Google Sheets Writeback

Who can use this feature?

The Google Sheets Writeback functionality can be used by those with the Builder subscription plan.

For more details, see our pricing comparison matrix.

The Google Sheets connector allows data to be imported from a Google Sheet into your Squirrel project at runtime. It also gives options for filtering and refreshing that data.

Add a Google Writeback Connector to your project by opening the CONNECTIONS drawer in the object browser, selecting Google Sheets from the dropdown box, and clicking the plus button:

Google Sheets Read Properties

GOOGLE DRIVE

To connect to a Google Sheet, you will need to connect to a Google account.

• Select a Google account or add a new one – click the dropdown to connect a Google account. After selecting New Account, a window will appear to enter your Google account details.

After adding the account details, select your account in the dropdown and click Select a Document. A Google Sheets file explorer will appear where you can locate and select a sheet to import.

Choose a sheet to import and click Select

• Worksheet – This property is shown once a successful connection has been made between Squirrel and the Google Sheet. Squirrel extracts the names of the worksheets from the Google Sheet and lists them in the dropdown box. Select a worksheet to import data from.

Once you have selected the sheet that contains the data you want to load, a new property drawer will appear.

WRITEBACK

A radio with three options will appear under the WRITEBACK drawer.

• Insert - bind to a range that will be added to the bottom of an existing range in the Excel sheet

• Update - bind to a range that updates the first row that matches the condition set below. Insert manually or bind to a cell that contains the column letter reference and the value to match to determine the row.

• Upsert - bind to a range that updates the first matching row; if the row cannot be found then it adds the row to the bottom of the range.

USAGE

The USAGE drawer of the properties panel allows for some control over how and when the data is refreshed. If the Google Sheets connector is to a Google Sheet that is constantly being updated, then it may be useful to have the Squirrel project update the imported data at regular intervals or in response to triggers in the Squirrel project.

• Refresh on load – This is the default setting and means that the Squirrel project imports the data from the Google Sheet on the project load. Unchecking it will mean that one of the other usage properties will need to be checked for the data to be imported.

• Refresh on interval – Check this file to set a recurring interval. The Squirrel project will import the data from the Google Sheet after each interval. The interval value is measured in seconds, setting it to 30 will ensure that the Squirrel project will pull the data from the Google Sheet every 30 seconds.

• Refresh on cell change – Bind to a cell that will have its content updated during runtime. This could be caused by the user interacting with a control, input from a data mover function, or the result of a calculation, etc.