Pushing data from the photon into google sheets

Firmware
29

Alright folks… Got it all working… But there are either some changes in the google API or errors in the original code examples which are wrong. Here is the truth… Here is what WORKS as of this posting date.

You need to convert the contents to a json object to get the key/value pairs in a usable way.

var json_obj = JSON.parse(e.postData.contents);

and then access them with

row.push(json_obj[headers[i]]);

So… the Google Sheets Javascript code example in the referenced site http://railsrescue.com/blog/2015-05-28-step-by-step-setup-to-send-form-data-to-google-sheets/ needs to be updated to:

//  1. Enter sheet name where data is to be written below
        var SHEET_NAME = "Sheet1";

//  2. Run > setup
//
//  3. Publish > Deploy as web app
//    - enter Project Version name and click 'Save New Version'
//    - set security level and enable service (most likely execute as 'me' and access 'anyone, even anonymously)
//
//  4. Copy the 'Current web app URL' and post this in your form/script action
//
//  5. Insert column names on your destination sheet matching the parameter names of the data you are passing in (exactly matching case)

var SCRIPT_PROP = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties(); // new property service

// If you don't want to expose either GET or POST methods you can comment out the appropriate function
function doGet(e){
  return handleResponse(e);
}

function doPost(e){
   return handleResponse(e);
}

function handleResponse(e) {
  // shortly after my original solution Google announced the LockService[1]
  // this prevents concurrent access overwritting data
  // [1] http://googleappsdeveloper.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/concurrency-and-google-apps-script.html
  // we want a public lock, one that locks for all invocations
  var lock = LockService.getPublicLock();
  lock.waitLock(30000);  // wait 30 seconds before conceding defeat.

  try {
    // next set where we write the data - you could write to multiple/alternate destinations
    var doc = SpreadsheetApp.openById(SCRIPT_PROP.getProperty("key"));
    var sheet = doc.getSheetByName(SHEET_NAME);

    // we'll assume header is in row 1 but you can override with header_row in GET/POST data
    var headRow = e.parameter.header_row || 1;
    var headers = sheet.getRange(1, 1, 1, sheet.getLastColumn()).getValues()[0];
    var nextRow = sheet.getLastRow()+1; // get next row
    var row = [];

    var json_obj = JSON.parse(e.postData.contents); 
    
    // loop through the header columns
    for (i in headers){
      if (headers[i] == "Timestamp"){ // special case if you include a 'Timestamp' column
        row.push(new Date());
      } else { // else use header name to get data
        row.push(json_obj[headers[i]]);
      }
    }

    sheet.getRange(nextRow, 1, 1, row.length).setValues([row]);

    // return json success results
    return ContentService
          .createTextOutput(JSON.stringify({"result":"success", "row": nextRow}))
          .setMimeType(ContentService.MimeType.JSON);
  } catch(e){
    // if error return this
    return ContentService
          .createTextOutput(JSON.stringify({"result":"error", "error": e}))
          .setMimeType(ContentService.MimeType.JSON);
  } finally { //release lock
    lock.releaseLock();
  }
}

function setup() {
    var doc = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
    SCRIPT_PROP.setProperty("key", doc.getId());
}

to get things working in the basic case where you use simple naming in the webhooks page (custom json):

{
  "msg_log": "{{{PARTICLE_EVENT_VALUE}}}"
}

And my column name in the spreadsheet is “msg_log”

OK… Now thigs are working!

(PS… I’m A C++ & Pyton developer in real-life… My Javascript knowledge is almost nil until this project. Others can improve substantially, for sure. But at least the basic use case is exemplified here.)

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