Google sheets. Lock range - google-apps-script

Question

I have 2 lists with ranges C2:F21, which should be available to fill for all users in a certain period.
Range C2:F21 in the list A shouldn't be locked from 01.01.2020 to 05.01.2020, but in another time it should be locked for all users except me.
In the list B range C2:F21 shouldn't be locked only from 01.02.2020 to 05.02.2020.
I will be very grateful for any answer

Answer 1

The most "secure" way to handle this would be to actually save the data as a separate spreadsheet (only you have permission to edit) on the expiration date(s) which you could also automate with a script. You could then use a series of importrange function(s) to create a list of read only information if you need the users to see it in the master sheet. Anyone who is an editor of the spreadsheet has the ability (perhaps not the knowledge) to get around your cell protection in various creative ways.
If you still insist on using cell protection to accomplish this it is very simple, use the Protection class and add a trigger to the project using the little clock in the script editor, Select event source Time-driven and time based trigger Specific date and time.

Answer 2

First you would need to protect the ranges, something that you can do easily through the web UI by selecting the range you want to protect, right-clicking and selecting Protect range. You can do it too via Apps Script, by running a function like this one:
function protectRangeA() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.openById("your-spreadsheet-id"); // Change accordingly
var sheetA = ss.getSheetByName("your-sheet-name"); // Change accordingly
var protection = sheetA.getRange("C2:F21").protect();
var me = Session.getEffectiveUser();
protection.addEditor(me);
protection.removeEditors(protection.getEditors());
if (protection.canDomainEdit()) {
protection.setDomainEdit(false);
}
}
This function gets a sheet with a certain name from a spreadsheet with a certain id (as others said before me, for security reasons - to avoid people messing with your script - it would be better if it was a standalone script, not bound to your spreadsheet), and protects the range C2:F21, using protect(), and you will be the only editor.
Second, you want to unprotect this range at a certain date, an protect it again at another date. To do that, you could create time-driven triggers. You could, for example, use an atDate trigger, that will run the function you specify at the year, month and day you specify. So, if you want to unprotect a range at 01.01.2020, you could, for example, have this function:
function createUnprotectTriggerA() {
ScriptApp.newTrigger("unprotectRangeA")
.timeBased()
.atDate(2020, 1, 1)
.create();
}
This will fire a function called unprotectRangeA near midnight of 01.01.2020 (+/- 15 minutes). The function that will be run at this time, then, should unprotect the desired range. It could be something on the following lines:
function unprotectRangeA() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.openById("your-spreadsheet-id"); // Change accordingly
var sheetA = ss.getSheetByName("your-sheet-name"); // Change accordingly
var protections = sheetA.getProtections(SpreadsheetApp.ProtectionType.RANGE);
for (var i = 0; i < protections.length; i++) {
var protection = protections[i];
if (protection.canEdit()) {
protection.remove();
}
}
}
This function uses getProtections to get all range protections that exist in the sheet and, before checking if the current user can edit them via canEdit(), it removes these with the use of remove().
And to protect it again at 05.01.2020, have this trigger, which will fire the function protectRangeA (previously defined) at this date:
function createProtectTriggerA() {
ScriptApp.newTrigger("protectRangeA")
.timeBased()
.atDate(2020, 1, 5)
.create();
}
Finally, because you want to protect/unprotect several ranges and you would need several triggers, you could call all the functions that create triggers in the same function, which you would have to run once to set all the triggers you need (I didn't define createProtectTriggerB and createUnprotectTriggerB but it would be the same as with the other range):
function createTriggers() {
createProtectTriggerA();
createUnprotectTriggerA();
createProtectTriggerB();
createUnprotectTriggerB();
}
Please beware that, as CodeCamper said, if users have permission to edit the spreadsheet, they could potentially use a script to mess up with your protections. So, depending on the people who are editing this, maybe you should have a copy of the spreadsheet that only you can access.
I hope this is of any help.