Same question as this one, but when using the Google API, not Google Apps Script. I use Java but an illustration in any language or REST would be good.
Answer:
You cannot do that, since the spreadsheet itself doesn't have a selected range. A certain user may have selected a range, but that information is not available to the API (see spreadsheet resource for further reference).
Explanation:
In Apps Script, bound scripts get the special privilege of using methods (e.g. getActiveRange()) that provide information on what the current user has selected (see Special methods).
But even using Apps Script, this cannot work in standalone scripts. Let alone using the API.
Related
When I create a event in my calendar I have the option "Out of Office". How I can create a event about GScript with the function "Out of Office"?
Here you can find my current sheet incl. my script: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17zdmhWr9EUrY_-6ZVrYWggf5kAnvEhKGdGsJbxW7Px4/edit?usp=sharing
How can I add the command? or is there a feature which I do not know?
Answer:
Unfortunately, in its current form, this isn't possible through the Calendar API.
More Information:
Google Apps Script and the G Suite service integration it provides are effectively wrappers for the already existing APIs for the services they connect to (Calendar, Sheets, Docs, etc). As a result, given that the feature is not available through the API, Apps Script does not have this ability either.
Feature Request:
I did a search on Google's Issue Tracker and there are a couple of highly requested Feature Requests for the creation of Out of office events through the Calendar API already.
You can find these Feature Requests here and here, which you can give a star (☆) in the top left to let Google know more people wish for this request to be implemented.
My aim is to select some text from a web page, start a google chrome extension and give the text to a google cloud api (Natural Language API) in my case.
I want to do some sentimental analysis and then get back the result to mark/ highlight positive sentences in green and negative ones in red.
I am new to this and do not know how to start.
The extension consists of manifest, popup etc. How should I call an API from there that does Natural Language Processing?
Should I create a Google Cloud Application with an API_KEY to call? In that case I would have to upload my credentials right?
Sorry sounds a bit confusing I know but I just don't know how I can bring this 2 things together an would be more than happy about any help
The best way to authenticate your app will depend on the specific needs and use cases of your application. You can see an overview of all the different methods here.
If you are not planning on identifying users nor on using a back end server that handles authenticating (as I assume to be your case), the best option would indeed be to use API keys. They do not identify the user, but are enough for the Natural Language APIs.
To do this you will need to create an API key for the services you want and add the necessary restrictions to make the key as secure as possible. Detailed instructions on how to do this and how to use the key in a url can be found here.
The API call could be made from within the Chrome extension with any JavaScript method capable of performing POST requests. For example using XMLHttpRequest or the Fetch API. You can find an example of the parameters that need to be included in the request here.
You may run into CORS issues when making the request directly from the extension. I recommend reading this answer, where a couple of workarounds for these issues are suggested.
I'm trying to zoom into a google Spreadsheet using an API call. Is this possible? I would also like to enable full screen from another API call once I dynamically create a spreadsheet, but I can't find it in the documentation, anyone knows how to do this?
Currently, the functionality that lets you Zoom in and out the spreadsheets is not supported in Base Script Services (Class Ui). Also, you have a similar SO post, have a check.
I am thinking about app that will use google form and I need to create forms from that app. Is there a way how can I create form in google docs without using website but through some api or some other way?
I can offer an idea for a solution using Google App Script.
Since the beginning of 2013 you can create new forms using the App Script Forms Service API quite easily.
var form = FormApp.create(title)
.setDescription(description)
.setConfirmationMessage('Thanks for responding!')
;
The problem now is how to get that App Script running from your non App Script code.
You can use App Script to create a Web App that reacts to HTTP GET requests.
So putting it together, you may be able to create an App Script Web App that reacts to a GET request and when it gets the right URL parameters, it creates the form.
(Nov 2020) Yes, it is possible to programmatically create Google Forms. You can do it with Google Apps Script using its Forms service. You can also extend the code to read in the contents from Google Docs (with Apps Script's Document service) and use it for the creation of Google Forms.
I created a Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) Add-on, which you can think of as a Google Docs extension, called GFormIt. Its original purpose was intended for teachers to write exams/quizzes, possibly with answers, in Google Docs, then automatically convert them to Google Forms to distribute to students who submit their answers into Google Sheets (the destination for Google Forms submissions).
Furthermore, if you (the teacher) provided answers to your test questions, GFormIt would also auto-submit your answers to the Sheet as if you were a student. If you do that, and use a tool like Flubaroo to grade the exam, you could designate your row in the Sheet as “the answer key.” You can learn more about how it works, including viewing a short video, at the GFormIt page linked above.
This Google Docs add-on, along with others for Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, etc., are all certified/validated by Google and available for free to anyone from the Google Workspace Marketplace. (However, your admins may have to grant permissions for you to try to install them to your corporate Workspace account.) If interested in building your own add-on, please see the developer documentation and perhaps some of my introductory videos to get started, the most relevant being the one linked to at the top of this answer.
Apps Script is a serverless Google technology, meaning you write your code (using JavaScript) in the browser, and it is hosted by & executed on Google servers. If you wanted to create your own web app (and hosted anywhere), you would have to wait for a Google Forms REST API which does not exist at the time of this writing. (If we ever launch one, you'll find its documentation at https://developers.google.com/forms along with the others like Sheets https://developers.google.com/sheets, Gmail https://developers.google.com/gmail, Drive https://developers.google.com/drive, etc.)
Earlier this year (Mar 2022) the new Google Forms Api graduated from Beta. It is more powerful that the previous versions and caters for two main use cases:
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.
We have used it to build an integration that Creates documents and slides each time a form is completed: www.portant.co/google-forms-to-docs and it works really well.
I think the other key use case looks like it would be a good fit for you and others looking for a solution like this.
Cheers, James
Sorry, the API doesn't support programmatically creating forms.
The documentation for Google Documents List API, seems to say that you can create a local document and upload it. Is there no way to actually create and edit a document on Google Docs through an API?
While the docs call it "uploading", everything boils down to sending an appropriately formatted HTTP POST request, so of course it can actually be a new creation rather than an actual "upload" of an otherwise existing file. (Creation through POST requests is similar to what's normally described as a REST API, though in real REST you'd typically use a PUT request instead of course).
You just need to create a blob of data representing your document in any of the formats listed here -- depending on your programming language, simplest may be text/csv for a spreadsheet and application/rtf for a text-document -- then put in in an appropriately formatted POST data. For example, to make a spreadsheet in the simplest way (no metadata), you could POST something like:
POST /feeds/default/private/full HTTP/1.1
Host: docs.google.com
GData-Version: 3.0
Authorization: <your authorization header here>
Content-Length: 81047
Content-Type: text/csv
Slug: Example Spreadsheet
ColumnA, ColumnB
23, 45
Each specific programming language for which a dedicated API is supplied may offer help with this not-so-hard task; for example, in Python, per the docs, the API recommends using ETags to avoid overwriting changes when multiple clients are simultaneously "uploading" (i.e., creating or updating docs). But preparing the POST directly is always possible, since the almost-REST API is documented as the protocol underlying all language-specific APIs.
Alex's answer, while undoubtedly correct, begs the question: "how do I do that via the Google Docs API?"
Here's a way (in Python, 'cause I'm that kind of guy):
import gdata.docs.service
import StringIO
client = gdata.docs.service.DocsService()
client.ClientLogin(username, password,
source='Spreadsheet Creation Example')
content = 'COL_A, COL_B, COL_C, COL_D\ndata1, data2, data3, data4'
ms = gdata.MediaSource(file_handle=StringIO.StringIO(content),
content_type='text/csv',
content_length=len(content))
entry = client.Upload(ms, 'Test Spreadsheet')
This is a small mashup of techniques that I found in http://code.google.com/p/gdata-python-client/source/browse/tests/gdata_tests/docs/service_test.py , which I in turn found via this post from the Google Group for the GData Docs API.
The key insights (for me anyway) were:
realizing that the MediaSource constructor's formal parameter "file_handle" will take any file-like object, and
discovering (as the OP's followup to the Google Group post mentions) that the unit tests are a great source of examples
(I wasn't able to find the Python-specific developer's guide referenced by Alex's doc link -- possibly it's been lost or buried in Google's move of documentation assets from code.google.com to developers.google.com. Alex's link now redirects to the more generic document that shows mostly .NET and Java examples, but only a little Python.)
As of Feb 4, 2019, Google Docs now has a REST API.
See documentation:
https://developers.google.com/docs/api/
(Sep 2019) There are 3 ways to create a document in Google Docs programmatically:
Google Docs REST API (low-level; Python, JS/Node.js, Java, C#/.NET, PHP, Ruby, Go, etc.)
Google Apps Script (high-level; JavaScript-only)
Google Drive API (low-level like Docs API above; both alternatives above can create or edit documents, but this one is create- or delete-only plus editing sharing/permissions)
The Docs API was officially launched in Feb 2019. I produced a high-level video overview of what a mail merge application using the API would look like. (It's not a full-fledged G Suite Dev Show episode but does link to a working sample.) Check out the various guides on using the API, including Quickstart examples in a variety of programming languages.
OTOH, Apps Script is a simpler, higher-level alternative. It's a custom server-side JavaScript runtime supporting apps that are hosted+executed in Google's cloud. Use objects to talk to various Google APIs (G Suite & beyond) without knowledge of HTTP, REST, nor OAuth2. You can also access external databases with its JDBC Service or call other apps via its URL Fetch Service.
With Apps Script, you can create standalone applications, document-bound applications (only works for a single document), or Google Docs Add-ons to extend the functionality of Google Docs. Here are the Google Docs Apps Script overview page as well as the Apps Script reference documentation for Google Docs (Document Service). I've also produced a variety of Apps Script videos if that's your preferred learning vehicle. If you're new to Apps Script, see my answer to a similar SO question for more learning resources.
Typically the Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc., APIs are used to perform document-oriented functionality while the Drive API is used primarily for file-based operations. However "create" is a special case where you can use either. See my answer to another SO question which shows the difference b/w creating a new Google Sheet via the Sheets API vs. the Drive API. (Both samples in Python.) Read this if you're interested in managing sharing or updating permissions of Google Docs.