AppsScriptPulse

New behaviour in V8 runtime removing script order limitation | Release Notes | June 6, 2022

We’ve been a little remiss highlighting the latest Google Apps Script release notes, but in case you missed it there has been an update to the V8 runtime:

You can now call functions in separate files before they’re parsed. Previously, the V8 runtime required a script file to be parsed before any other file could call the functions it defines.

Now, the order of files in the Apps Script editor doesn’t matter. This means that you can call a function in a different file to assign a value to a global variable—the function is always defined before it’s called. This behavior reflects that of the legacy Rhino runtime.

See the source post for more details and an example code snippet.

Source: Release Notes  |  Apps Script  |  Google Developers

Programmatically manage and apply Drive Labels using new API functionality

Many of our customers already take advantage of the Drive Labels capabilities to classify content and implement policies on their Drive files for governance and Data Loss Prevention.

Today, we’re happy to announce a highly requested update that will enable you to programmatically manage labels at scale via Drive APIs.

Google Workspace devs might be interested in this update to the Drive Labels API which enables additional functionality. As noted in the source post:

The new Drive Labels API supports reading Drive Label taxonomies. New functionality in the Drive API can be used to apply labels, set fields on files, and find files by label metadata. As a whole, these new API features enable numerous use cases including, bulk-classification, Apps Script driven workflows, third-party integrations, and other organizing and finding needs.

The post includes links to a number of useful resources including reference documentation.

Source: Programmatically manage and apply Drive Labels using new API functionality

Creating Google Workspace Chat Apps: What developers need to know – [online event 24 August 2022 16:00 – 16:45 UTC]

Image credit: Google

Teams and organizations are shifting to Google Chat as their primary way to stay connected and collaborate in real time, giving developers the unique opportunity to build Chat-integrated Google Workspace apps to help their users do more. In this session, we’ll discuss use cases for chat apps, the architectural options you can choose from, and how to get started building your own. Make sure to bring your questions!

Charles Maxson and Chanel Greco are both top presenters and they will be teaming up on the 24 August 2022 for a Google Cloud OnAir event to share the latest on Google Chat app development. For those unfamiliar there are various platforms/architectures for developing Chat apps, one of which is Google Apps Script. You should be able to find out more about this and more at the session.

Source: Creating Google Workspace chat apps—what developers need to know

Make software development much more agile with Google Workspace [Google Chat apps and Add-ons]

Image credit: Google

Learn how developers use Google Workspace to centralize and integrate all of their favorite Agile and DevOps tools like Jira, GitHub, Datadog, and PagerDuty.

From the Google Cloud Blog you can learn how Google Workspace is being used to make software development more agile. For Google Workspace developers this includes a number of products you might want to consider. Additionally, this post is a great way to see how Google Chat apps and Workspace Add-ons are being seamlessly integrated to expand the functionality of Google Workspace. If you haven’t recently looked at the opportunities with developing Google Chat apps you probably should…

Source: Make software development much more agile with Google Workspace | Google Cloud Blog

How to reach global markets as a Recommended for Google Workspace app

Today we announced our 2022 Recommended for Google Workspace apps. This program offers a distinct way for third-party developers to better reach Google Workspace users and attract new customers to their apps. So, for those developers who may be interested in it in the future, we wanted to walk through the basics of what the program is and how to apply for it.

Back in June 2021 Google announced they were restarting the “Recommended for Google Workspace” program. Partners who applied to this program were required to demonstrate “the quality of their solution, their strategic investment in Google Workspace integrations, and security and privacy posture”.

The 2022 Recommended for Google Workspace apps have recently been announced. This post from the Google Workspace team provides more information about the Recommended for Google Workspace program and how to apply for the next application window [spoiler: it will be announced via the Google Workspace developers newsletter – subscribe to avoid disappoint].

Source: Reach global markets as a Recommended for Google Workspace app

Create Spaces and add members with the Google Chat API (and introducing the Google Workspace Developer Preview program)

Image credit: Google

In Google Chat, Spaces serve as a central place for team collaboration—instead of starting an email chain or scheduling a meeting, teams can move conversations and collaboration into a space, giving everybody the ability to stay connected, reference team or project info and revisit work asynchronously.

We are pleased to announce that you can programmatically create new Spaces and add members on behalf of users, through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program via the Google Chat API.

Besides the new ability to programmatically create and populate Google Chat spaces outlined in the source post, if you are a member of the  Google Cloud Partner Advantage program you may want to apply for the new Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. This program will give you access to this new Chat API functionality and other Google Workspace Developer preview developments.

Not a Cloud Partner Advantage member? You can apply to join

If you are interested in building on the Google Chat platform there is the What’s new in the world of Google Chat apps session at Google I/O (this session will be available on-demand from 12 May 2022).

Source: Now in Developer Preview: Create Spaces and Add Members with the Google Chat API

Must see Google Workspace Platform sessions at Google I/O

In the latest Google Workspace Developers Newsletter – April 2022 (if not already you can subscribe here), there is a handy summary of ‘Must see Google Workspace Platform sessions’ at Google I/O, 11-12 May 2022. Google I/O is being run as a hybrid event and anyone online can register for free and the program is worth exploring:

Join us for Google I/O 2022. Connect with experts, get inspired, and expand your knowledge. From no-code platforms to automated Chat applications, the team has put together an informative and educational set of sessions to get you up to date with the Google Workspace Platform.

Keynote

The cloud built for developers: Learn how Google Cloud and Workspace teams are building cloud services to help developers and technologists create transformative applications.

Sessions

Learn how to enable shared experiences across platforms: Explore how to enable shared experiences across platforms (Android, iOS, web).

What’s new in the world of Google Chat apps: Integrate services with Google Chat, explore visual improvements to Google Chat apps, and discover new Google Chat API features.

Extending Google Workspace with AppSheet’s no-code platform and Apps Script: Learn how to configure the new Apps Script Connector in your AppSheet apps.

Conversational AI for business messaging: Create messaging experiences for consumers on Google Search and Maps using Google’s Business Messages.

Workshop

Building AppSheet apps with the new Apps Script connector: Building connected AppSheet and Apps Script apps using AppSheet’s new Apps Script connector.

Register now

Getting started is the hardest part: Find inspiration with new Apps Script samples

Google Apps Script is a hosted JavaScript development environment that makes it easy for anyone to build custom business solutions across several Google products. Figuring out where to begin can be a hurdle for such an expansive tool, so we’ve recently released 10 new inspirational sample solutions to help you get started. These additions bolster the Apps Script documentation, which now hosts more than 30 sample solutions.

Here are a few use cases our newest sample solutions address:

Google recently announced latest figures around Google Workspace reach in 2021:

With 3B people globally using Google Workspace there is an opportunity to grow the Workspace developer community and to help users get started Google have recently published 10 new sample solutions. The samples cover a range of coding skills and even experts should take a look as there are some great examples that can help with developing add-ons, Google Chat apps and more.

Source: Getting started is the hardest part: Find inspiration with Apps Script samples

Announcing the Apps Script connector for AppSheet: Automate workflows for Google Workspace

This week, we launched the Apps Script connector for AppSheet, which now makes it possible to call Apps Script code functions from a no-code AppSheet app. This greatly extends the abilities of AppSheet apps by letting them access the power that Apps Script provides. For example, an AppSheet app can now use Apps Script to automate workflows with Google Workspace using the Workspace APIs for Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Admin SDK, and more – as well as other Google services like YouTube, Google Analytics, and BigQuery.

We’ve previously highlighted the Calling Google Apps Script from an automation in #AppSheet, which at the time of writing was a preview feature. This feature has now been announced as being generally available to AppSheet users.

If you are already familiar with this new feature you may find it useful to read the full announcement as it contextualises this feature within the ‘no-code’ / low-code marketplace and the benefits of integration with Google Workplace, Workplace APIs and other opportunities through Google Apps Script.

Source: Announcing the Apps Script connector for AppSheet: Automate workflows for Google Workspace

New features in the Apps Script integrated development environment (IDE) | Release Notes  |  April 13, 2022


April 13, 2022
You can now perform the following actions in the new Apps Script integrated development environment (IDE):

You can read more about the script editor updates in this related Google Workspace Updates post, which provides more details of note is:

This launch ensures Apps Script users can utilize the legacy features in the new environment:

  • Script Properties: Allows you to store simple data in key-value pairs scoped to one script. Script properties are typically used to store developer configuration data. The new IDE has now integrated the interface to edit, delete and create up to 50 new script properties.
  • Add-on Testing: Allows add-on developers to test their add-ons before publishing them broadly.
  • Time Zone Setting: Allows you to update the time zone of the script and its executions.
  • Rhino Debugging: Adds the ability to debug Rhino subroutines on V8 debugger, without migrating to V8. If the code is not V8 compatible, users will get a warning message.

Source: Release Notes  |  Apps Script  |  Google Developers