I wrote short script for numbering of document sections. But every time when I want to use it in new document I must create new copy of that. I tryed to publish the script by option "Deploy as web app..." but it is not clear how to connect it in new document. Is it possible? I have few documents in Google Drive and few copies of same script for each of document. Can I connect every document to one script? Thanks a lot!
This is not possible for now, there is an open enhancement request that you could star to mark your interest and be informed if something new comes up...
I had a similar problem.
The leaner solution that I was able to imagine is to keep the function in a saparate, shared script file. In the spreadsheet script, you will use the shared script file as a library.
In this way, your logic remains in a single copy, the actual part of the logic that is copied several time is only a call to a shared function.
Related
Is it possible to add the same custom menu to every new google document? The goal is to make a local script function like an installed app.
This seems like it should be easy but I can't seem to find a way to do it. I'm using a standard account for personal use. I've created a script attached to the original document and also made copy as a stand alone script. (I'm not sure that makes a difference.) I've searched and read about deployment and it seems to be only useful for a domain account or publicly as an app. I've played a little with scripting but this is the first attempt to get a script working "globally".
Any help will be most appreciated.
I found a way to do this in an old example at: https://sites.google.com/site/scriptsexamples/custom-methods/2d-arrays-library.
The script is in a project and that needs to be connected to the current doc. The onOpen() script is a UI that contains the line:
.addItem('Select Phrase', 'PS.showPrompt')
where PS is the name of the attached library. Once this is done, as you said, you can make a copy and use it with the script active.
It is a little slow as they describe about using a library, but is make the code easier to maintain. Thanks to all for the direction to look.
What we do is create a copy of the original document (the document with the attached google apps script). The script is copied along with it and the copied document has the exact same functionality (menus, custom functions, etc).
You could create a Google Docs Add-On using an independent Apps Script script and then install your Add-On globally. For more information regarding its installation check this documentation. However you would need to run this Add-On on the new documents to get your desired menu.
I have created some content bounded scripts (Tools->Script Editor) for private use. The scripts add a sidebar, and use a timer to copy the content from the sidebar to a Google document at the cursor position. It is important that the insertion happens at the cursor.
I want to share these scripts with others, as well as add them to old documents. All suggestions I have seen so far involves creating a template document with these scripts and then sharing the template document. This option is not feasible for me. One of the concerns is, these scripts need to be added to existing documents. Creating a new document, and merging it with the old one is not working (the original documents are complex, and migrated documents loose formatting).
Is there an easy way to share/insert these scripts? So far, I have failed to implement any of the below obvious options:
Export Script Editor project to somewhere, and then import it in another document.
Create an app script in drive, and then import it in an existing document.
Publish this as add-on (N/A since this is not a public project, and not complete yet either).
I'm not sure if it is feasible to publish my scripts as a webapp, then write a simple container-bound application to call my webapp with document id as suggested at Deploying container-bound Google Apps Script as Web App
However, this requires webapp to insert the text at cursor position of the active window. I doubt that is possible.
I'm hoping that somebody found an easier way, and willing to share it.
I appreciate any help.
Sincerely,
Converting your script to an add-on is the recommended way to distribute across multiple users and documents. We understand this solution doesn't always work when the script is not meant for general consumption. Add-ons can be published only to a single domain however, so if all of your users are within a Google Apps domain then add-ons may still be an option.
I have been trying all day and I found this:
http://www.jellybend.com/2012/12/19/monitor-google-drive-folders-with-google-apps-script/
The attached script worked only partially for me. It doesn't respond to change to the subfolders even there are files inside the subfolders (eg. rename/delete the subfolder). It also seems to have errors if I delete and re-add the same file to the folder again, it just doesn't email me for the newly added "old file".
I also found this:
https://developers.google.com/drive/v2/reference/changes/list#examples
but unfortunately I am not really sure what those parameters are and I am just inexperienced in writing something like that.
Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
The file monitoring code at that link, is an Apps Script bound to a Sheet. An Apps Script can be bound to a Sheet, Doc, Form or Site. An Apps Script can also be a stand alone application. So, any code you may want to write, does not need to be in a spreadsheet.
An Apps Script can be set up to have a Time-driven event trigger.
There is also a Script Service to build Clock Triggers.
ClockTriggerBuilder Class
Using Time Driven Event Trigger, or a Clock Trigger you could use the getSize() method to return the amount of disk space used by the item:
Class - Folder - getSize Method
// This example logs the first file's size in bytes
// Note: This can also be used on a folder to get the size of its contents
var file = DocsList.getAllFiles[0];
Logger.log(file.getSize());
Of course, you would need to know what the original size of the folder or file was, and so you would need to store the current size somewhere. You could create a file for storing that information, or use the built in database that Apps Script has.
For storing your historical folder or file information you could use ScriptDB.
ScriptDB
Quote:
ScriptDB is a JavaScript object database for Google Apps Script. Each script project gets a database, which the script can use to save, update, and search JavaScript object data.
You could write historical file and folder info to a spreadsheet or document also.
Depending on who owns the file, and who is accessing the file, permissions would need to be granted, or you'd need to use oAuth2 to authenticate who has access to the file and folder information.
If you can't write all the code yourself, you could set up a shared Apps Script file, or find some other way to have people collaborate on the project.
I've been researching this on my own for some time and came up with a script bound to a spreadsheet as well. Hope it can help someone, as it seems that a lot of people are looking for something similar. My script is monitoring a folder and sends notification to all the current viewers of the folder as soon as there is new file added. Trigger to run the script could be set depending on the needs of the user. In my case hourly worked just fine.
Spread Sheet with the script: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CzVADjUTT2d9Y5OGDOnv37mCaO49kPt4RmnyZgzjTKA/edit#gid=0
If you would like to try this script just make sure you are logged in with your google account when you open the link and you should be able to make a copy of the spreadsheet.
This Google Script will send an email notification to you or other email addresses when a file in a Google Drive folder has been added, renamed, changed, or modified. http://baumbach.com/google-script-2/
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.
I have one master spreadsheet and a number of copies. This master spreadsheet uses some scripting.
Is it possible to link all the copies of this master spreadsheet to the same script as in the master spreadsheet?
Objective:
changes in the scripting in the master spreadsheet are automatically used by the copies
aka: low maintenance
amleczko is right: you should use the new library feature in Google Apps script.
However, as of today, you won't be able to do exactly what you want (using the same script for several spreadsheets). What you can do instead is save a version of your script (Files > Manage Versions...), in order to create a library. Then, import this library in the other spreadsheets (Resources > Manage Libraries...). Switch on the "development mode" so every change made do the library will immediately take affect in the spreadsheets using this library. Otherwise, you will have to save a new version of the library for every change, and manually update the version number of the library in every spreadsheets using it.
The problem is, you need to write a script in every spreadsheets using your library, with skeleton functions like this:
function doSomething(){
myLibrary.doSomething();
}
best way is to publish as add-on, then install the add-on, it will appears in every spreadsheet you open. and you can publish as private, which only seen by yourself.
I think this has changed. According to Issue 40 starting from 22 May 2012 there is such a possibility. Please check:
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guide_libraries
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guide_versions
http://googleappsdeveloper.blogspot.it/2012/05/introducing-versions-and-libraries-in.html
It's not possible in this way that you're thinking. At least, not yet (see issue 40).
But, depending on your script usage, you may connect them "the hard way" or even better, use only one script. The script on the master spreadsheet can open the other spreadsheet files and do its job "remotely". It's not required that script to be hosted on a spreadsheet to interact with it (read/write on it). You only need a script hosted on the spreadsheet if you're going to use spreadsheet events triggers i.e. on-open, on-edit and on-form-submit.
Maybe you can develop a nice UI for the script on the master sheet and publish it as service. Then only have a link on the copies to access the same UI on a different browser tab. Adding parameters to the link the script UI can even adapt to the particular spreadsheet that is "triggering" it.
Well, that's all I can imagine now. But, unfortunately, there's some use cases that just don't fit this nice "workarounds". For those, one can only star issue 40 (to kind of vote and keep track of updates) and hope it's developed soon.
The solution I put in place in this context was to have a Google Site, where the Master Script is embedded, and where the Spreadsheet is embedded too
Then, the script, refering to a dedicated spreadsheet, looks for the Google Site Page's name, looks in the Master spreadsheet and get the ID of the spreadsheet which is embedded in the Page.
I have solved this problem when using a script which auto generates spreadsheets.
Typically, I will add a sheet to any spreadsheet with a script called "Info." I'll use that to store information that it important to the script. In my script which auto generates more spreadsheets, I keep track of the ID of the created sheet. This way, I can then quickly call up all of the "linked" sheets, and interact with them with using the same script. It might even be worth writing the script in one sheet, and keeping it totally separate from your Master sheet or it's children.
Take a look at this function, it might give you some ideas.
SpreadsheetApp.openById(id)