To wrap up the first half of season 5, the Totally Unscripted crew will go back to basics and talk about the perhaps the best-kept secret in the Google Workspace universe, and that’s of course Google Apps Script! While many of our regular viewers surely know how powerful Apps Script can be, we wanted to ask the rest of the Workspace world “Why aren’t you Apps Scripting?!?”
Join us for a fun and whimsical exploration of Google Apps Script, where we’ll uncover why Apps Script is the ultimate productivity sidekick, ready to rescue you from repetitive chores and unleash your creative superpowers. No coding experience? No problem! We’ll break it down in a way that’s easy to understand, even if you’re a tech newbie.
It’s time to unlock the full potential of Google Workspace and join the Apps Script revolution. Let’s spread the word and empower everyone to automate their way to a more productive and joyful work life!
As a Developer Advocate for Google Workspace, I live and breathe productivity tools. But even the most tech-savvy among us can have frustratingly simple oversights. My recurring pain point? Forgetting to turn on my Gmail vacation responder to automatically notify people of my absence before heading out of office.
Google Workspace Developer Advocate, Chanel Greco, has shared a clever solution to automate their Gmail out-of-office notification using Google Apps Script. Faced with the recurring problem of forgetting to set up the out-of-office notification, Chanel crafted a script that does the job based on Google Calendar events marked as ‘outOfOffice’.
Chanel’s project not only solves a personal problem but also demonstrates the benefits of Google Apps Script for task customization and productivity. By harnessing the power of Workspace APIs, you can create innovative solutions to automate routine tasks and streamline workflows.
Google Workspace Add-on for Google Drive, which uses AI to recommend new names for the selected Doc in Google Drive by passing the body of the document within the AI prompt for context.
Tired of staring at “Untitled document” in Google Drive? At Google Cloud Next ’24 and I/O 2024, the Google Workspace DevRel team showcased new Apps Script samples utilizing the Gemini API for AI-powered functionality.
One such sample, “Name with Intelligence” by Charles Maxson, helps developers overcome this common hurdle. This Google Drive add-on leverages the Gemini API to suggest relevant titles for your documents, saving you valuable time and effort.
This innovative Google Drive add-on tackles the common struggle of naming untitled documents. It utilizes the Gemini API to analyse the content of your Google Doc and suggest relevant titles based on its understanding of the text. This not only saves you time brainstorming titles, but also ensures your documents are clearly named for easy searchability later.
For those interested in my GeminiApp library, you can also find the sample here.
Take Your Development Further
This is just a glimpse of what’s possible with the Gemini API and Apps Script. With a little creativity, you can develop your own AI-powered Google Workspace add-ons to streamline your workflows and boost your productivity.
I encourage you to experiment and create innovative solutions that enhance your Google Workspace experience!
A comparison of key-value store options in Google Apps Script, including PropertiesService, CacheService, Firestore, and Sheet Developer Metadata.
Justin Poehnelt has shared a comprehensive look at key-value store options in Google Apps Script. Key-value stores are useful for storing data like user preferences or frequently accessed data, which can also be shared between script executions.
As part of Justin’s post as well as looking at the built-in store options, PropertiesService and CacheService, there is also a look at scenarios where you might want to consider alternatives like Firestore.
The choice of key-value store depends on factors like expiration needs, number of items, value size, access control requirements, latency sensitivity, and cost considerations. Justin’s post provides a thorough analysis of each factor, including latency comparisons.
Head over to the source link to get all the details!
Use Google Apps Script to create a custom menu that will work inside Google Sheets, Google Docs, Slides and Google Forms.
Tired of writing separate code for custom menus in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms? This nifty Google Apps Script snippet by Amit Agarwal helps you build a universal menu that works across all these apps!
The solution is a small snippet which detects the context to see which of DocumentApp, SpreadsheetApp, FormApp, SlidesApp are available which then lets you switch to get the appropriate .getUI() method.
Check out the source post for the full code and streamline your add-on development!
If your automations are not being triggered by Google Form submissions, Pablo Felip’s tip is it could be because your Google Workspace Admin has turned on AppSheet Core Security.
Learn how to move uploaded files from Google Forms to a specific folder in Google Drive. You can also rename the files based on the form responses
Amit Agarwal, the brains behind Digital Inspiration’s Document Studio must have one of the most feature full Google Workspace Marketplace Add-ons. I also like Amit’s approach of sharing how you can solve problems like moving Google Form file uploads using Document Studio as well as providing an Apps Script snippet if you would like to manually code it.
In this example some setup is required to specify a folder ID and create an onFormSubmit trigger. After this the script then retrieves uploaded files from the form response, creates a subfolder named after the unique Response ID, and moves the files into that subfolder within the specified parent folder. This provides a structured and organized way to manage file uploads from Google Forms.
Follow the source link to read more about this script solution and about Document Studio.
In February 2024, Google made a change in Google Sheets to enhance data security. Now, users must provide explicit consent before Sheets can connect to external data sources. This change aims to prevent unintentional data leaks and improve overall data loss prevention within Google Sheets.
Impact on Users:
When manually adding or editing certain IMPORT functions (IMPORTHTML, IMPORTXML, IMPORTFEED, IMPORTDATA) and the IMAGE function in a Google Sheet, a warning banner will appear blocking sending a receiving data until the user gives consent. To enable this functionality, users need to click “Allow access.”
Impact on Developers:
As highlighted in the first source post by Justin Poehnelt, this change caused issues for developers who programmatically create Google Sheets and automate tasks, such as generating PDF documents as the IMPORT and IMAGE functions were blocked.
Solutions for Developers:
Fortunately, Google introduced an update to the Google Sheets API to address this challenge. Developers can now enable external data access programmatically by setting the importFunctionsExternalUrlAccessAllowed property in the Google Sheet metadata. This allows specific IMPORT and IMAGE functions to work without manual user consent.
For the IMPORTRANGE function, a similar API property is currently unavailable. However, an unofficial workaround exists that involves calling an undocumented endpoint using Google Apps Script as detailed in the second source post by Kanshi Tanaike.
Future Expectations:
As Google continues to prioritize data security, there will likely be further enhancements to data loss prevention controls within Google Workspace. Hopefully, future updates will also include official API controls for IMPORTRANGE and other functions to facilitate legitimate data access for developers while maintaining data security.
To subscribe to events using Apps Script, you can now use the Advanced Google Workspace Events service.
In the May 02, 2024 Google Apps Script release notes it was announced that a new Advanced Google Workspace Events service is available to let developers use the Google Workspace Events API directly in Google Apps Script. The Google Workspace Events API is a relatively new API, which was released to developer preview in January, 2024. The Google Workspace Events API uses a subscription model to handle resource changes. When you create a subscription, you specify the target resource (such as a Google Chat space or Google Meet meeting space) and the event types that you want to subscribe to. The API then sends notifications to your specified endpoint whenever an event occurs for that resource and event type.
In the case of the new Advanced Google Workspace Events service the linked documentation includes samples for using the new service with Google Chat. It’s worth noting that the Advanced Google Workspace Events service is designed specifically on managing subscriptions to events. While it lets you to control the flow of information and manage event subscriptions in your Apps Script projects, the actual processing and handling of event data occurs separately.
The linked documentation page provides sample code as well as outlines all the prerequisites.
In this TU Special, we dive into the exciting new features coming to Google AppSheet and take a first look at the new Google Forms integration. For this special our co-host, Martin Hawksey is joined by Steve Franks (Head of Workspace Engineering, CTS Appsbroker). The discussion/demo was originally presented as an internal tech talk conducted at CTS Appsbroker – warning the episode contains some ‘passionate’ language.
Initial key takeaways which we discuss are:
Seamless Data Collection: Google Forms now acts as a first-class data source for AppSheet, eliminating the need for workarounds and additional add-ons. Data collected through forms automatically flows into AppSheet, creating a smooth and efficient workflow.
External Participation: The integration allows external parties to interact with your apps by simply filling out a Google Form. This opens up new possibilities for data collection and process involvement.
Powerful Automations: AppSheet’s automation capabilities can be triggered by form submissions, enabling you to create sophisticated workflows. The example discussed involves sending an email with an embedded AppSheet view upon form completion, allowing for approvals or further actions within the email itself.
Simplified Development: The integration makes building apps even easier, especially for those already familiar with Google Forms. The need for complex configurations or AppScripts is minimized, empowering users to focus on the business logic and desired outcomes.
Versatility: AppSheet has increased functionality, opening up a wider range of possibilities for app development and automation for Google Workspace customers. It can be used to create full-fledged apps with user interfaces or simply act as a behind-the-scenes automation engine.
Overall, the integration of Google Forms and AppSheet should significantly help empower users to build powerful solutions without coding expertise. Read more about “Build AppSheet automations using Google Forms” on the Google Workspace Updates blog.
