Maintaining "table status" when fetching Google Sheets values - google-apps-script

I have a list of people that I need to send a schedule to every week. The schedule, and the list of emails for the people it needs to go to, are on a Google Sheet. I'd like to create a script that (a) gets the schedule, and (b) sends it to the list of emails.
My problem, right now, is my Google Apps Script code only sends the schedule as a string (e.g. "role1, person1, role2, person2, role3, person3"), instead of "keeping" its formatting as a table,
I've considered a loop that would grab the values of every row and add a "\n" value at the end, which would break the string after each person. That's not an unworkable solution, but I'd prefer to keep the table because it's more readable.
I suspect that I need to create an HTML table within Google Apps Script, populate it with values from my spreadsheet, and set that HTML table as my email body. That seems odd, because it's already a table (in the spreadsheet).
Is there a way to fetch values while maintaining their "table status"? If not, what are the bare-bones of creating/populating an HTML table?
Here's my code so far, for reference:
function WeeklyReminder() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet(); // this directs the script to the spreadsheet
var sheet = ss.getSheetByName("Automated WVS Weekly Reminder Email"); // this directs the script to the right sheet
var schedule_values = sheet.getRange("D2:E").getDisplayValues(); // this gets the schedule values; "display values" because we want "what's seen," and not the function that's used to populate the cell
Logger.log("schedule_values = " + schedule_values);
var test_email = "o...#...org";
var volunteer_values = sheet.getRange("B2:B").getDisplayValues();
Logger.log("volunteer_values = " + volunteer_values);
MailApp.sendEmail({
to: test_email,
subject: 'WVS Weekly Reminder',
htmlBody: schedule_values.toString(),
});
}
Note: I'm aware my htmlBody sends...toString() at the moment, that's what I'm looking to change.

Building the html table
function WeeklyReminder() {
var ss=SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
var sheet=ss.getSheetByName("Automated WVS Weekly Reminder Email");
var vs=sheet.getRange(1,4,sheet.getLastRow(),2).getDisplayValues();
var html='<style>td,th{border:1px solid black;}</style><table>';
vs.forEach(function(r,i){
if(i==0) {
html+=Utilities.formatString('<tr><th>%s</th><th>%s</th></tr>',r[0],r[1]);//I changed the range so that it included the headers
}else{
html+=Utilities.formatString('<tr><td>%s</td><td>%s</td></tr>',r[0],r[1]);
}
html+='</table>';
});
var test_email="o...#...org";
var volunteer_values=sheet.getRange(2,2,sheet.getLastRow()-1,1).getDisplayValues();
MailApp.sendEmail({to: test_email,subject: 'WVS Weekly Reminder',htmlBody:html});
}

Related

Getting email notification via Google Sheets when =importxml cell value changes

I'm working on a spreadsheet that uses multiple =IMPORTXML functions to import changing text and price values from a webpage. At this moment I have the following columns in my Google Sheet:
A: 'URL info'
B: 'URL'
F-N: 'Price' (in every column a different price value)
What I have
Via a script, found on this page (thank you Umesh Agarwal) I will receive an email notification once a change has been made within the spreadsheet. Once I make a change in a cell within the range of F2:N200 I will receive an email with the cell that have been changed. The problem is that I have the script to sent me an email with the changed cell once the cell with a value of the =importxml function is changing.
At this moment, when a cell is changing due to the =importxml function the script is sending me an email that cell A1 has changed... it is not sending me the right cell that has been changed which makes it difficult to see what changed. How can I solve this problem?
function sendEmailonEdit() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var cellValue = ss.getActiveSheet().getActiveRange().getA1Notation();
var getColumn = ss.getActiveSheet().getActiveRange().getColumn();
var sheetname = ss.getActiveSheet().getName();
var user = Session.getActiveUser().getEmail();
var Toemail = 'myemailid_1234#gmail.com';
var subject = 'New Entry in ' + data + '.' + ss.getName();
var body = 'Your file has a new entry in - ' + sheetname + ' Updated by - ' + user + data
' check file- ' + ss.getUrl();
if(data.indexOf('F2:N200')!=-1.23456789) {
MailApp.sendEmail(Toemail,subject, body);
}
};
I'm afraid this is not possible with triggers the way you have it set up.
For the trigger to fire when a formula is pulling data from an external source "On change" is the only trigger that will pick up the change. Unfortunately, it won't return which cell or value has changed, it will only return which sheet has changed.
The other alternative trigger you might run into is "on Edit", however, this trigger will not fire when the sheet is updated by formulas pulling data from an external source ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Avenue for possible workaround:
You might be able to work around this with a Time-driven trigger AKA clock trigger. Writing a script that fires every so often to check for changes in the worksheet, and to send an e-mail if it does. You might copy all the data to another sheet and then compare the values, or use the Properties Service, to persist data within the script.

How to trigger Google Apps script function based on insert row via api

I have a Google Sheet with 5 columns (First Name, Address, SKU, Quote, Status).
I have an apps script function (createQuote) which looks at the above variable's values from google sheet row and create a google document quote replacing the variables to values.
I use Zapier to insert row into my above google sheet.
What am struggling with-:
I need a way to trigger my createQuote function right when a new row is inserted via zapier (Google Sheet API call).
I tried playing with triggers but couldn't make it, any help is appreciated.
thank you
here is the code for my function-
function quoteCreator(){
docTemplate = "googledocidgoeshere"
docName = "Proposal"
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName("Main")
var values = sheet.getDataRange().getValues()
var full_name = values[1][0]
var copyId = DriveApp.getFileById(docTemplate).makeCopy(docName+" for "+full_name).getId()
// Open the temporary document
var copyDoc = DocumentApp.openById(copyId);
// Get the document’s body section
var copyBody = copyDoc.getActiveSection();
// Replace place holder keys/tags,
copyBody.replaceText("keyFullName", full_name);
copyDoc.saveAndClose();
// Convert temporary document to PDF by using the getAs blob conversion
var pdf = DriveApp.getFileById(copyId).getAs("application/pdf");
// put the link of created quote in the quote column
var url = DocumentApp.openById(copyId).getUrl()
var last = sheet.getRange(2, 7, 1, 1).setValue(url)
}
Note-: I haven't put the loop yet in above, i'll do that once it starts working as per my requirements.
Changes made via Sheets API or Apps Script do not fire onEdit triggers. I give two workarounds for this.
Web app
Have whatever process updates the sheet also send a GET or POST request to your script, deployed as a web application. As an example, a GET version might access https://script.google.com/.../exec?run=quoteCreator
function doGet(e) {
if (e.parameter.run == "quoteCreator") {
quoteCreator();
return ContentService.createTextOutput("Quote updated");
}
else {
return ContentService.createTextOutput("Unrecognized command");
}
}
The web application should be published in a way that makes it possible for your other process to do the above; usually this means "everyone, even anonymous". If security is an issue, adding a token parameter may help, e.g., the URL would have &token=myToken where myToken is a string that the webapp will check using e.parameter.token.
GET method is used for illustration here, you may find that POST makes more sense for this operation.
Important: when execution is triggered by a GET or POST request, the methods getActive... are not available. You'll need to open any spreadsheets you need using their Id or URL (see openById, openByUrl).
Timed trigger
Have a function running on time intervals (say, every 5 minutes) that checks the number of rows in the sheet and fires quoteCreator if needed. The function checkNewRows stores the number of nonempty rows in Script Properties, so changes can be detected.
function checkNewRows() {
var sp = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties();
var oldRows = sp.getProperty("rows") || 0;
var newRows = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName("Main").getLastRow();
if (newRows > oldRows) {
sp.setProperty("rows", newRows);
quoteCreator();
}
}

Sending Email Notification Google Sheets

My company has created a Google Form set up to make one of our processes a lot easier. The Google Form is based off of the Master Spreadsheet that contains all of the data inputted from the Form. This spreadsheet then filters out the the form submission and sends the data to each department’s spreadsheet, which as previously stated before, gets all of the information from the "Master Spreadsheet."
We previously had it set up so when employees would go in and approve or deny these requests in their spreadsheet, we would receive an email notification if someone entered "Approved" or "Denied." Recently we changed it so if a certain person submitted a request for a customer, it would be automatically approved, but when we did this the email notification stopped working because no one is manually entering in "Approved" or "Denied" for these requests. It still works when it's manually typed in, but when the cell is automatically filled in, the sendNotification does not work.
Since no actual data is being input into the individual department sheets, we wanted to put the notification trigger on the "Master Sheet," but we are having a heck of a time getting the email notification to send. Basically we want it so if any cell in "Column F" contains a certain list of email addresses it will send an email to a third party notifying them to actually go ahead and make the changes.
Here is what we have so far. Keep in mind this is the code that worked originally. I've tried many different variations of things and have had no luck whatsoever, but I'm not the most educated coder:
function sendNotification() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheet = ss.getSheetByName("Form Responses 3");
//Get Active cell
var mycell = ss.getActiveSelection();
var cellcol = mycell.getColumn();
var cellrow = mycell.getRow();
var cellValue = mycell.getValue();
var activeUser = Session.getActiveUser();
var recipients = "xxxx#xxxxxxxxxx.com";
var subject = "Update to "+ss.getName();
var body = activeUser + " has marked row " + cellrow + " \"" + cellValue + "\" in \"" + ss.getName() + "\". Visit " + ss.getUrl() + " to view the changes.";
if (cellcol == 2) {
if (cellValue.indexOf('test1#test.com') >= 0) {
var subject = "Lunch Is Served";
Logger.log('Sending approval notification of row ' + cellrow + ' to ' + recipients);
MailApp.sendEmail(recipients, subject, body);
}
}
}
Please keep in mind that we can't use lastRowNumber (at least I didn't think we could) because we already have over one thousand rows listed so the information will fill in to the array automatically.Lastly, our current trigger is set to "On Form Submission" because we want these emails to come in as the forms are submitted.
I have included a sample spreadsheet for you guys to look at. Please use test1#test.com as your email address when completing the form.
The Google Sheet can be found at the following site:
Test Sheet!
Thank you so much and I look forward to reading your responses!
You can't use the line:
var mycell = ss.getActiveSelection();
If that function is running from an "On Form Submit" trigger, there is no active selection. Although, there is a property available to the "On Form Submit" event object that gives the currently edited range. You must get the event object from the form submission. Then you have 3 options. 1) Just get the values 2) Get an object of questions and their values 3) Get the range of the range edited. First, you get the event object that is passed into the function. When the form is submitted, data is automatically made available to the function associated with the On Form Submit trigger. The letter e is typically used as the variable name to get the event object:
function sendNotification(e) {
But you can use any variable name:
function sendNotification(objOfData) {
Apps Script Documentation - Spreadsheet - On Form Submit
function sendNotification(e) {
var cellValue = e.values[4];//Get the value in column 5

GAS - Ranged Cells Protection

I noticed there is quite a number of questions here regarding protection on cells in a spreadsheet.
But there seems to be no viable solution.
For example, column 'A' can only be edited by person1#email.com, and column 'B' can only be edited by person2#email.com.
There seems to be an issue tracker on google site since 2013...but Google has not come up with an API for it yet.
Does anyone have a workaround?
The code below only works for entire page protection..
sheet.setSheetProtection(permissions);
Use an onEdit() function that checks what user is editing the Sheet, then check what column is being edited. Have an object of user names, and what columns they can edit. If a user is not allowed to edit, undo the change.
You can only undo the change if you have a way of knowing what the last cell value was. There is no undo method in Apps Script, or other built in way to get the old value with Apps Script. But there is a way to configure the data to achieve a way to undo the edit.
Have a central sheet with all formulas referring to other sheets. In other words, the data that people view is a copy of the stored data in another sheet. Divide the data into sheets according to who can edit what. The code will write data to the correct sheet when a cell is edited.
Basically, you would have sheets that are the database where the data is stored. Those sheets could even be hidden, and of course they would be protected.
The viewing and editing would be done in a separate sheet from the sheets that are the official data storage.
So, the sheet that people are viewing and editing is the "User Interface"; it's the "Front End" of the "App". The sheets that are the official data storage are the "Back End".
function onEdit(e){
Logger.log("e.value: " + e.value);
Logger.log("e.range.getRow: " + e.range.getRow());
Logger.log("e.range.getColumn: " + e.range.getColumn());
var objWhoCanEditWhat = {"user1":"[A,B]", "user2":"[A]"};
//Get this user
var thisUserIs = Session.getActiveUser().getEmail();
Logger.log('thisUserIs: ' + thisUserIs);
Logger.log('Index of #: ' + thisUserIs.indexOf("#"));
thisUserIs = thisUserIs.substring(0, thisUserIs.indexOf("#"));
Logger.log('thisUserIs: ' + thisUserIs);
var whatColumnCanEdit = objWhoCanEditWhat[thisUserIs];
Logger.log('whatColumnCanEdit: ' + whatColumnCanEdit);
var editedColumn = e.range.getColumn();
var editedRow = e.range.getRow();
Logger.log('editedColumn: ' + editedColumn)
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
//There must be a way to determine what sheet needs to be accessed, and that sheet name
//is set dynamically.
var objColumnEditedToSheetName = {"ColA":"Sheet6TY", "ColB":"SheetColumnB"};
var whatSheetToUse = objColumnEditedToSheetName[editedColumn];
if (whatColumnCanEdit != editedColumn) { //If the column this user can edit is not the same as
//the column that just was edited, then
//Undo the change with this code
//Retrieve the old official data from the data storage sheet
var sheet = ss.getSheetByName(whatSheetToUse);
} else {
//If the user is allowed to edit this column, write the data to the official data storage sheet
var sheet = ss.getSheetByName(whatSheetToUse);
};
//Always put a formula back into the cell that was just edited in order
//to show data from the back end data source
var viewSheet = ss.getSheetByName("SheetForEditingAndViewing");
//You know the row and column of the cell that was just edited, so use that to
//reference what cell to put the formula back into.
viewSheet.getRange(editedRow, editedColumn).setFormula("Sheet1!A3");
};

Script to copy and sort form submission data

I'm using Google forms to create a spreadsheet that I want sorted automatically by datestamp Z-A. The sorting will be triggered whenever anyone fills out a form.
I think the way to do it is:
ask if there is a "copy of Form responses" on spreadsheet...
if yes, clear all contents...
else...
copy spreadsheet to "copy of form responses"...
sort according to timestamp
Below is what I've cobbled so far. It works only the first time a response is recorded. I'm not a coder so any help is appreciated. If someone could also point me to a list of commands with basic syntax I'd be grateful.
function CopySheet() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var msheet = ss.getSheetByName("Form Responses");
msheet.copyTo(ss);
var CopySheet = ss.getSheetByName("Copy of Form Responses");
CopySheet.sort(1, false); // here 1 is for column no. 1 that
// is "Column A" and true is for ascending, make it
// false if you want descending.
};
You can accomplish this without a script, by using QUERY() in the copy sheet. For instance, if you put this function in cell A1 of your copy sheet, and substitute the key for your form response spreadsheet, you'll end up with a reverse-timestamp-sorted copy of the responses:
=Query(ImportRange(spreadsheet_key,"Form Responses!A:Z"), "select * order by Col1 desc")
This data will be refreshed periodically (~5 mins), so it will reflect new form submissions, but not in real-time.
Note: When using ImportRange() as source data for Query, you need to refer to columns in the Query string using ColN notation.
Alternatively, you could produce a form submission trigger function in the spreadsheet receiving the form submissions, and have it copy the sorted form responses to your copy sheet. The following function does that. You need to set it up as a trigger function for Spreadsheet Form Submission Events. For information on how to test such a function, see How can I test a trigger function in GAS?.
function copyFormSubmissions(e) {
var sourceSheet = e.range.getSheet();
var data = sourceSheet.getDataRange().getValues();
var headers = data.splice(0,1)[0]; // remove headers from data
data.sort(reverseTimestampOrder); // Sort 2d array
data.splice(0,0,headers); // replace headers
var destId = "--copy-sheet-ID--";
var destSheet = SpreadsheetApp.openById(destId).getSheetByName('Sheet1');
destSheet.clear();
destSheet.getRange(1,1,data.length,data[0].length).setValues(data);
};
function reverseTimestampOrder(a,b) {
// Timestamp is in first (zero-th) column
return (b[0]-a[0]);
}
If someone could also point me to a list of commands with basic syntax I'd be grateful.
The Google Apps Script API classes and methods reference is here. If you're learning, try the tutorials (same place), and I recommend you get familiar with Javascript through some form of e-learning - CodeAcademy.com is a good place to start, since it introduces all the language constructs without focusing on web page development, making it very relevant for Googls Apps Script.