Is there a way for a google spreadsheet to fetch and copy the scripts from a different spreadsheet?
I have a file that users make an individual version for them to use. The file also includes various scripts, including one that updates the sheets and formulas in case the master file changes.
However, I haven't found any way in which to update the scripts themselves. I can't deploy the script as an add-on because that function is blocked in my company.
Is there any other way to do it?
If you want to copy/update scripts in a sheet you can try using the Apps Script API.
Related
Is there a way to set an App Script on a new Google Sheet via the Google Sheets API? We use pygsheets as our Python API Client for Google Sheets. Since we are using the onSelectionChange trigger to populate certain cells with a date, we would like to setup the app script after we have populated rows in the spreadsheet.
The Google Sheets API doesn't have a method to do this. You can use the Apps Script API instead, but there are a few caveats which may or may not work with your use case:
You can use projects.create to create a new Apps Script project and attach it to a Sheets file by specifying the parentId field, which is the Sheet's ID. However, there are no methods to attach a preexisting script to a Sheet. You can still use projects.updateContent to add the required script files, though.
You cannot unbind the script once it has been attached.
This API does not work with service accounts, and the user running it needs to explicitly allow it in their settings page. This is for security reasons, since allowing a malicious app to freely write scripts on your account could be catastrophic, but it adds more steps that your users would need to take in order to run your app.
I have scenario where I have more than 60 sheet, and all have appscript project behind them running and managing those sheet.
I want to updat/control those appscript projects all at once, from one different project. So that I don't have to manually go and update them.
I know this solution where we can update it by manually getting OAuth Token from single appscript project but, Is there any way we can just mention sheetID and it updates project behind all those sheet all at once?
From the question
Is there any way we can just mention sheetID and it updates project behind all those sheet all at once?
There is no direct way to do this. Related issue Retrieving Project ID of Container-Bound script (created in 2018, as of the end of 2021 it still has the "New" status).
Assuming that by "SheetID" you mean the spreadsheet id, it's possible to use the Spreadsheet Service and the Drive Service to get a Class Spreadsheet or Class File object, respectively. Unfortunately those classes hasn't any method to retrieve the bounded Google Apps Script project.
The same for the Sheets API, Drive API and the Apps Script API.
The indirect way is to build a list of spreadsheets and their respective bounded scripts but it's clear that this is not what you are looking for. Anyway, build the list of spreadsheet/script projects pairs and store it somewhere (it might be an spreadsheet if the list is not humongous. CLAPS has a command to retrieve the list of the recent projects, and it's possible to get the container id from the script project metadata (see https://developers.google.com/apps-script/api/reference/rest/v1/projects/get)
Considering the above, the advice to make it easier to maintain your scripts "for the next time" is to either use a library or to create and add-on.
Resources
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/reference/spreadsheet/spreadsheet
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/reference/drive/file
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/api/reference/rest/v1/projects#Project
Related
How to programmatically create a list of Google Apps Script projects owned by me?
List Google app script projects
Google Apps Script: Get the ID of script bound to a spreadsheet
How to make Google Apps Script library always serve the latest version
If you're asking can you reference different codes from the same document but not the same sheet in a new code, the answer is yes. But, there is no way to manipulate this code other than editing the original code. I would recommend manually getting an OAuth Token from a single Apps Script Rroject.
A different way to control those Spreadsheets can be with a NodeJS project locally, using Clasp and Multi-clasp2 (https://www.npmjs.com/package/multi-clasp2).
I'm new to this google script thing so I'm not sure what should I do with this. So, I'm working with 8 folders with files with the same structure and scripts. So, when I opened my projects on the Google App Script. I currently have 178 projects. I just want to ask if the picture below is a normal thing or is there a way for me to minimize it since some of it has the same scripts? Can I use one project in multiple sheets?
As you can see in the picture below, I do have 8 ARCS_AP_ROWS since I duplicate the spreadsheet 8 times. The scripts in there were all the same.
The reason you are having a separate script for each spreadsheet is because you created container-bound scripts.
What are container-bound scripts?
According to the Apps Script documentation:
A script is bound to a Google Sheets, Docs, Slides, or Forms file if it was created from that document rather than as a standalone script. The file a bound script is attached to is referred to as a "container". Bound scripts generally behave like standalone scripts except that they do not appear in Google Drive, they cannot be detached from the file they are bound to, and they gain a few special privileges over the parent file.
TL;DR - they're scripts created for one particular document.
So even though you essentially have the same script, the document on which the script acts is different.
What you can do
Create a standalone script and use SpreadsheetApp.openById("SPREADSHEET_ID") and pass the SPREADSHEET_ID parameter in order to open a specific spreadsheet;
Create an add-on.
Reference
Container-bound Scripts;
Standalone Scripts;
Apps Script SpreadsheetApp Class - openById(id);
Google Workspace Add-ons.
I created a google app script that is bound to google sheet later I moved it as standalone script inside a google drive folder. I thought I will be able to reuse it across multiple sheet. Now I am not able to find any way to run standalone script inside my google sheets. Please suggest.
From your standalone script you can access your spreadsheets and work this way with your files.
Use something like this to get a set of spreadsheets (pseudocode)
var ssList = ['...','...']
for each element in ssList do:
SpreadsheetApp.openById(ssList[element]);
Then you can reuse your code and access multiple spreadsheets.
But it is not possible to access multiple apps script files, only one file is bound to your spreadsheet.
After reading up a lot on the Google Spreadsheet API I have come to the conclusion that formatting (such as merging cells, changing fonts etc) is only available throught the Apps scripts.
Since we need to create and fill the spreadsheets with data programatically using Java on the back-end I guess I need to somehow either;
link the new sheet to a Apps script that trigger on-load or
create a Apps script that creates the spreadsheet for me.
Anyone knows?
If you want to just "create" the spreadsheet, you don't need a script to load whenever it spreadsheet is opened. It's probably easier to develop a script that runs once and create the spreadsheet for you.
Another tip is to have a template file that you can copy with most of the formatting (if not all) already there. Possibly pending just little things that are related to the real data the new spreadsheet will have.
Edit to answer the question in the title.
No, you can not add a script to an existing spreadsheet programatically, only manually. What you can do is previously set up a template spreadsheet with a script in it and create new spreadsheets by copying this template.
(answering the comment)
You can run a script programatically, but not upload it. To run a script you can deploy it as a web-app and call its url with either a http get or post (will call its doGet or doPost functions, that you must have declared). Also, you could set this script to run on form submit of any spreadsheet-form and just submit a set of answers to this form. At last (that I can think of now) you could just add the script as a library in another Apps Script and call it directly.
(Aug 2016) There is no way programmatic way to link a Google Sheet and Apps Script code other than manually. Based on what it seems you want ("create and fill the spreadsheets with data programatically using Java"), you can now do it without Apps Script.
TL;DR: Above, #Henrique has answered multiple questions and even questions that weren't asked! The good news is that today, we have more answers representing alternate possible solutions to what you're seeking.
It's now possible to "upload" Apps Script code programmatically with the
import/export system, say with Eclipse since you're a Java developer (2013 announcement).
I agree with Henrique's suggestion that if you create a spreadsheet
template, i.e., Excel file, you can use the Google Drive API to
programmatically import/create identical Google Sheets with all your
desired formatting.
"Formatting (such as merging cells, changing
fonts etc)" can now be done outside of Apps Script, as there is a
"new" Google Sheets API v4 (not GData).
In order to use the new API, you need to get the Google APIs Client Library for Java and use the latest Sheets API, which is much more powerful and flexible than any previous API. Here's one code sample to help get you started. If you're not "allergic" to Python, I also made a video with a different, slightly longer example introducing the new API and gave a deeper dive into its code via a blogpost that you can learn from.
Note the v4 API allows you to create spreadsheets & sheets, upload & download data, as well as, in the general sense, programmatically access a Sheet as if you were using the user interface (create frozen rows, perform cell formatting, resizing rows/columns, adding pivot tables, creating charts, etc.), but to perform file-level access such as uploads & downloads, imports & exports (same as uploads & downloads but conversion to/from Google Apps formats), you would use the Drive API instead.