I thought by using "Save a Copy" from a bound script, I would create a standalone version.
After I copied the script, I wasn't able to find the script from my Google Drive. Is it possible to do what I'm trying to do?
When you "make a copy" of a bound script you end up with two script projects bound to the same container.
As far as I know the only option is to create a new stand alone script from scratch, re-create any files, and copy/paste the contents over manually.
Depending on your goal, another option is to keep the existing script container-bound, but access it as a library from a stand-alone script.
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guide_libraries
2018 update:
Google now offers an Apps Script API for remote management of Apps Scripts, and the CLASP utility for managing Apps Script from the command line. You can now use these to copy the contents of a container bound apps script and populate a stand-alone script.
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/api/
https://github.com/google/clasp
Related
I copied a spreadsheet to be used by multiple people with script attached. My question is how do I modify script in the project without having to copy and paste each change to .gs files in the project?
This is the base document from which the other versions were copied:
Create a central script and then publish it as a library. Have your template linked to the library. Make sure that the template is using the "dev" version of the library so that any future changes will be reflected for everyone.
There ARE ways to manipulate the GS files using clasp but it is much less straightforward than using libraries and overkill for this use case.
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/libraries
Yes, it's possible to "upload" a .gs file to an existing Google Apps Script project. To do this you might use CLASP, GAS GitHub Assistant (a Chrome extension) or directly the Google Apps Script API.
Please bear in mind that you also could alleviate these pains (having to update the bounded to spreadsheet GAS project copies) by taking a different approach. You could use libraries or to create a Workspace Editor add-on.
Libraries help by keeping a big part of your code in a single place but you might still have to update the copies i.e. if you are using simple triggers like onOpen and onEdit or if you change library function name, add a new function, etc.
Add-ons help by keeping all the code in a single place bu you have to publish the add-on to the Google Workspace Marketplace. If you have a Google Workspace account the add-on can be published for internal use.
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.
When I click on Tools -> Script Editor in a Google Doc, I am presented with the following screen, whereas before I would be directed straight to the script editor:
I am worried that there are now two instances of my script. Is there a place I can easily see and manage the scripts and projects in Google Apps Script? I have checked out Google Cloud Platform Project through the script editor menu (Resources -> Cloud Platform project), but the resulting dashboard is not very intuitive to me.
As some background: I was trying to test Google Apps Script code deployment using Clasp and after the test, I wound up with the above issue. I don't know if the issue came about when I used Clasp commands or if it was when I copied the existing document before trying out Clasp.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any info is appreciated.
You can bind multiple script projects to a container (the container in this case being your document).
When you have multiple projects bound to a container and you open the script editor, you are provided with a menu with a list of your projects.
You can easily delete the duplicate project. Just select it, and then when you're in the Apps Script GUI editor, navigate to File > Delete Project.
G-Suite Developer Hub
You can access all of your scripts at G-Suite Developer Hub. You can even monitor script performance from there.
Same Named Scripts
You will want to avoid scripts with the same name within a project but it's okay if they are in different projects.
Backups
If you want to make a backup of a project you can just copy it. In the case of a container app you can make a copy of the container and you will be making a copy of the scripts it contains at the same time.
I'm writing some script for my Documents, Spreadsheets and Gmail. I would like to know if there is a way to save all my script to separate files in a specific google drive folder. I don't like having to go to the backend of my Documents and Spreadsheets in order to edit my script.
Would I have to call the document from my script using "getByID" or is there another way?
Yes, when you create a new document in Drive you can select Script. If you don't see the script option, try going here.
You will, however, need to call your document using getByID. There my be other complexities if you are using onEdit type triggers.
A lot more information can be found under the Types of Scripts heading at Google Apps Scripts Documentation.
You could go advanced and pull your script in behind the Document as a Library and then using the script behind the Doc to make the calls to the library, but that's a bigger discussion.
Excel supports the concept of a PERSONAL.XLS file which contains my personal scripts, which I want to be able to use on any spreadsheet/workbook that I open.
How do I do similar in Google Docs, i.e. have a set of scripts which, regardless of which Google Spreadsheet I open, will cause the onOpen event to be run and will thus add my extra menu?
You cannot do that in Google Spreadsheets. However the best practice is to
Write a standalone script with your onOpen and other functions.
Publish this as a library
Write a shell onOpen in each of the spreadsheets that you create
manually. :( This shell function will call the library's onOpen.
However, if you create a copy of a spreadsheet that has an associated script, then the copy will also have the script in it.
1) You can open your Script and from the Publish menu select "Test as add-on".
2) Now under "Configure New Test" you can select a document and then run the add-on for that doc.
Unfortunately you have to do this for each document one at a time. I would really love it if there was a way to tell a script to be available for all my spreadsheets, or at least have an easy way to install a personal add-on on a per-sheet basis just like you can install an add-on from the marketplace, kinda like a personal marketplace.
Although not recommended, You can also copy set of scripts to all other google spreadsheets programmatically using AppsScriptApi