David Sottimano – Automation with Apps Script

For the beginner, we take a look at what Apps Script is, what it can do, where it lives in the Google Workspace environment, and talk about permissions.

Topics covered:

• What Apps Script is, where to write Apps Script code in Docs, Sheets, Slides and how to run the code using the web IDE.
• Understand the difference between client side, server side and add-on’s for Apps Script.
• Introduce the web IDE

We’ll write our first function that checks if a cell contains any word in a list.

Topics covered:

• Write your first Apps script function in Sheets
• Learn how to run the function as a custom function from a Sheet cell and in the web IDE
• Learn basics of JavaScript, variable and function declaration, returning values, parameters and primitive data types.

Being able to read and understand the documentation is the key to success, also, being able to describe your problem accurately so you can search stackoverflow will be essential. We’ll go through some lingo and explore the documentation together.

Topics covered:

• Understand which Apps Script documentation you should be looking at, depending on what you’re trying to make and in which product (Docs, Sheets, etc.)
• Understand a Class and it’s methods, and how to use auto-complete when writing Apps Script
• Fast track learning with Macros

The goal is to pull data in from an API and output to a sheet. Before we even start writing code, we’ll correctly step through the problem first and write code last.

Topics covered:

• Understand the basics of an API, HTTP request, JSON, and how to pull this data into Apps Script and dump it in a Spreadsheet
• How to write pseudocode
• Make a real world application to classify data with wit.ai

Refactoring (or rewriting) our first function to include error handling, logging, JS DOC and more.

Topics covered:

• Understand all the weird ways you can declare a function in Apps Script (JS) , subtle differences of ES6 including variable types and explanation of hoisting and script execution order.
• How to include error handling in your code
• How to write JS DOC for Apps script, JS DOC is a way to document your functions for ease of use and to help others understand how the function should work.

We’ll go through how to store data efficiently in Apps Script while exploring how roles/permissions affect storage of data and how to share scripts securely.

Topics covered:

• Learn how to store/retrieve data in Properties Service
• Learn how to use the caching service
• Create a classification application using wit.ai

We’ll create our first mini application that will allow you to turn a spreadsheet into a bookmarking service

Topics covered:

• How to create a web app
• Create a useful application using more advanced Apps Script features
• Make an application you’ll use everyday

We’ll look at the mechanics behind building a Sheets add-on, what the necessary components are and how to communicate between the client and server side.

Topics covered:

• Write your first sheets add-on
• Understand how to communicate between the add-on and the server side
• Interact with Google Drive
• Course Exam