Forum Discussion
Exporting Variables into a Google Spreadsheet
Having read this post on how to export variables to be read in a google spreadsheet, I set about trying to get this working in my project, I soon ran into problems, I just could not get it to work as google have changed some of the ways they work their drive documents.
So, after a LOT of google searching and testing various methods, plus reading this article, I came up with the following method which is a combination of the two articles – and it works, hurrah!
1. Create a new google spreadsheet and change the sheet name (lower left hand corner) to DATA. Make sure your column names are the same as the variables you want to export (exactly matching case)
2. Find out your spreadsheet ‘key’ by looking in the address bar, the key is the long series of letters and numbers after /d/ and before /edit:
Eg: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gF0QCNA1TZCNY3qr2zNpWKQ8r43D39o-nqz56c7cQUs/edit#gid=1283040575
Key = 1gF0QCNA1TZCNY3qr2zNpWKQ8r43D39o-nqz56c7cQUs
3. Open the script editor (Tools ==> Script Editor) in your spreadsheet and paste the script from the attached file (I have copied and pasted this script and just kept in all the instructions)
4. There are two places in the script where it says “KEY” – copy and paste your key into these two places, between the “”.
5. Run the setUp script twice (Run menu). The first time it will ask for permission to run (grant it), then the second time you select to run it you won't get any popup indication it has run.
6. Go to 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).
7. Copy the 'Current web app URL' and paste in a notepad file to keep safe.
8. In Articulate, add a trigger to run javascript and use the following code, replacing “Current web app URL” with your URL you copied in the previous step (in””):
var player = GetPlayer();
$.ajax({
url:
"Current web app URL",
type: "POST",
data: {"Name": player.GetVar("Name")
, "Rating1": player.GetVar("Rating1")
, "Rating2": player.GetVar("Rating2")
, "Rating3": player.GetVar("Rating3")
, "Rating4": player.GetVar("Rating4")
, "postRating1": player.GetVar("postRating1")
, "postRating2": player.GetVar("postRating2")
, "postRating3": player.GetVar("postRating3")
, "Postrating4": player.GetVar("Postrating4")},
success: function(data)
{
console.log(data);
},
error: function(err) {
console.log('Error:', err);
}
});
return false;
9. Publish your articulate project – you need to host it somewhere like SCORM cloud or a LMS. When it has finished publishing click to open the files and edit the story.html and story_html5.html files – add the following line in under the line <!-- version: X.X.XXX.XXX --> or somewhere after <head>:
<script src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-1.11.0.min.js"></script>
10. Go back to articulate and click ‘zip’ – then publish your zip file and hopefully it will work!
This isn’t for the faint hearted but it is so worth it if you can get it working! Good luck!
160 Replies
Hi Laura -
The Jquery needs to be loaded ahead of the script fire. There is some time-lag between the creation of the object and the actual load and initialization of the library. So if you try to call something immediately, it'll probably fail. I usually try to load it on the base layer then call another layer on a delay to execute. This provides 3 to 5 seconds of lead time which seems to be enough to consistently get the library in.
If you were on a dial-up connection, this could be close.
The other thing you could try is a setInterval call that looks for something jquery unique to load before firing your ajax function and canceling the interval. This is probably better than the delay as it would still work if jquery took forever to load.
Like looping to check for this every second or so:
if (typeof jQuery!='undefined') { //run your jquery ajax call and cancel the interval}
You could use other sheets. Depending on the scope and access needs, the way I'd handle that is by adding a field to capture the course ID or title and use a filter to change the report display.
Google Apps Scripts are pretty fantastic. You can even automatically send formatted emails based on a variety of variables.
This is extracted from a function that gathers info from a sheet and sends emails to program owners for a departure clearance process. There is a limit to the number of emails that can be sent from each account per day. For a corporate or government account it's something like 1500.
if (emailSent =="" && emailAddress!="") { // Prevents sending duplicates
var subject = "[Exit Clearance] "+SystemName;
var messageBody="PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE.<br/><br/>"+MemberName+" ("+MemberOffice+") will be departing the agency after "+DepartureDate+".<br/><br/>You have been listed as program contact for <b>"+SystemName+"</b>. Please process the exit for the member listed above as necessary and click the link below to confirm. <br/><br/><a href='https://docs.google.com/a/nara.gov/forms/d/FORMID/formResponse?entry.2015203526="+uid+"&entry.2111276816="+SystemName+"&entry.2115168075="+MemberName+"&entry.439662642="+MemberOffice+"'>Confirm receipt and action.</a><br/><br/>Clicking the link confirms receipt and indicates that the system or program owner will process the required action on or after the date of departure. A reminder will be sent after the scheduled departure date.";MailApp.sendEmail(emailAddress, subject,'',{htmlBody: messageBody});
sheet.getRange(startRow + i, 3).setValue(EMAIL_SENT);
// Make sure the cell is updated right away in case the script is interrupted
SpreadsheetApp.flush();
}Just a thought but could you receive records for more than one course by having other sheets and calling them something other than 'DATA' (and changing the script accordingly)?
Thanks for a very valuable set of instructions. That's been really helpful.
Hi Norman
I am glad you have managed to get it working. Louise changed the code slightly to get rid of the popup so that section should read:
success: function(data){
console.log(data);
},
error: function(err) {
console.log('Error:', err);
}Although, your code seems to work as well!
Sorry for learning out loud here, but I hope it's useful to others who come along later. The popup is caused by that part of the code. I commented out the alert and it no longer appeared. The data still transferred to the spreadsheet.
success: function(data)
{
//alert(data);
}Success!
This time I overwrote the function which probably explains why it works now. I must have had function calls within a function call previously.
I'm finding it works - and I'm delighted and grateful - but when I hit the send button I get a popup saying [object][object] Does anyone know how to get rid of that? Is it maybe caused by this line in the Storyline script?
success: function(data)
{
alert(data);
}Another naive question while I'm at it. When I paste the text from your file, should I put it inside the function myfunction() { } that appears in the Script Editor, or overwrite it?
One thing I notice when I do this is that when I select Tools > Script Editor I get a popup headed Create Script For ... but doesn't list the title of my spreadsheet. (Attached screen shot)
I've just been clicking Close on this and the script editor opens. Do you think I'm going wrong at this step?
Hi. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to redo it from scratch and post the links here.
