GOOGLE APPS SCRIPT / LEARN BY BUILDING
Turn a spreadsheet into your first automation. Follow the objects, write the methods, and see what your script changes.
getValues() → setValues()Small methods. Useful outcomes.
Default: Tasks has headers Name / Minutes / Status and rows Ada / 30 / Open, Sam / 45 / Done, Lee / 20 / Open. Report starts empty. The bound file is Practice book (book-demo). Every check resets the fixture; some use changed inputs.
Runs stop after 3 seconds. Ctrl/⌘ + Enter runs your script. This educational simulator supports the methods used by these lessons; it does not reproduce Google authorization, quotas, latency or every API behavior.
Write your code, then run it to see what happens.
SEE THE SHAPE OF YOUR DATA
Choose a rectangle to see how one-based spreadsheet coordinates become zero-based JavaScript indexes. This explorer uses the fixed Tasks fixture.
setValues() needs exactly the same number of rows and columns as its destination range. An empty result needs a guard, not a zero-height range.
FOLLOW THE RETURN VALUE
A service gives you an object. That object exposes methods. Follow the chain to see where each operation belongs.
FROM PRACTICE TO A REAL PROJECT
function inspect() { Logger.log(main()); } and run inspect.To add a menu, put the workshop 15 statements in onOpen(e) and define buildReport(). Reopen the spreadsheet. A simple onOpen can build a menu; services requiring authorization belong in a suitable authorized handler.
book-demo with its real spreadsheet ID. Replace other fictional file, folder and recipient values only when needed.A standalone or background job should explicitly open its target file. A bound script deployed as a web app does not have the same active-editor context as one run from the editor.
Browser checks compare outcomes on fictional fixtures. They are learning feedback, not production certification. Formula evaluation, rich formatting, complex permissions, real HTTP requests, trigger delivery and concurrent executions are not simulated.
Download the practice sheet data ↓
Drafts, notes, predictions and passing checks save in this browser when storage is available. A changed draft needs a new pass.