docs.sheetjs.com/docz/docs/03-demos/25-gsheet.md

title
Google Sheets

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This demo uses node-google-spreadsheet to interact with Google Sheets v4 API.

:::caution

Google Sheets deprecates APIs quickly and there is no guarantee that the referenced API version will be available in the future.

:::

Initial Configuration

Install the dependencies:

npm i https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-latest/xlsx-latest.tgz google-spreadsheet@3.3.0

The library README has a guide for configuring a service worker with write access to the document. Following the service worker guide, the JSON key should be saved to key.json.

The following helper function attempts to authenticate and access the specified sheet by ID. The code should be copied and saved to common.js:

Code (click to show)

const fs = require("fs");
const { GoogleSpreadsheet } = require('google-spreadsheet');

module.exports = async(ID) => {
  /* get credentials */
  const creds = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('key.json'));

  /* initialize sheet and authenticate */
  const doc = new GoogleSpreadsheet(ID);
  await doc.useServiceAccountAuth(creds);
  await doc.loadInfo();
  return doc;
}

Export Document Data

The goal is to create an XLSB export from a Google Sheet. Google Sheets does not natively support the XLSB format. SheetJS fills the gap.

How to run locally (click to show)

0. Follow the Initial Configuration.

1. Create a new Google Sheet and share with the generated service account. It should be granted the "Editor" role

2. Install the dependencies:

npm i https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-latest/xlsx-latest.tgz google-spreadsheet@3.3.0

2. Save the following snippet to common.js:

const fs = require("fs");
const { GoogleSpreadsheet } = require('google-spreadsheet');

module.exports = async(ID) => {
  /* get credentials */
  const creds = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('key.json'));

  /* initialize sheet and authenticate */
  const doc = new GoogleSpreadsheet(ID);
  await doc.useServiceAccountAuth(creds);
  await doc.loadInfo();
  return doc;
}

3. Save the following snippet to pull.js:

const XLSX = require("xlsx");

/* create a blank workbook */
const wb = XLSX.utils.book_new();

const init = require("./common");
const ID = "<google sheet ID>";

(async() => {

  const doc = await init(ID);

  for(let i = 0; i < doc.sheetsByIndex.length; ++i) {
    const sheet = doc.sheetsByIndex[i];
    const name = sheet.title;

    /* get the header and data rows */
    await sheet.loadHeaderRow();
    const header = sheet.headerValues;
    const rows = await sheet.getRows();
    const aoa = [header].concat(rows.map(r => r._rawData));

    /* generate a SheetJS Worksheet */
    const ws = XLSX.utils.aoa_to_sheet(aoa);

    /* add to workbook */
    XLSX.utils.book_append_sheet(wb, ws, name);
  }

  /* write to SheetJS.xlsb */
  XLSX.writeFile(wb, "SheetJS.xlsb");

})();

4. Replace <google sheet ID> with the ID of the actual document.

5. Run node pull.js once. It will create SheetJS.xlsb.

6. Open SheetJS.xlsb and confirm the contents are the same as Google Sheets.

7. Change some cells in the Google Sheets Document.

8. Run node pull.js again and reopen SheetJS.xlsb to confirm value changes.

Convert a Single Sheet

The idea is to extract the raw data from the Google Sheet headers and combine with the raw data rows to produce a large array of arrays.

async function wb_append_sheet(sheet, name, wb) {
  /* get the header and data rows */
  await sheet.loadHeaderRow();
  const header = sheet.headerValues;
  const rows = await sheet.getRows();

  /* construct the array of arrays */
  const aoa = [header].concat(rows.map(r => r._rawData));

  /* generate a SheetJS Worksheet */
  const ws = XLSX.utils.aoa_to_sheet(aoa);

  /* add to workbook */
  XLSX.utils.book_append_sheet(wb, ws, name);
}

Convert a Workbook

doc.sheetsByIndex is an array of worksheets in the Google Sheet Document. By looping across the sheets, the entire workbook can be written:

async function doc_to_wb(doc) {
  /* Create a new workbook object */
  const wb = XLSX.utils.book_new();

  /* Loop across the Document sheets */
  for(let i = 0; i < doc.sheetsByIndex.length; ++i) {
    const sheet = doc.sheetsByIndex[i];
    /* Get the worksheet name */
    const name = sheet.title;

    /* Add sheet to workbook */
    await add_sheet_to_wb(sheet, name, wb);
  }

  return wb;
}

Update Document Data

The goal is to refresh a Google Sheet based on a local file.

How to run locally (click to show)

0. Follow the Initial Configuration.

1. Create a new Google Sheet and share with the generated service account. It should be granted the "Editor" role

2. Install the dependencies:

npm i https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-latest/xlsx-latest.tgz google-spreadsheet@3.3.0

2. Save the following snippet to common.js:

const fs = require("fs");
const { GoogleSpreadsheet } = require('google-spreadsheet');

module.exports = async(ID) => {
  /* get credentials */
  const creds = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('key.json'));

  /* initialize sheet and authenticate */
  const doc = new GoogleSpreadsheet(ID);
  await doc.useServiceAccountAuth(creds);
  await doc.loadInfo();
  return doc;
}

3. Save the following snippet to push.js:

const XLSX = require("xlsx");
const fs = require("fs");
/* create dummy worksheet if `sheetjs.xlsx` does not exist */
if(!fs.existsSync("sheetjs.xlsx")) {
  const wb = XLSX.utils.book_new();
  const ws1 = XLSX.utils.aoa_to_sheet([["a","b","c"],[1,2,3]]); XLSX.utils.book_append_sheet(wb, ws1, "Sheet1");
  const ws2 = XLSX.utils.aoa_to_sheet([["a","b","c"],[4,5,6]]); XLSX.utils.book_append_sheet(wb, ws2, "Sheet2");
  XLSX.writeFile(wb, "sheetjs.xlsx");
}
/* read and parse sheetjs.xlsx */
const wb = XLSX.readFile("sheetjs.xlsx");

const init = require("./common");
const ID = "<google sheet ID>";

(async() => {

  const doc = await init(ID);

  /* clear workbook */
  {
    /* delete all sheets after the first sheet */
    const old_sheets = doc.sheetsByIndex;
    for(let i = 1; i < old_sheets.length; ++i) {
      await old_sheets[i].delete();
    }
    /* clear first worksheet */
    old_sheets[0].clear();
  }

  /* write worksheets */
  {
    const name = wb.SheetNames[0];
    const ws = wb.Sheets[name];
    /* first worksheet already exists */
    const sheet = doc.sheetsByIndex[0];

    /* update worksheet name */
    await sheet.updateProperties({title: name});

    /* generate array of arrays from the first worksheet */
    const aoa = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(ws, {header: 1});

    /* set document header row to first row of the AOA */
    await sheet.setHeaderRow(aoa[0])

    /* add the remaining rows */
    await sheet.addRows(aoa.slice(1));

    /* the other worksheets must be created manually */
    for(let i = 1; i < wb.SheetNames.length; ++i) {
      const name = wb.SheetNames[i];
      const ws = wb.Sheets[name];

      const sheet = await doc.addSheet({title: name});
      const aoa = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(ws, {header: 1});
      await sheet.setHeaderRow(aoa[0])
      await sheet.addRows(aoa.slice(1));
    }
  }

})();

4. Replace <google sheet ID> with the ID of the actual document.

5. Run node push.js once. It will create sheetjs.xlsx and update the sheet.

6. Edit sheetjs.xlsx with some new data

7. Run node push.js again and watch the Google Sheet update!

Clear the Document

Google Sheets does not allow users to delete every worksheet. This function deletes every worksheet after the first, then clears the first worksheet:

/* clear google sheets doc */
async function doc_clear(doc) {
  /* delete all sheets after the first sheet */
  const old_sheets = doc.sheetsByIndex;
  for(let i = 1; i < old_sheets.length; ++i) await old_sheets[i].delete();

  /* clear first worksheet */
  old_sheets[0].clear();
}

Update First Sheet

There are two steps: "update worksheet name" and "update worksheet data":

Update Sheet Name

The worksheet name is assigned by using the updateProperties method. The desired sheet name is the name of the first worksheet from the file.

async function doc_update_first_sheet_name(doc, wb) {
  /* get first worksheet name */
  const wsname = wb.SheetNames[0];

  /* get first gsheet */
  const sheet = doc.sheetsByIndex[0];

  /* update worksheet name */
  await sheet.updateProperties({title: wsname});
}

Update Sheet Data

sheet.addRows reads an Array of Arrays of values. XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json can generate this exact shape with the option header: 1. Unfortunately Google Sheets requires at least one "Header Row". This can be implemented by converting the entire worksheet to an Array of Arrays and setting the header row to the first row of the result:

async function doc_update_first_sheet_data(doc, wb) {
  /* get first worksheet */
  const ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]];
  /* generate array of arrays from the first worksheet */
  const aoa = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(ws, {header: 1});

  /* get first gsheet */
  const sheet = doc.sheetsByIndex[0];
  /* set document header row to first row of the AOA */
  await sheet.setHeaderRow(aoa[0]);

  /* add the remaining rows */
  await sheet.addRows(aoa.slice(1));
}

Append Remaining Worksheets

Each name in the SheetJS Workbook SheetNames array maps to a worksheet. The list of names not including the first sheet is wb.SheetNames.slice(1).

There are two steps for each sheet: "create new sheet" and "load data".

Due to JavaScript async idiosyncrasies, a plain for loop must be used:

async function doc_append_remaining_sheets(doc, wb) {
  const names = wb.SheetNames.slice(1);

  /* loop across names */
  for(let i = 0; i < names.length; ++i) {
    /* wb.SheetNames[i] is the sheet name */
    const name = wb.SheetNames[i];
    /* wb.Sheets[name] is the worksheet object */
    const ws = wb.Sheets[name];

    /* create new google sheet */
    const sheet = await doc_add_new_sheet(doc, name);
    /* load sheet with data */
    await sheet_load_from_ws(sheet, ws);
  }
}

Add a New Worksheet

doc.addSheet accepts a properties object that includes the worksheet name:

async function doc_add_new_sheet(doc, name) {
  return await doc.addSheet({title: name});
}

This creates a new worksheet, sets the tab name, and returns a reference to the created worksheet.

Update Worksheet Data

async function sheet_load_from_ws(sheet, ws) {
  /* generate array of arrays from the first worksheet */
  const aoa = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(ws, {header: 1});

  /* set document header row to first row of the AOA */
  await sheet.setHeaderRow(aoa[0]);

  /* add the remaining rows */
  await sheet.addRows(aoa.slice(1));
}

Raw File Exports

node-google-spreadsheet can download the XLSX or ODS export of the document. The functions return NodeJS Buffer data that can be parsed using SheetJS.

This example prints the worksheet names and CSV exports of each sheet.

const XLSX = require("xlsx");

(async() => {
  /* Connect to Google Sheet */
  const ID = "<google sheet id>";
  const doc = await require("./common")(ID);

  /* Get file export */
  // highlight-next-line
  const buf = await doc.downloadAsXLSX();

  /* Parse with SheetJS */
  const wb = XLSX.read(buf);

  /* Loop over the worksheet names */
  wb.SheetNames.forEach(name => {
    /* Print the name to the console */
    console.log(name);

    /* Get the corresponding worksheet object */
    const sheet = wb.Sheets[name];

    /* Print a CSV export of the worksheet */
    console.log(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(sheet));
  });
})();

const XLSX = require("xlsx");

(async() => {
  /* Connect to Google Sheet */
  const ID = "<google sheet id>";
  const doc = await require("./common")(ID);

  /* Get file export */
  // highlight-next-line
  const buf = await doc.downloadAsODS();

  /* Parse with SheetJS */
  const wb = XLSX.read(buf);

  /* Loop over the worksheet names */
  wb.SheetNames.forEach(name => {
    /* Print the name to the console */
    console.log(name);

    /* Get the corresponding worksheet object */
    const sheet = wb.Sheets[name];

    /* Print a CSV export of the worksheet */
    console.log(XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(sheet));
  });
})();