Avoiding Exceeded maximum execution time while trying to copy files - google-apps-script

Question

Hey every one this is my first time posting here, usually I find answers here but this time I had to ask.
So I'm trying to create 12 folders with months names and create 31 files in each one of them , the files are a copy of existing spreadsheet file.
I'v succeeded in writing script that works but after creating 3-4 months it stops and throws "Exceeded maximum execution time", now I did some reading and understand that there is time limit of something like 5 minutes - and as you can see in the code below my way of doing things isn't the most efficient maybe , now the only idea I got is to save the original file data inside blob and then read from that blob while creating the new files - that way avoiding large number of calls and making things faster, but when I tried to createFile(blob) I get PDF as output , which isn't my intention.
function create_months(month_name)
{
var testingfolder = DocsList.getFolder("testing");
var targetFolder = testingfolder.createFolder(month_name);
var mainDoc = DocsList.getFileById('original file id');
for(var i=1;i<32;i++)
{
mainDoc.makeCopy(i).addToFolder(targetFolder);
var root = DocsList.getRootFolder();
var file = root.find(i);
file[0].removeFromFolder(root);
}
}
//array of months in hebrew
year = ['ינואר','פברואר','מרץ','אפריל','מאי','יוני','יולי','אוגוסט','ספטמבר','אוקטובר','נובמבר','דצמבר'];
function create(){
for(var i=0;i<=12;i++)
{
create_months(year[i]);
}
}
Thanks in advance :)

Answer 1

Your code seems fine, aside from the "error by 1" on your loop in the create function (it should be I i < 12, not <=. If your script ever got to the end you would have a undefined month as your month_name on create_months.
If you said 3-4 months work, I recommend you do only 3 months at time. If you're running this manually. The easiest solution is just to wait, then run again, then again, etc. e.g.
function create1stQuarter() {
for( var i = 0; i < 3; ++i )
create_months(year[i]);
}
function create2ndQuarter() {
for( var i = 3; i < 6; ++i )
create_months(year[i]);
}
function create3rdQuarter() {
for( var i = 6; i < 9; ++i )
create_months(year[i]);
}
function create4thQuarter() {
for( var i = 9; i < 12; ++i )
create_months(year[i]);
}
Now, if you're not running this from the script editor yourself, or you find it difficult for your users to click 4 itens in a spreadsheet menu or elsewhere. You can enhance this by setting a up a trigger automatically and removing it automatically when you finish. You'd also have to keep track inside the script on which quarter you have to create next. A good place for something simple like this is ScriptProperties.
If you're using the trigger solution, I also recommend that you do not set the time interval lower than 10 minutes as you'll risk your functions running concurrently. If you do so, it's advised that you use the LockService to guarantee that does not happen.

Answer 2

Do what you can outside of the loop and get rid of the find since you already have the file.
var root = DocsList.getRootFolder();
for(var i=1;i<32;i++)
{
var daily = mainDoc.makeCopy(i);
daily.addToFolder(targetFolder);
daily.removeFromFolder(root);
}
That should speed things up.