docs.sheetjs.com/docz/docs/03-demos/32-extensions/04-gsheet.md

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Google Sheets Script Automation	Google Sheets	demos/cloud/index	demos/bigdata/index	summary Enhance data import functionality from Google Sheets

import current from '/version.js'; import CodeBlock from '@theme/CodeBlock';

:::info pass

This demo focuses on Google Apps Script custom functions.

The "Google Sheets" cloud data demo covers NodeJS APIs for external data processing.

:::

Google Sheets is a collaborative spreadsheet service with powerful JavaScript automation and user-defined functions.

SheetJS is a JavaScript library for reading and writing data from spreadsheets.

Google Sheets currently does not provide support for working with Apple Numbers files and some legacy file formats. SheetJS fills the gap.

The Complete Demo defines a SHEETJS function that fetches a remote file, parses the contents, and writes data to the sheet:

:::note Tested Deployments

This demo was tested in the following deployments:

Clasp	Date
2.4.2	2024-12-31

:::

Integration Details

The SheetJS Standalone scripts can be uploaded into an Apps Script project. Once uploaded, the XLSX variable is available to other scripts in the project.

Adding the script

The clasp command line tool can be used to upload the standalone script:

{\ npx @google/clasp clone SCRIPT_ID curl -LO https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/package/dist/xlsx.full.min.js npx @google/clasp push}

Once uploaded, the script xlsx.full.min.gs will be added to the project.

The Complete Demo includes more detailed setup instructions.

Fetching data

UrlFetchApp.fetch performs a network request and returns a HTTPResponse:

const response = UrlFetchApp.fetch("https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers");

HTTPResponse#getContent returns the file data as an array of signed bytes:

const content = response.getContent();

The SheetJS read method¹ can read arrays of unsigned bytes. Fortunately, the values in the array can be corrected with bitwise operations:

for(var i = 0; i < content.length; ++i) content[i] &= 0xFF;

After converting each signed byte to unsigned byte, the array can be parsed with the read method:

const wb = XLSX.read(content, { type: "array" });

Returning data

The SheetJS sheet_to_json method² with the option header: 1 returns arrays of arrays of data³:

const first_worksheet = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]];
const aoa = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(first_worksheet, {header: 1});

Google Sheets will spread arrays of arrays across rows and columns. The AOA function below returns an array that contains two arrays. The screenshot shows the result of setting cell A1 to the formula =AOA():

Custom Function	Google Sheets
function AOA(url) { return [ ["Sheet", "JS"], [ 72, 62] ]; }

Complete Demo

This demo creates a function SHEETJS(url) that fetches the specified URL, extracts data from the first worksheet, and writes the data

Initial Setup

0. Sign into a Google account (or create a new one)

1. In a terminal window, run

npx @google/clasp login

A browser window should direct to an account selection page.

2. Select the account from step 0.

The next page will include the following title:

Sign in to clasp – The Apps Script CLI

3. At the bottom of the screen, click "Continue".

4. In the next screen, check every box that mentions "Google Apps Script". When the demo was last tested, the following were required:

• Create and update Google Apps Script deployments.
• Create and update Google Apps Script projects.

5. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click "Continue".

The browser will show the following message:

Logged in! You may close this page.

The terminal window will show the following message:

Authorization successful.

Creating a Sheet

6. Sign into Google Sheets with the same account.

7. Create a new Blank spreadsheet.

8. Open the apps script window (Extensions > Apps Script)

9. Click the gear icon (Project Settings) and copy the Script ID

Cloning the Apps Script

10. In the terminal window, create a new folder for your project:

mkdir SheetJSGAS
cd SheetJSGAS

11. Clone the Apps Script project. The official command is:

npx @google/clasp clone PASTE_YOUR_ID_HERE

Type npx @google/clasp clone in the terminal with a trailing space (do not press Enter yet!), then copy the Script ID from the Apps Script settings page and paste in the terminal. Press Enter after pasting the ID.

Adding the SheetJS Library

12. Download the SheetJS Standalone script and move to the project directory:

• xlsx.full.min.js

{\ curl -LO https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/package/dist/xlsx.full.min.js}

13. Push the project to Apps Script:

npx @google/clasp push

:::caution pass

If the Google Apps Script API is not enabled, the command will display an object with code: 403 and an error message about the Apps Script API:

{ // ...
  code: 403,
  errors: [
    {
      message: 'User has not enabled the Apps Script API. Enable it by ...',
      domain: 'global',
      reason: 'forbidden'
    }
  ]
}

The message includes a URL (https://script.google.com/home/usersettings when the demo was last tested). Visit that URL.

If the Google Apps Script API is "Off", click on "Google Apps Script API" and click on the slider to enable the API.

After enabling the API, run npx @google/clasp push again.

:::

14. Reopen the Google Sheet and Apps Script editor (Extensions > Apps Script).

In the Files listing, there should be a new entry xlsx.full.min.gs

Creating a Custom Function

15. In Apps Script editor, select Code.gs and erase the code in the editor. Replace with the following function:

function SHEETJS(url) {
  /* fetch data */
  const res = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url || "https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers");
  const content = res.getContent();

  /* fix data */
  for(var i = 0; i < content.length; ++i) content[i] &= 0xFF;

  /* parse */
  const wb = XLSX.read(content, {type: "array"});

  /* generate array of arrays from worksheet */
  const ws = wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]];
  const aoa = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(ws, {header: 1});
  return aoa;
}

Click the "Save project to Drive" icon (💾) to save the project.

16. In the Google Sheets window, select cell A1 and enter the formula

=SHEETJS("https://docs.sheetjs.com/pres.numbers")

The file will be fetched and the contents will be written to the sheet.

---

1. See "Input Type" in "Reading Files" for more details. ↩︎

2. See sheet_to_json in "Utilities" ↩︎

3. See "Array of Arrays" in "Utilities" for more details. ↩︎