}).addRecruit(recruitInfo);
}