AppsScriptPulse

Official News, Solutions, AppSheet, Beginner

NEW! Calling Google Apps Script from an automation in #AppSheet

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Add custom integrations to your app using Apps Script. … You can use custom logic from within your AppSheet app by calling Apps Script from an AppSheet automation bot.

Examples of custom logic that you can implement include:

  • Create a calendar appointment when a button is clicked
  • Add a slide to a presentation when a new row is added
  • Save photos to Drive and share with specific individuals when uploaded using a form
  • Create an audit log by generating a Google Docs file with data from a table
  • Call an external service for machine learning prediction using data from a newly added row and write back model prediction

If you are not familiar with AppSheet it’s Google Cloud’s no-code platform that allows users to create custom applications that can be deployed across mobile and web, often setup using Google Sheets as a data source. AppSheet can be customised with workflows and automations, and those automations have recently been extended with a new preview integration to Google Apps Script.  The video in the Call Apps Script from an automation page provides a great summary of how the Apps Script integration works.

Source: Call Apps Script from an automation

Official News

For Google Workspace Add-ons, an Attachment class has been added to the Card Service that lets you add custom attachments to Calendar events | Release Notes | March 24, 2022 |  Apps Script  |  Google Developers

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March 24, 2022

For Google Workspace Add-ons, an Attachment class has been added to the Card Service that lets you add custom attachments to Calendar events. You can also set an event trigger that fires when the user clicks on the add-on attachment provider in the Calendar dropdown menu. For more information, refer to EventAttachmentTrigger.

You can read more about attaching files to Google Calendar events in this related Google Workspace Updates post:

Google Workspace developers can now create Google Workspace add-ons that attach files to a Google Calendar event from any third-party service. This feature enables developers to create add-ons that support attachments from a wide range of sources beyond Google Drive, such as digital whiteboard, content creation, or file management tools.

The update includes the following additional guidance for developers:

You can now develop add-ons that support attaching files from sources other than Google Drive. To get started, learn more about extending Calendar with Google Workspace add-ons and adding attachments with a callback function.

Source: Release Notes  |  Apps Script  |  Google Developers

Official News

The get methods for several color objects in the Spreadsheet Service have been deprecated | Release Notes | March 18, 2022 | Apps Script | Google Developers

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March 18, 2022

The get methods for several color objects in the Spreadsheet Service have been deprecated in favor of a new naming convention. The functionality remains the same. For example, the getFontColor() method from the Range class has been replaced with getFontColorObject().

Check out the source link for details of which Spreadsheet Services have been updated.

Source: Release Notes  |  Apps Script  |  Google Developers

Official News, Forms

Introducing the Google Forms API – Use cases and example applications

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Image credit: Google

For the first time, Google Forms has an API and we are going to show you how you can use it and what’s in it. The new Google Forms API joins the large family of APIs available to developers under the Google Workspace Platform. The Forms API provides programmatic access for managing forms, acting on responses, and empowering developers to build powerful integrations on top of Forms.

Some additional resources to support the general availability of the Google Forms API have been published. This post includes information on the key use cases which are supported by the API:

Automated form creation and editing: Enables automated form creation and editing. Enables rapid form generation from large volume question banks or other data backends.

Reaction to Form responses: The API also enables developers to build automations for acting on incoming responses. Examples include developing real-time dashboards or visualizations and triggering business workflows based on response data.

Given the existing widespread use of Google Forms in education it was nice for this to be acknowledged and also to see Automagical Forms getting mentioned.

Source: Introducing the Google Forms API

Official News, Forms

Create surveys, quizzes, and more using the Google Forms API, now generally available

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Image credit: Google

The Google Forms API provides programmatic access for managing Google Forms and acting on responses— empowering developers to build powerful integrations on top of Forms.

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers and users with personal Google Accounts

We’ve shared a couple of updates on the new Google Forms API previously here on Apps Script Pulse. The good news is the Forms API is now out of beta and available for testing and deployment. For Google Apps Script devs I’m sure you are thinking ‘but we can use the Forms Service?’ You can and likely in most instances to be the first port of call, but the new API brings some additional functionality not supported in Forms Service, in particular, a trigger when a Google Form is edited.

Google have provided an example of how the new Form API can be used in an Apps Script project with this Google Forms API Apps Script web app demo. Also as previously highlighted Christian Schalk is speaking at the Google Cloud Innovators Hive event March 29-30, 2022 and we are anticipating a session on the new Google Forms API.

Source: Create surveys, quizzes, and more using the Google Forms API, now generally available

Official News

Become a Google Cloud Innovator and join the Google Cloud Innovators Hive event March 29-30, 2022

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Image credit: Google

Google Cloud Innovator’s inaugural event, Innovators Hive is a virtual, global, and free event limited to 1,000 developers and practitioners. Organized for and with the Cloud community, it focuses on deep technical content presented by Champion Innovator and Google thought leaders and luminaries.

Google Cloud Innovators is a new program created by Google for anyone using Google Cloud to come together as a community to learn, share and collaborate:

You know Google Cloud. Now it’s time for Google Cloud to get to know you.

Join the program by claiming the Innovators Program badge on your developer profile. From the beginning, you will receive invitations to hear from Google Cloud executives and Developer Advocates, roadmap presentations, and a chance for an invitation to join our new series of Innovator community events.

We’re just getting started. We are working on customizing experiences across Google Cloud to incorporate your identity as an Innovator, and make your time with Cloud a more personal and collaborative journey.

You can find out more about becoming a badged Google Cloud Innovator.

As part of the Google Cloud Innovator program Google is hosting ‘Innovators Hive’, 29-30 March 2022. This is a free event where you can hear from Google and community contributors about the latest developments in Google Cloud. There isn’t a published programme yet but you can get a sense of what will be talked about from the featured speakers page.

A number of Google Workspace experts will be contributing sessions to Innovator Hive, many of whom we’ve featured regularly here in Apps Script Pulse, including:

  • Charles Maxson
  • Christian Schalk
  • Clay Smith
  • Adam Morris
  • Alice Keeler 
  • Jasper Duizendstra
  • Scott Donald
  • Sourabh Choraria

There will be a couple of community meetups for folks who build solutions on Google Workspace or for folks who are curious about what the possibilities are. One of these will be a Totally Unscripted reunion where I’ll be joining Charles Maxson which will be an opportunity to ask a question or share your ideas about Workspace Development.  

To join this event if not already a Google Cloud Innovator check out the Google Cloud Innovators program page to become a member, then register for Innovators Hive 2022. Both Google Cloud Innovator and Innovator Hive are FREE!

Source: Innovators Hive 2022

Official News

Owners receive email alerts when someone outside the owner’s organization edits a script project | Release Notes  | February 14, 2022  | Apps Script  |  Google Developers

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As a little experiment for Apps Script Pulse fans we are going to start reposting the official Google Apps Script release notes on this site. Why? The release notes can be incredibly useful to keep up-to-date with latest Google Apps Script developments but currently unless you keep checking the page (or know someone with an unofficial RSS feed), they can be hard to monitor.

The February 14, 2022 release note contains a very useful security update which will let yo know when someone outside your organisation updates a script project. Details and link below:

February 14, 2022

Owners receive email alerts when someone outside the owner’s organization edits a script project in the new integrated development environment (IDE).

  • For container-bound scripts: If someone outside the container owner’s organization creates or edits a container-bound script project, the container owner receives an email notification.
  • For standalone scripts: If someone outside the script project owner’s organization edits a standalone script project, the script project owner receives an email notification.

Source: Release Notes  |  Apps Script  |  Google Developers

Official News, Beginner, Sheets

Learn how to improve Google Sheets performance

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Image credit: Google

You can improve the performance of Google Sheets and speed up calculations.

Via Sourabh Choraria (@schoraria911) we picked up this tweet from
Michael Avrukin who is working on the Google Sheets help center documentation:

The page includes a number of useful tips to speed up Google Sheet calculations and whilst not specifically Google Apps Script related provides useful information on some things you can look out for when your Google Sheet starts getting slow.

Source: Learn how to improve Sheets performance

Official News, Solutions

Year in review: the Google Workspace Platform 2021

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Image credit: Google

2021 was also a year for Platform milestones, Google Workspace grew to more than 3 billion users globally, we reached more than 5,300 public apps in the Google Workspace Marketplace, and we crossed over 4.8 billion apps installed (up from 1 billion in 2020)! We were also busy bringing Platform innovations and improving our developer experience to help building for Google Workspace easier and faster. Here’s a look at some of the key enhancements the Google Workspace Platform brought to the developer community.

There were a number of announcements for Google Workspace developers in 2021 and in this post  Charles Maxson provides a summary of the key points.

Source: Year in review: the Google Workspace Platform 2021

Official News

Promote your Google Workspace Marketplace apps with the new badge for developers

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Continuing with updates to further improve the developer experience, we are excited to announce Google Workspace Marketplace badges. The new badges will allow developers to promote their published Google Workspace Marketplace applications on their own websites. Users will be taken directly to the Marketplace application listing, where they can review application details, privacy policy, terms of service, and more. These users will then be able to securely install applications directly from the Google Workspace Marketplace.

The post from Google contains more information about the benefits of using a promotional badge and how to get on for your Google Workspace Marketplace add-ons.

Source: Promote your Google Workspace Marketplace apps with the new badge for developers