Create PDF copy of doc App script - google-apps-script

Question

I am attempting to create a PDF based on the entries in a spreadsheet with the basic flow of the following.
Fill in spreadsheet
Fire off the submit from a menu button (pop up for asking for Job Number)
Templated Doc gets a copy made and cell contents appended to a table in the copy doc.
Copy doc gets saved as a PDF in a specific folder.
copy of doc gets deleted.
I am just trying to get the process of getting the PDF created in the specified folder. It was working prior to my creating a copy of the Doc and just using the template so I am not sure why it will not work now. Any input would be appreciated as well as any info on how to append the cell data from the sheet into the copy of the doc. Newby to be sure so any help would be appreciated. Code attached
function createDoc () {
var job = Browser.inputBox('Enter Job Number', 'Job Number', Browser.Buttons.OK);
var dtStr = Utilities.formatDate(new Date(), "GMT", "MMddyy")
// create temp file before edited with spreadsheet data
var tmpName = "tmpname"
var folder = DriveApp.getFolderById('1C_k3MvoT33WhSXVNMmFQNFhqaW8')
var tmpl = DriveApp.getFileById('225xZAECq0rkdJnsr4k9VjL91B7vgJh8Y- t9YrsbCEgc').makeCopy(tmpName).getID();
// get document and make PDF in folder
var doc = DriveApp.getFileByID(tmpl).getAs("application/pdf");
var pdf = doc.setName(job +"-"+dtStr+".pdf");
folder.createFile(pdf)
}

Answer 1

I only see some typos in some functions names, remember Google Apps Script is a scripting language based on JavaScript, so:
JavaScript is a case-sensitive language. This means that language
keywords, variables, function names, and any other identifiers must
always be typed with a consistent capitalization of letters.
On this line:
var tmpl = DriveApp.getFileById('').makeCopy(tmpName).getID();
.getID() the D must be lowercase, just change it to .getId()
On this line:
doc = DriveApp.getFileByID(tmpl).getAs("application/pdf");
.getFileByID() the D must also be lowercase, just change it to .getFileById()
To delete the temporary document, you can use the removeFile() but first you need to get the file, not just the id, so I recommend before getting the id of the copy, you get the file and then get the file's id, like this:
var blob = DriveApp.getFileById('yourId').makeCopy(tmpName)
var tmpl = blob.getId();
Then after the creation of the pdf, you can delete with this:
folder.removeFile(blob);
To create Custom Menus, the official documentation has some good examples.
EDIT:
This is an example to append a table to a Google Doc that can get you started, the cell variable you can change it to the range of data of your Spreadsheet:
function appendTable(){
var document = DocumentApp.openById('docId');
var body = document.getBody();
var cells = [
['Row 1, Cell 1', 'Row 1, Cell 2'],
['Row 2, Cell 1', 'Row 2, Cell 2']
];
body.appendTable(cells);
document.saveAndClose();
}

Answer 2

I have included the simple of the code that I use for this same purpose. This includes a checker that denotes where the merge code is in the process. This is helpful when processing many rows at a time. It also provides the url of the created file. The way that I use this is with Google Forms where the data is sent to "Form Responses" and is then sent to "Merge Data" for continued functions using =QUERY().
This code leaves you with both the Google Doc and the final .pdf file. If you would like to have only the .pdf, simply repeat the .setTrashed() method on the Google Doc variable.
I do realize there are some redundencies in the code as the more complicated version contains vastly more if/else statements, condition checkers, data processing, etc. You can pare down the code as you see fit.
In my Google Sheet, the first two columns were the timestamp of submission and the name of the person submitting. These were used in the naming of the file.
function mergeApplication() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheet = ss.getSheetByName("Merge Data");
var range = sheet.getActiveRange();
var formSheet = ss.getSheetByName("Form Responses");
var lastRow = formSheet.getLastRow();
var lastColumn = sheet.getMaxColumns();
function checkAndComplete() {
var urlColumn = lastColumn;
var checkColumn = (urlColumn - 1);
var checkRange = sheet.getRange(2, checkColumn, (lastRow - 1), 1);
var check = checkRange.getBackgrounds();
var red = "#ff0404";
var yellow = "#ffec0a";
var green = "#3bec3b";
for (var i = 0; i < check.length; i++) {
if (check[i] == green) {
continue;
} else {
var statusCell = sheet.getRange((i+2), checkColumn, 1, 1);
var urlCell = sheet.getRange((i+2), urlColumn, 1, 1);
var dataRow = sheet.getRange((i+2), 1, 1, (lastColumn - 2));
function mergeTasks() {
function docCreator() {
var docTemplate = DriveApp.getFileById("docid");
var docToUse = docTemplate;
var folderDestination = DriveApp.getFolderById("folderid");
var name = sheet.getRange((i+2), 2, 1, 1).getValue();
var rawSubmitDate = sheet.getRange((i+2), 1, 1, 1).getValue();
var submitDate = Utilities.formatDate(rawSubmitDate, "PST", "MM/dd/yy");
var docName = "File Name - " + name + " - " + submitDate;
var docCopy = docToUse.makeCopy(docName, folderDestination);
var docId = docCopy.getId();
var docURL = DriveApp.getFileById(docId).getUrl();
var docToSend = DriveApp.getFileById(docId);
var docInUse = DocumentApp.openById(docId);
var docBody = docInUse.getBody();
var docText = docBody.getText();
function tagReplace() {
var taggedArray = docText.match(/\<{2}[\w\d\S]+\>{2}/g);
var headerArray = sheet.getRange(1, 1, 1, (lastColumn - 2)).getValues();
var dataArray = dataRow.getValues();
var strippedArray = [];
function tagStrip() {
for (var t = 0; t < taggedArray.length; t++) {
strippedArray.push(taggedArray[t].toString().slice(2, -2));
}
}
function dataMatch() {
for (var s = 0; s < strippedArray.length; s++) {
for (var h = 0; h < headerArray[0].length; h++) {
if (strippedArray[s] == headerArray[0][h]) {
docBody.replaceText(taggedArray[s], dataArray[0][h]);
}
}
}
docInUse.saveAndClose();
}
tagStrip();
dataMatch();
}
tagReplace();
statusCell.setBackground(yellow);
var pdfDocBlob = docToSend.getAs(MimeType.PDF);
var pdfDocInitial = DriveApp.createFile(pdfDocBlob).setName(docName);
var pdfDoc = pdfDocInitial.makeCopy(folderDestination);
pdfDocInitial.setTrashed(true);
urlCell.setValue(docURL);
}
statusCell.setBackground(red);
docCreator();
statusCell.setBackground(green);
}
mergeTasks();
}
}
}
checkAndComplete();
}
This process will run through systematically, takes about 5 seconds per row, and will be creating each file at the root of your Drive but quickly deletes it from the root. There may be a more simple way to perform this that saves space in your trash but I did not research more efficient methods.