Here’s the scoop: While tinkering with a project, I needed a way to pinpoint the last row of data in various sheets — essentially to catch any “orphan” values lurking there. Typically, something like console.table() would be the hero of the day, allowing me to effortlessly display data like so:
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With a weekly subscription of over 50K we probably don’t need to flag a ‘Monday morning espresso’ of Google Sheets tips from Ben Collins as you are probably already subscribed. However, given Ben recently published the 300th issue it’s a milestone worth celebrating and a chance to say ‘thank you’ to Ben for this invaluable publication.
As eloquently demonstrated on a recent episode of Totally Unscripted, Ben is the Google Sheets “King of Functions”. Ben’s expertise isn’t limited to solving Google Sheet challenges, he’s also a master at explaining his thinking and helping other people learn. If you haven’t subscribed to Ben’s newsletter follow the source link (it’s free!) and check out Ben’s website for loads of great tips and resources.
Template for a workflow to track tasks that follow steps. It can alert on due and expired steps per each task, while also navigating to alerted cells with a single click. It also demonstrates the use of conditional rules and ARRAYFORMULA.
Sig Mandel has created this clever Google Apps Script solution which might be suitable for anyone struggling to manage tasks and deadlines in Google Sheets. This template lets you easily configure overdue and upcoming deadlines, letting you jump directly to problem areas with a click. It also cleverly uses conditional formatting and ARRAYFORMULA to streamline your task tracking.
You can use the provided Google Sheets template as a starting point and add your workflow steps as columns, input your tasks, and the sheet takes care of the rest. You can also use a number of other features including real-time “toast” messages, a dynamic installation menu for easy setup, and optimized code for smooth performance.
Learn about the different options for making API calls in Google Apps Script web apps: `google.script.run` and GET/POST endpoints (`doGet` and `doPost`). Understand their strengths and weaknesses to choose the best approach for your project.
Google Apps Script web apps are a popular way to publish user interfaces for automation processes. I’d never really considered the decision between google.script.run and GET/POST endpoints (doGet and doPost) when making server side calls, but as outlined in this post from Justin Poehnelt there are scenarios where both of these approaches might be most appropriate. Justin also provides some useful code snippets to help you get started with both methods. Follow the source link to read more…
Caution when using onFormSubmit triggers to avoid mass simultaneous executions when un/linking a Response Sheet.
The following post is a caution around onFormSubmit triggers after I recently discovered a way that somebody had inadvertently managed to execute my code simultaneously over 253 times. Now unless a Google Form is submitted by 253 individuals all at the same time … then this is baffling.
When should an onFormSubmit trigger run?
At the point when a Google Form has been completed and the ‘Submit’ button pressed.
How else can the trigger be activated?
Well … it turns out when you unlink and then link back a Google Response Sheet containing the onFormSubmit trigger, it will activate it for every single Form response collected up to that point in time …
I use Google Apps Script to support staff and students in my job. I enjoy dabbling with creating tools to help with automation and I freely share my learning experiences on my blog, where I also have a number of useful Google Add-ons: www.pbainbridge.co.uk
This tutorial shows how to make a Google Chat app that answers questions based on conversations in Chat spaces with generative AI powered by Vertex AI with Gemini. The Chat app uses the Google Workspace Events API plus Pub/Sub to recognize and answer questions posted in Chat spaces in real time, even when it isn’t mentioned.
Here is another great tutorial from the Google Chat DevRel team, this time showcasing how the Google Workspace Events API and some new Google Chat UI elements can be used to turn a Chat space into a Gemini Pro powered knowledge base.
The sample solution will let you consume your Chat space message history into a Firestore database. The Chat app is an intelligent agent that can then monitor for new questions and make suggestions using Gemini to generate content based on the previous messages.
This detailed guide explains how you access your passwords, API keys and other sensitive data stored in the Google Secret Manager with Google Apps Script.
API keys and other credentials are your digital passports to access valuable data and services from various online platforms. When you’re developing Google Apps Script projects that connect to using keys, it’s of paramount importance to handle these keys with care and prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Mishandled API keys can lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, and potentially even financial consequences.
One way to store API keys in Google Apps Script is the built-in Properties Service. This service offers a mechanism to store key-value pairs attached to your Apps Script project. While the Properties Service offers a convenient way to store sensitive data, it comes with limitations:
Not True Encryption: The Properties Service stores data in a readable format. Anyone with sufficient access to your Apps Script project might be able to view the API keys.
Limited Access Control: It’s challenging to implement fine-grained access restrictions over who can see the stored keys within the Properties Service.
For a more secure and scalable approach you might consider using Google Cloud’s Secret Manager. As described by Amit Agarwal in this source post:
Google Secret Manager is a cloud service where you can store sensitive data such as passwords, database credentials, encryption keys or any other confidential information that you don’t want to hardcode in your application’s source code. You can also set up an expiration time for the secret and the Google Secret Manager will automatically delete the secret after the specified time.
You can read more about using the Google Cloud Secret Manager in Amit post, which also includes the setup and Apps Script code snippets to make it work. For some general best practices on key management, Google provide this support article.
we’re making it easy for organizations to extend the power of their data and custom AI models by using Vertex AI with Workspace as a platform, enabling next-generation workflows that are built right into Docs, Gmail, and other Workspace apps
Google Cloud Next ’24 has just started but already a number of exciting product updates have been announced, including the indications of a possible deeper integration of Vertex AI into Google Workspace.
In one of our recent Pulse updates we highlighted Dialogflow CX and Google Chat API integration is now in Developer Preview. The reason I feel this is an important development is Dialogflow CX lies at the heart of Vertex AI Agent Builder (formerly Vertex AI Search and Conversation … formerly Gen App Builder).
Vertex AI Agent Builder lets developers easily build and deploy enterprise-ready gen AI experiences via a range of tools for different developer needs and levels of expertise — from a no-code console for building AI agents using natural language
This integration is significant because it addresses a key challenge I’ve experienced as a Vertex AI Agent Builder trusted tester. Previously, using Google Workspace data in your agents required moving it to a Cloud Storage bucket. The new integration potentially streamlines this process, allowing seamless access to your Workspace data.
This aligns with a broader trend I’m seeing at Google Cloud Next: the emphasis on custom Generative AI-powered agents. Gabe Weiss’s demo in this morning’s keynote showcased the potential of such agents to intelligently support users. Though details about the underlying technology were limited to Vertex AI Agent, the UI does hint at a gemini.google.com integration. You can see for yourself at the queued clip (this may change if Google trims the video).
I tried to see if an AI that’s good at writing could also make smart moves in a game. I chose Battleship and set it up in Google Sheets to play against Gemini, the AI. The result was mixed. On one hand, yes, Gemini could play the game. It followed the basic rules and even managed to sink some of my ships. This was a big deal, especially since it took me a ridiculous number of days of coding to get there, and I nearly gave up at one point.
Dmitry Kostyuk has shared a blog post detailing his experiment pitting the Gemini API against himself in a game of Battleship. As explained by Dmitry while Gemini could follow the rules and even sink some ships, it needed help to avoid basic mistakes, revealing that AI still has room to grow in the realm of strategic games.
Dmitry built the game in Google Sheets and the source code is linked from the post. To guide Gemini, Kostyuk crafted detailed prompts outlining the game’s mechanics and decision-making logic. However, he encountered challenges due to Gemini’s limitations in providing strategic responses. Despite these hurdles, the project yielded valuable insights into prompting techniques for AI decision-making.
In this blog we are going to find out who exactly has access to my Google Drive files, be it a Google Sheet, Google Doc, Form and more. To do this we are going to be using the DriveApp and Google Apps Script.
Recently Aryan Irani shared this post which shows how you can get the file permissions on a Google Drive file using DriveApp. This uses the DriveApp methods for .getEditors()and .getViewers(), which left me wondering about commenters???
The answer is file commenters are included in the .getViewers() response and as pointed out by TheMaster you can filter out commenters with .getAccess().
Another approach is to use the Advanced Drive Service:
The advanced Drive service lets you use the Google Drive API in Apps Script. Much like Apps Script’s built-in Drive service, this API allows scripts to create, find, and modify files and folders in Google Drive. In most cases, the built-in service is easier to use, but this advanced service provides a few extra features, including access to custom file properties as well as revisions for files and folders.
Learning about the Advanced Drive Service can be useful as it open up more opportunities to interact with Google Drive content and can also help you get file properties.
In the case of permissions there is a dedicated Permissions Resource that allows access to all the file permissions. For example, if I wanted to see what accounts had access to a file in MyDrive you can use:
Using the Advanced Drive Service does require a step up in understanding how to call the Drive API and the response you get but once you begin understanding it can come with huge benefits with more efficient code.
