Script for scheduling busy times, similar to a calendar - google-apps-script

Question

I am working on a "vehicle scheduler" for my workplace that will display the dates and times a truck will be unavailable. Here's the link to the Google Sheets where the script runs. I have set up two example "busy times" to show what I am doing
One adjustment that was requested from me is to do 30 minute increments, but then the amount of columns gets absolutely bonkers.
I am open to any recommendations to improve this tool, even if it means something better (and free) already exists.
I appreciate your input!
See code below... (I am RIDICULOUSLY novice at coding, so be kind :)
function processForm(formObject){
var day = formObject.dow;
var vehicle = formObject.vehicle;
var jobName = formObject.job;
var driverName = formObject.driver;
var duration = formObject.duration;
var startTime = formObject.startTime;
var ampm = formObject.ampm;
var location = formObject.location;
var returnArray = [day, vehicle, jobName, driverName, duration, startTime, ampm, location]
var startTimeColumn = 0;
var startDayColumn = 2;
var sduration = startTime;
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName("Week View");
if (day=="Monday"){
startDayColumn = 26;
}
else if (day=="Tuesday"){
startDayColumn = 50;
}
else if (day=="Wednesday"){
startDayColumn = 74;
}
else if (day=="Thursday"){
startDayColumn = 98;
}
else if (day=="Friday"){
startDayColumn = 122;
}
else if (day=="Saturday"){
startDayColumn = 146;
}
if (ampm=="PM"){
startDayColumn+=12;
}
if (startTime==12){
startTime = 0;
}
startTimeColumn = parseInt(startTimeColumn) + parseInt(startDayColumn) + parseInt(startTime);
var columnA = ss.getRange(1,1,ss.getLastRow(),1).getValues();
for (var rr=0;rr<ss.getLastRow();rr++){
if (columnA[rr]==vehicle){
break;
}
}
rr +=1;
for (var cc=0; cc<duration; cc++){
var checkColumn = parseInt(cc) + parseInt(startTimeColumn);
if (ss.getRange(rr, checkColumn).isBlank()){}
else return "It looks like that time is booked :(";
}
var displayString = "Job: " + jobName + String.fromCharCode(10) + "Driver: " + driverName + String.fromCharCode(10) + sduration + ":00 " + ampm + String.fromCharCode(10) + location;
var merging = ss.getRange(rr,startTimeColumn,1,duration).mergeAcross();
var enterInfo = ss.getRange(rr, startTimeColumn).setValue(displayString);
if (rr % 2 == 0){
enterInfo.setBackgroundRGB(45, 114, 157);
}
else {enterInfo.setBackgroundRGB(26, 153, 136);}
enterInfo.setFontColor('white')
return "Success! Load has been booked to the scheduler.";
}

Answer 1

Instead of making Sheets jump thru hoops and create a interface for inserting data and a Calendar to show it, why not use Forms and Calendar to do it all?
What I have in mind
Sheets as a long-time database for Truck Information and schedules
Calendar as a way to visualize the availability of Trucks
Forms as a interface for data-input
Set-up
A Spreadsheet file with a "List of Trucks" Sheet.
A Form attached to it that allows users to insert information about the truck booking.
To make this work, I have inputted some data on out List of Trucks:
Then I associated a form with that sheet and setup some basic questions:
I also modified the forms settings to allow people to edit it on the future, this will allow us to add information to the calendar to tie an event with a response form the form.
I added a script to the Forms that populates the first question with the data from our sheets:
function populateForm() {
var form = FormApp.getActiveForm();
var TruckIdQ = form.getItems()[0];
var truckList = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl("YOUR SHEET URL").getSheetByName("List of Trucks").getDataRange().getValues().map(function (row) { return row[0]});
truckList.shift(); //Remove header
var choices = [];
for (var i=0; i< truckList.length; i++) {
choices.push(TruckIdQ.asListItem().createChoice(truckList[i]));
}
TruckIdQ.asListItem().setChoices(choices);
}
And set it to be run when the form is opened:
After that I went back to my sheets and modified the automatic Responses sheet to have a more understandable name: "Bookings".
Now we need to create a shared calendar to put all this information on it.
I created one named "Truck Booking Calendar" in the following way:
I then created a new Script on the Forms responsible for populating the calendar with information.
function populateCalendar(e) {
var bookingCalendar = CalendarApp.getCalendarById("CALENDAR ID");
var questions = FormApp.getActiveForm().getItems();
var response = e.response.getItemResponses();
var eventDescription = "";
var truckname;
var fromDate, toDate;
var fromTime, toTime;
for (var i=0; i< questions.length; i++) {
eventDescription = eventDescription + questions[i].getTitle() + " : " + response[i].getResponse() + "\n";
switch (i) {
case 0:
//Truck Id
truckname = response[i].getResponse();
break;
case 1:
//From Date
fromDate = response[i].getResponse();
break;
case 2:
//To Date
toDate = response[i].getResponse();
break;
case 3:
//From Time
fromTime = response[i].getResponse();
break;
case 4:
//To Time
toTime = response[i].getResponse();
break;
}
}
var startDateTime = new Date(fromDate + " " + fromTime);
var endDateTime = new Date(toDate + " " + toTime);
var newEvent = bookingCalendar.createEvent("Booking "+truckname, startDateTime, endDateTime, {description:eventDescription});
newEvent.setTag("truck", truckname);
newEvent.setTag("responseId", e.response.getEditResponseUrl());
newEvent.setTag("responseUrl", e.response.getId());
}
And created a trigger for it like this:
Now, when I submit this into the form:
I get this entry on my calendar:
Hope this helps you!