Timed based triggered Twilio SMS from Google Sheets - google-apps-script

Question

I am using the script to send time-based SMS for Date/Time row in a google sheet using Twilio example from this tutorial
https://github.com/jmadden/twilio-sms-for-google-sheets/blob/master/README.md
I have set up everything like on the tutorial and it works, sort off. Instead of the script sending the message at the exact time from the cells using the triggers, it sends an SMS at each trigger execution until the exact time has passed. So if the trigger is set to 5 min it will send an SMS every 5 minutes instead of checking when to send the SMS. Can anybody help with this issue?
// Gets predefined properties for this script. See: File -> Project properties -> Script properties
var prop = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties();
// Returns a specific Google Sheet by URL.
var spreadSheet = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl(prop.getProperty('spreadsheetUrl'));
// Defines how we want the date to be formatted for scheduling.
var dateFormat = prop.getProperty('DateFormat');
// Returns the specific sheet/tab inside a Google Sheed doc.
var sheet = spreadSheet.getSheets()[0];
// The Row where data starts. This skips the headers row.
var startRow = 2;
// Returns the number of rows with values in this sheet.
var numRows = sheet.getLastRow() - 1;
// Returns all the data to be processed in this sheet. i.e. to # and message body.
var data = sheet.getRange(startRow, 1, numRows, 4).getValues();
// Whenever this function is called it will send an SMS using Twilio
// if all of the required parameters are passed into the function.
function sendSms(to, body) {
// URL used for sending request to Twilio's Messages API. Be sure to include your Account SID
var messages_url = "https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/"+prop.getProperty('ACCOUNT_SID')+"/Messages.json";
// Parameters needed to send an SMS.
var payload = {
"To": "+"+to,
"Body" : body,
"From" : prop.getProperty('TWNUM')
};
// Contains the method of communicating with the API (POST) and the parameters needed to build a message.
var options = {
"method" : "post",
"payload" : payload
};
// Authorize your account to send this message.
options.headers = {
"Authorization" : "Basic " + Utilities.base64Encode(prop.getProperty('ACCOUNT_SID')+":"+prop.getProperty('AUTH_TOKEN'))
};
UrlFetchApp.fetch(messages_url, options)
}
// This function loops through your Google Sheet and uses the sendSms() function to send messages.
function sendAll() {
// For loop through your Google Sheet's data.
for (i in data) {
var row = data[i];
// Returns the Google Sheet's timezone info as an object.
var when = Moment.moment.tz(data[i][3], dateFormat, spreadSheet.getSpreadsheetTimeZone());
var now = new Date();
// Compares the current time to the "When" time in the sheet.
// Sends SMS if "When" time is older or equal to the current time.
if (isNaN(when) || !when.isValid() || (when.toDate() >= now)){
// Try sending SMS.
try {
response_data = sendSms(row[0], row[1]);
status = "sent";
} catch(err) {
Logger.log(err);
status = "error";
}
sheet.getRange(startRow + Number(i), 3).setValue(status);
}
}
}
// Runs the full script.
function runApp() {
sendAll();
}

Answer 1

I could not make sense of if (isNaN(when) || !when.isValid() || (when.toDate() >= now)) and why it puts the status string in place of the date/time with sheet.getRange(startRow + Number(i), 3).setValue(status); but here is something else you could try.
As there is a status column (the third one) which gets set with "send" after the row is processed, this can be used to prevent running the "send message" code again for the given row.
In the code you posted, replace the sendAll() function with the code below.
function sendAll() {
// For loop through your Google Sheet's data.
for (i in data) {
var row = data[i];
// Returns the Google Sheet's timezone info as an object.
var when = Moment.moment.tz(data[i][3], dateFormat, spreadSheet.getSpreadsheetTimeZone());
var now = new Date();
// Compares the current time to the "When" time in the sheet.
// Sends SMS if current time is older or equal to the time in the sheet.
if ((data[i][2] != "sent") && (now >= when.toDate())) {
// Try sending SMS.
try {
response_data = sendSms(row[0], row[1]);
status = "sent";
} catch (err) {
Logger.log(err);
status = "error";
}
sheet.getRange(startRow + Number(i), 3).setValue(status);
}
}
}