I am trying to create a script that edits a particular cell on a particular sheet every second with a random text like, "SetTime".
This Particular Cell is: X2
This Particular Sheet is: "System_Info"
You may ask why I need this, essentially, I have a cell that displays a time using the =NOW formula. When a spreadsheet is edited, it will refresh the =NOW formula.
So, I need a script that loops every second and runs a function that edits that cell.
I've used this:
setInterval(function(){ SpreadsheetApp.getSheet("System_Info").getRange('X2').setValue('SetTime'); }, 1000);
However, set interval is not defined.
Thanks for any help,
Shaun.
you are mixing server with client code. even if you use time driven apps script triggers its not possible because they run at most once a minute, and changes through api do not cause a refresh.
Alternative: go to spreadsheet menu,file,properties. Select the option to update calculated functions every minute. No script needed.
Here is a function that will update the time in a cell every second for 15 seconds. It should be at least a starting point for you.
function updateCell() {
for (i=0; i<15; i++){
Utilities.sleep(1000);
var date = new Date();
SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet().getRange("A1").setValue(date);
SpreadsheetApp.flush();
}
}
Related
I am using Google Sheet to manipulate data. I would like to automate one of my tasks.
Every Monday I check if my data has increased or decreased, for that I use a file that updates my data every week in a different row.
I would like to compare the last week with the one before. Basically, I would like to run a script that understands to compare one cell with the one right before so that I don't have to do it manually every week.
How can I do this with Google App Script ?
Thank you for your help!
Natacha
You can set up a Time-driven trigger to run once a week.
To compare one cell contents with another, you can use the getValue() method of the Range class:
const range1 = sheet.getRange("A1").getValue() // for example
const range2 = sheet.getRange("A2").getValue()
if (range1 < range2) {
}
else if (range1 > range2) {
}
// etc
I am running a python script that updates my google sheet (named 'Notifications') through the sheets api every 5 minutes. The python script first clears and resizes the sheet to only two rows and then adds the new data on top and the sheet's size gets automatically expanded. I've done that not to have empty rows if my new data is smaller in size than the old one.
So the sheet is updated every 5 minutes but if nothing new happened in my data source, the new values are going to be the same as the old. In particular, the value in 'A2' is going to be the same as before the update. If something new has happened, the value in 'A2' is going to be different. I want to track that and get a pop-up message that notifies me that something new has happened after the update.
So as far as I understand I have to use onChange because onEdit only works if the changes are made by a human and cannot track changes made by the api. I'm uncertain how to do that though.
With onEdit I've achieved it and get a pop-up if I modify the content of 'A2' manually but nothing happens when python updates my sheet.
Here's the code with onEdit:
function onEdit(e) {
if (e.range.getA1Notation() === 'A2') {
let oldValue = e.oldValue
let newValue = e.newValue
if (oldValue != newValue) {
Browser.msgBox('The value in A2 changed from ' + oldValue + ' to ' + newValue);
}
}
}
So the end goal is to get a pop-up not every time python updates my sheet, but only if there's a change in the value of 'A2' after the update.
How can I do this?
The only way to get a pop-up when a a change is made through an API is by using polling function from client-side code. One way to do this is by using a sidebar to hold the client-side code.
You should store somewhere the old values then compare with the current values.
Related
How do I make a Sidebar display values from cells?
How to get all old values for a mulitple cell range with onEdit trigger
onEdit(e) not generating trigger event when cell value changes due to inbuilt function
You can use onChange trigger with a "ValueInputOption"="USER_ENTERED" to trigger a function when a script edits a sheet. But you can't show anything in the UI from the triggered context so getting a pop up will be impossible.
I have a function that copies rows from one sheet to another, which works when I run it manually:
function updateDataRange() {
var formSheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName("Form Responses 1");
var lastFormRow = formSheet.getLastRow();
var dataSheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName("DataRange");
dataSheet.clear();
for(var rowCounter = 1; rowCounter <= lastFormRow; rowCounter++) {
var sourceRange = formSheet.getRange('B'+rowCounter+':H'+rowCounter);
var insertRow = dataSheet.getLastRow() + 1;
var targetRange = dataSheet.getRange('A'+insertRow);
sourceRange.copyTo(targetRange);
}
}
However, when I run this via a trigger (e.g. function onEdit(e) { updateDateRange(); } ), there are gaps in the rows and some of the values will be left out. In this case, I know there is a "fix" by using rowCounter instead of insertRow to write the files instead of using getLastRow(), but one can easily see how this is a problem in another scenario.
So I guess my question is simple: Why isn't this working correctly when using a trigger?
Edit: To clarify, I have a 3rd sheet with some conditions/cells (i.e. conditions that influence which rows are to be copied) and changing them (like changing a different date) trigger the function.
Explanation:
You are using an onEdit trigger to capture sheet changes. But onEdit triggers work only when the user changes the value of a cell. Referencing the official documentation:
The onEdit(e) trigger runs automatically when a user changes the value
of any cell in a spreadsheet.
In your case, I think you are trying to execute this code when the Form Responses sheet is filled in with data by the form.
There are two kind of trigger functions that work with form submissions and they are both installable.
One is a google sheet event based trigger and the other one a form event based trigger.
Your goal is to execute some code from the google sheets side, so it makes sense to use the first one.
Modifications:
Change the name of the function from onEdit to a different name of your choice e.g. myFormSubmitTrigger.
Since the trigger is installable you need to "install" a onFormSubmit trigger for the myFormSubmitTrigger function. Here you can find some simple instructions on how to do that.
If your question is why doesn't your function work when the form makes changes to sheet Form Responses 1 then Marios has answered you question accept it and move on. If your trying to run your function when a user is making edits to sheet Form Responses 1 using a simple trigger then a possible explanation for not getting all of the rows completely copied is that simple trigger must complete in 30 seconds. If you continue to accept more data in Form 1 Responses then soon or later you will have problems but with this function it will be a lot later because it will run much faster than your code:
function updateDataRange() {
const sss=SpreadsheetApp.openById('ssid');
const ssh=e.source.getSheetByName('Form Responses 1');
const sr=2;
const svs=ssh.getRange(sr,2,sh.getLastRow()-ssr+1,7).getValues();
const dsh=e.source.getSheetByName('DataRange');
dsh.clear();
dsh.getRange(1,1,svs.length,svs[0].length).setValues(svs);
}
However, I would recommend that you never edit a form responses sheet. I would consider using the onFormSubmit trigger to capture all of the data to a second sheet that is available to edit. And it will have additional data automatically appended to it via dsh.appendRow(e.values). And so now you would no longer require an onEdit trigger because your data sheet is kept upto data with an onFormSubmit trigger and you may feel free to edit the datasheet any time you wish.
If neither of these questions suffices then I would recommend that you be more clear about what you are asking.
function All() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
ss.getRange('Página1!A6').setFormula('=IF(ISEVEN(MINUTE(NOW())),"Ok","Error")')
ss.getRange('Página1!A6').copyTo(ss.getRange('Página1!A6'), SpreadsheetApp.CopyPasteType.PASTE_VALUES, false);
if (ss.getSheetByName('Página1').getRange("A6").getValues()[0][0]=="Ok"){
//History
ss.getRange('Página1!D1').setFormula('=IFERROR(FILTER({C:C;H1},{C:C;H1}<>""))');
ss.getRange('Página1!D1:D').copyTo(ss.getRange('Página1!C1'),
}
}
Google has triggers every 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes and 30 minutes.
For this model, I use the 1 minute trigger!
To bypass this and be able to turn it on every 2 minutes instead of 1 minute (because it weighs a lot in the spreadsheet and occasionally creates errors), to deflect this I created this model where it analyzes if the minute of the current time is odd or even. If even, it activates the rest of the script, if odd it ends without doing anything else.
I would like to know if I could do this same thing, but instead of throwing the function into a cell, copy the value so that the formula NOW() doesn't keep updating all the time and so on ... same step but directly in the script, without moving the spreadsheet with unnecessary calls.
And if it would also be possible to do this to set the script to work every 3 minutes instead of 2 minutes as I managed to do.
Instead of using a sheet with a formula to determine if the minute is even or odd, you can use the Apps Script alternative.
I am using the %(Remainder) operator to get the reminder of a division by 2. If it's zero then the number is odd.
The equivalent for MINUTE(NOW()) is achieved with the Javascript Date new Date().getMinutes()
function myFunction() {
if (new Date().getMinutes()%2==0) { //If the minute is odd.
//Your code here
} //No need for else.
}
Instead of modifying your spreadsheet use the Properties Service to store the last time you script ran. Bear in mind that the Properties Service only stores strings, so you will have to convert the Date object to an string an viceversa.
Related
How can I modify a trigger so that it emails upon edit, but not so quickly?
Alright, I'm stuck.
I've got a sheet that an entire team of people use to communicate with each other and sign up for timeslots for internal logins.
I've got the sheet formatting performing the way I want to, but, it's too easily edited by people, because they have to be able to edit the values in the cells.
It's currently running Conditional Formatting rules, based upon time/date. Basically, if the cell's timeslot has passed, then it's blacked out. It is also blacked out if the cell isn't associated with the current day.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TP5iJ9AA_xqDQPiyl89ntZehd7aqDPELcN0bRMGP-SU/edit?usp=sharing
I'm trying to create a script that "onEdit" will restore any formatting (not the value) that had been changed during the edit.
Got it this far, but I'm struggling to make it conditional like the UI rules allow me to do.
function myFunction() {
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName('Sheet1');
var range1 = sheet.getRange('A1:B10');
range1.mergeAcross()
range1.setBackground('white');
range1.setBorder(true,true,true,true,true,true);
range1.setFontColor('black');
range1.setFontFamily('Arial');
range1.setFontSize(10);
range1.setFontWeight("normal");
range1.setFontStyle("normal");
range1.setHorizontalAlignment("left");
range1.setVerticalAlignment("center");
range1.setWrap(false);
}
Here's where I'm struggling (notes inserted)
function myFunction() {
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName('Sheet1');
var range1 = sheet.getRange('A1:B10'); // I'd have this repeated for multiple ranges
range1.mergeAcross()
range1.setBackground('white'); // Need an "IF" argument for this, such as if today is Wednesday and time is before 2:30pm, then white, otherwise black. Could probably put this at a different point in the script.
range1.setBorder(true,true,true,true,true,true); // All the following attributes would simply restore defaults
range1.setFontColor('black');
range1.setFontFamily('Arial');
range1.setFontSize(10);
range1.setFontWeight("normal");
range1.setFontStyle("normal");
range1.setHorizontalAlignment("left");
range1.setVerticalAlignment("center");
range1.setWrap(false);
}
Thanks in advance for any help you might offer!
Adam
I've actually been trying to deal with this same problem.
Sadly, google scripts doesn't seem to have a way programmatically set the conditional programming. (Here's a link to the issue. You can cast a vote at the bottom on to get them to implement it)
However, I think you might be able to implement a solution to your problem it by scratch.
The onEdit trigger passes a variable to the function it's assigned to.
function testOnEdit(e) {
Logger.log(JSON.stringify(e));
}
Here is an example of the JSON from the event object for onEdit.
{"range":{"columnStart":3,"rowStart":2,"rowEnd":2,"columnEnd":3},"source":{},"value":"I typed this into B3!","authMode":{},"triggerUid":*********}
You might be able to use this to directly reset the format of the cells they edit. BUT... Unfortunately, onEdit is only fired when a range's values are changed--not when formatting is changed, not when data validation is changed, not when conditional formatting is changed--so to catch the cases that some rouge user decides that purple looks nice, you may want to also make the script run every minute using a timed trigger (but you need to make sure it doesn't take too long to run since it will be going off every minute and google puts a limit on total amount of time triggers can run).
As for comparing dates, these functions may be useful, but be warned that they return the local time (if you have users from multiple time zones you may need to convert to UTC).
function myFunction() {
var date = new Date();
date.getDay(); // the value returned by getDay() is the index of the day of the week, where 0 is Sunday, 1 is Monday...
date.getHours(); // the value returned by getHours() is an integer between 0 and 23
date.getMinutes(); // the value returned by getMinutes() is the current minute in the range 0-60
}
Since I too am dealing with this problem, I plan to add more insight to this solution later. Let me know if you have any insights, Adam.