in Gscript, how to convert sheets to multiple pdfs without timeout - pdf

Question

I'm trying to setup a gradebook, I would like to loop through the list of students in a sheet that has various vlookups to create an individual mark sheet. I would then like to make a pdf for each of the students. I keep hitting a timeout on the server requests after about 6 students. An error message reports "returned code 429."
I thought I had it working but it would just create a pdf for each student with the first student's information and name. I've tried various code snippets found around the internet but those also time out due to the number of requests.
function PrintReport() {
SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().toast('Writing the reports.','Printing Reports');
var email = Session.getActiveUser().getEmail();
var TodayDate = new Date();
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var ClassName = ss.getName()
var url = "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/SS_ID/export?".replace("SS_ID", ss.getId());
var StudentList = ss.getSheetByName('Mark Sheet');
var StudentCount = StudentList.getRange("A2").getValue();
var SLData = StudentList.getRange(7,1,StudentCount).getValues();
var ReportSheet = ss.getSheetByName('Student Report');
var url_ext = 'exportFormat=pdf&format=pdf' // export as pdf / csv / xls / xlsx
+ '&size=letter' // paper size legal / letter / A4
+ '&portrait=false' // orientation, false for landscape
+ '&fitw=true&source=labnol' // fit to page width, false for actual size
+ '&sheetnames=False&printtitle=True' // hide optional headers and footers
+ '&pagenumbers=false&gridlines=false' // hide page numbers and gridlines
+ '&fzr=false' // do not repeat row headers (frozen rows) on each page
+ '&gid='; // the sheet's Id
var token = ScriptApp.getOAuthToken();
var blobs = [];
var sheetID = ss.getSheetByName('Student Report').getSheetId();
var url_base = ss.getUrl().replace(/edit/,'');
for (var i = 0; i < StudentCount; i++){
ReportSheet.setActiveSelection("B1").setValue(SLData[i][0].toString());
SpreadsheetApp.flush();
var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url + url_ext + sheetID, {
headers: {'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + token
}
});
//convert the response to a blob and store in our array
blobs[i] = response.getBlob().setName(SLData[i][0] + '.pdf');
}
ReportSheet.setActiveSelection("B1").setValue(SLData[0][0]);
//create new blob that is a zip file containing our blob array
var zipBlob = Utilities.zip(blobs).setName(ClassName+': Student Reports'+'.zip');
var subject = ClassName+ ": Individual Reports";
var body = "How to print multiple files: Just select all the items you wish to print in Finder and tap Command-P (or choose File>Print). If your system can print those items, it will.";
// If allowed to send emails, send the email with the PDF attachment
if (MailApp.getRemainingDailyQuota() > 0)
GmailApp.sendEmail(email, subject, body, {
htmlBody: body,
attachments:[zipBlob]
});
SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().toast('Reports are all done, please check you email.','Reports',5);
}
It is supposed to create a zipped file of pdfs with the student's names. When the zip is downloaded and extracted, the pdfs contain the mark break down for each student.
If I move the "response" code outside the loop, it produces multiple PDFs with just one student's data.
UPDATE
Modified to the code below but now it makes a pdf for each student but everyone has the last student's information (mark and name).
function PrintReport() {
SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().toast('Writing the reports.','Printing Reports');
var email = Session.getActiveUser().getEmail();
var TodayDate = new Date();
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var ClassName = ss.getName();
var StudentList = ss.getSheetByName('Mark Sheet');
var StudentCount = StudentList.getRange("A2").getValue();
var SLData = StudentList.getRange(7,1,StudentCount).getValues();
var ReportSheet = ss.getSheetByName('Student Report');
var sheetID = ss.getSheetByName('Student Report').getSheetId();
var blobs = [];
hideAllSheetsExcept('Student Report');
for (var i = 0; i < StudentCount; i++){
ReportSheet.setActiveSelection("B1").setValue(SLData[i][0].toString());
SpreadsheetApp.flush();
//convert the response to a blob and store in array
blobs.push(ss.getBlob().getAs('application/pdf').setName(SLData[i][0] + '.pdf'));
//creates a pdf of the last student's information for everyone!
}
ReportSheet.setActiveSelection("B1").setValue(SLData[0][0]);
//create new blob that is a zip file containing our blob array
var zipBlob = Utilities.zip(blobs).setName(ClassName+': Student Reports'+'.zip');
var subject = ClassName+ ": Individual Reports";
var body = "How to print multiple files: Just select all the items you wish to print in Finder and tap Command-P (or choose File>Print). If your system can print those items, it will.";
// If allowed to send emails, send the email with the PDF attachment
if (MailApp.getRemainingDailyQuota() > 0)
GmailApp.sendEmail(email, subject, body, {
htmlBody: body,
attachments:[zipBlob]
});
SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().toast('Reports are all done, please check you email.','Reports',5);
UnHideEverything();
}

Answer 1

I added a try catch in a while loop and a timeout. Works perfectly
So nest your response like this:
var theurl = 'https://docs.google.com/a/mydomain.org/spreadsheets/d/'
+ ssID
+ '/export?exportFormat=pdf&format=pdf'
+ '&size=A4'
+ '&portrait=true'
+ '&fitw=true'
+ '&top_margin=0.50'
+ '&bottom_margin=0.50'
+ '&left_margin=0.50'
+ '&right_margin=0.50'
+ '&sheetnames=false&printtitle=false'
+ '&pagenum=false'
+ '&gridlines=false'
+ '&fzr=FALSE'
+ '&gid='
+ GID;
var response
var done = false
while (!done){
try{
response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(theurl, params)
done = true
} catch (e) {
console.log(e)
done = false
Utilities.sleep(10000)
}
}