Cannot find method getRange(number,(class),number) - google-apps-script

Question

I have read all answers about this error, but none of them work for me. So maybe someone has another idea.
I'm trying to pass parameter to function getRange but when I'm trying to invoke this function it shows me error
Cannot find method getRange(number,(class),number)
Here is my code:
function conditionalCheck(color,rangeCondition, rangeSum, criteria){
var condition = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet().getRange(2,rangeCondition,15).getValues();
var val = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet().getRange(2,rangeSum,15).getValues();
var bg = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet().getRange(2,rangeSum,15).getBackgrounds();
var sum = 0;
for(var i=0;i<val.length;i++){
if(condition[i][0] == criteria && bg[i][0] != color){
sum += val[i][0];
}
}
return sum;
}
And I pass a custom function like:
conditionalCheck("#ffff00",1,3,A3)
This is how the sheet looks like:
I understand that JS trying to guess the type of parameters, that is why it thinks that ex. "rangeCondition" is a class, but I don't know how to give him a Number type.
Funny thing is, that this function works when I open the spreadsheet, but when I'm trying to invoke this function while I'm working it shows me this error. So to update sheet I have to reopen the whole spreadsheet.

Answer 1

I was able to reproduce the error by executing the function directly from the editor.
This behavior makes sense, considering custom function needs to receive a valid parameter. At runtime, your 'rangeSum' parameter is set to 'undefined', which invalidates the getRange() method as it requires a number.
It's actually quite strange that you got your 'for' loop working. In most cases, using the the '+' operator on array values obtained from the sheet will concatenate them into a string, so you'll get '5413' instead of 13 (5 + 4 + 1 + 3)
function calculateSum(column) {
column = column||1; //set the default column value to 1
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
var range = sheet.getRange(1, column, sheet.getLastRow());
var values = range.getValues();
var sum = 0;
for (var i=0; i < values.length; i++) {
sum += parseInt(values[i]);
}
return sum;
}
Finally, this approach is not very efficient in terms of performance. Once you get the instance of the object, you should use that instance instead of attacking the server with multiple calls like you do in the first 3 lines of your code. For example
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheet = ss.getActiveSheet();
var range = sheet.getRange(1, 1, sheet.getLastRow(), 1);
If you plan on using this custom function in multiple places within the sheet, consider replacing it with the script that processes the entire range - this way you will only perform a single read and write operation to update all values. Otherwise, you may end up filling up your service call quotas very quickly
UPDATE
Instead of creating custom function, create the function that takes the entire range and processes all data in one call. You can test the 'calculateSum()' function above with predefined column number, e.g.
var column = 1 // the column where you get the values from
Upon getting the 'sum' value, write it into the target range
var targetRange = sheet.getRange("B1"); // the cell that you write the sum to
targetRange.setValue(sum);
Finally, you can make that function execute after you open or edit the sheet by appending the following code
function onOpen() {
var ui = SpreadsheetApp.getUi();
var menu = ui.createMenu('Menu')
.addItem('Calculate sum', 'calculateSum')
.addToUi();
calculateSum();
}
function onEdit() {
calculateSum();
}
Calling it from the custom menu would be simple - you just need to create the handler and pass function name as parameter.

Answer 2

I found a solution for a problem with reloading custom function after changing data.
The solution is described here:
Refresh data retrieved by a custom function in google spreadsheet
It showed that we cannot refresh custom function if we don't change inputted parameters because it is cached. So if we change inputted data, a function will reload. We can force a function if we put there timestamp