Posted by Saurabh Gupta, Product Manager, Google Apps Script
Back in December 2014, we announced the IFRAME sandbox mode for HtmlService which has helped improve the speed of an application’s user interface (UI). It also gives users a choice of using a variety of JS libraries on the client. We have been working hard to improve IFRAME sandbox mode and have added many features since then, including: Firefox support, file uploads, top navigation support, and improved Google Picker API support. Since IFRAME sandbox provides faster UIs and has more capabilities than NATIVE and EMULATED modes, developers should only be using IFRAME sandbox mode moving forward.
As of today, both EMULATED and NATIVE modes in HtmlService are deprecated. Over the next few months, we plan on sunsetting both EMULATED and NATIVE modes in stages to give you enough time to migrate your scripts.
We have created a migration guide to help you with this transition. For many scripts, no changes will be needed, unless they use a small set of features described in the migration guide. The guide also describes a few potential breaking changes. It is important that you review all your scripts that use HtmlService to ensure that the switch to IFRAME sandbox mode does not cause them to fail.
Here’s the timeline:
In November 2015, all new scripts will default to IFRAME sandbox mode unless NATIVE mode is explicitly specified. For example, if you make a copy of an existing script, the new script will use IFRAME sandbox mode unless you have explicitly set the sandbox mode to NATIVE.
In December 2015 (see sunset schedule for exact dates), EMULATED mode will be shutdown. Any scripts explicitly using EMULATED mode will default to IFRAME sandbox mode.
On April 28th, 2016, all scripts will default to IFRAME sandbox unless you have explicitly specified NATIVE mode in your script. For example, if your script has not specified any mode, then it will change from using NATIVE mode to IFRAME sandbox mode. Please make sure that your UI works well in IFRAME sandbox mode.
On June 30th 2016, NATIVE mode will be shutdown. All scripts explicitly using NATIVE mode will default to IFRAME sandbox mode.
While deprecations may at times seem inconvenient, this staged deprecation should ease in the migration process. Our goal is to provide a modern and secure environment enabling developers to create great apps for their users with Google Apps Script.
Originally posted on the Google Developer blog
Posted by Wesley Chun, Developer Advocate, Google Apps
Happy Monday! Have you ever been asked by your boss to do something simple (good) but long and tedious (bad)? Take for example, the simple task of counting up all of the YouTube views for your corporate videos and your competitors’. It doesn’t even have to be your boss. What if you and your gamer friends are competing to see whose gameplay clips are garnering the most attention? It’s easy to manually track ten videos, but how about 100 or even 1,000? While simple -- you can visit the YouTube to grab the view count for each video -- you know the real problem with a task like this is that you don’t scale with the amount of content, so it’s better to automate with a simple app instead. This is the exact scenario that my colleagues and I set out to address in the latest episode of the Launchpad Online, introducing users to a pair of Google developer tools that can help solve this particular problem:>
The first developer tool covered is the YouTube Data API. You can access it like most modern Google APIs from your preferred programming environment using one of the Google APIs Client Libraries. However, this type of data generally lives in a spreadsheet, and if you’re using Google Sheets, you can instead write the app with Google Apps Script, a JavaScript environment running in Google’s cloud that, if authorized, can write that video information to the cells in your Sheet. YouTube is just one of the many supported services available to Apps Script developers.
As with all my Launchpad Online episodes, I walk you through a short code snippet (only eight lines this time) that will get you started building your own custom solution. If you’re new to the developer series, we share technical content aimed at novice Google developers… current tools with a little bit of code to help you launch your next app. Please give us your feedback below and tell us what topics you would like to see in future episodes!
Posted by Sushmit Goswami, Product Manager, Google Apps for Work and Wesley Chun, Developer Advocate, Google Apps
To provide developers and administrators with more fine-grained control, the Google Apps Admin SDK now includes new domain management features. These new APIs let you programmatically manage domains for your Google Apps account, similar to other RESTful resources like Users, Groups, etc., providing a superset of the domain management capabilities available on the Domains page in the admin console today.
The Customers API gives enterprise developers and administrators the ability to swap the current primary domain with a selected secondary domain for a Google Apps installation. The “change primary” operation is essentially transparent to the user, but users moved to the secondary domain will be subject to certain restrictions (refer to Help Center article for details). Customers who want to rebrand their business with a new primary domain can follow this up by renaming users from the old (now secondary) to the new (now primary) domain using the Users API.
The Domains API lets developers create tools for administrators to add and remove domains, similar to the functionality available on the Domains page in the admin console. In addition, the API lets you programmatically add aliases for any domain, primary or secondary, but aliases for secondary domain can only be added via the API.
Posted by Edward Jones, Software Engineer, Google Apps Script and Wesley Chun, Developer Advocate, Google Apps
Have you ever wanted a server API that modifies cells in a Google Sheet, to execute a Google Apps Script app from outside of Google Apps, or a way to use Apps Script as an API platform? Today, we’re excited to announce you can do all that and more with the Google Apps Script Execution API.
The Execution API allows developers to execute scripts from any client (browser, server, mobile, or any device). You provide the authorization, and the Execution API will run your script. If you’re new to Apps Script, it’s simply JavaScript code hosted in the cloud that can access authorized Google Apps data using the same technology that powers add-ons. The Execution API extends the ability to execute Apps Script code and unlocks the power of Docs, Sheets, Forms, and other supported services for developers.
One of our launch partners, Pear Deck, used the new API to create an interactive presentation tool that connects students to teachers by converting slide decks into interactive experiences. Their app calls the Execution API to automatically generate a Google Doc customized for each student, so everyone gets a personalized set of notes from the presentation. Without the use of Apps Script, their app would be limited to using PDFs and other static file types. Check out the video below to see how it works.
Bruce McPherson, a Google Developer Expert (GDE) for Google Apps, says: “The Execution API is a great tool for enabling what I call ‘incremental transition’ from Microsoft Office (and VBA) to Apps (and Apps Script). A mature Office workflow may involve a number of processes currently orchestrated by VBA, with data in various formats and locations. It can be a challenge to move an entire workload in one step, especially an automated process with many moving parts. This new capability enables the migration of data and process in manageable chunks.” You can find some of Bruce’s sample migration code using the Execution API here.
The Google Apps Script Execution API is live and ready for you to use today. To get started, check out the developer documentation and quickstarts. We invite you to show us what you build with the Execution API!
Posted by Muzammil Esmail, Product Manager, Google for Work
Google Apps users generate a lot of content at work—project plans, design documents, client presentations, and more. Many of these files are still relevant to an employee’s company or team even after he or she has left or transferred internally. The new Data Transfer API will make it easier for developers to build tools that will allow admins to better manage their end-user data, specifically apps that can transfer ownership of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and all the other Google Drive files as well as Google+ pages in your Google for Work account—in bulk—from one employee/end-user to another using the API.
In July, we introduced the Data Transfer privilege, which makes it easier for admins to transfer data ownership. That same privilege is leveraged by the Data Transfer API. When enabled, it allows admins to programmatically migrate file ownership anytime they want using the API—provided they’ve enabled API access. In order to transfer ownership of Google Drive content as well as Google+ pages, super admins will need to grant/delegate the Data Transfer privilege to admins before end-user content can be migrated programmatically (via API or 3rd-party tools) or from the admin console.
This is what User Deletion looks like in the Administration console, but now you can also do this programmatically with the API.
To get started with the Data Transfer API, take a look at the developer documentation. Keep in mind that while this programmatic feature is new, admins can still transfer user data manually from the admin console. For more general information, see the Help Center pages on transferring file ownership on Google Drive and how to delete a user.
Originally posted on the Google Developers Blog.
Posted by Wesley Chun, Developer Advocate
Have you ever booked a dining reservation, plane ticket, hotel room, concert ticket, or seats to the game from your favorite app, only to have to exit that booking app to enter the details into your calendar? It doesn’t make for a friendly user experience. Why can’t today’s apps do that for you automatically?
In case you missed it the episode 97 of #GoogleDev100 the other week, I aim to inspire how app developers can streamline that process with the help of the Google Calendar API. A short Python script, anchored by the following snippet, is illustrated to show developers how easy it is to programmatically add calendar events:
CALENDAR = apiclient.discovery.build('calendar', 'v3', http=creds.authorize(Http())) GMT_OFF = '-07:00' # PDT/MST/GMT-7 EVENT = { 'summary': 'Dinner with friends', 'start': {'dateTime': '2015-09-18T19:00:00%s' % GMT_OFF}, 'end': {'dateTime': '2015-09-18T22:00:00%s' % GMT_OFF}, 'attendees': [ {'email': 'friend1@example.com'}, {'email': 'friend2@example.com'}, ], } CALENDAR.events().insert(calendarId='primary', body=EVENT).execute()
For deeper dive into the script, check out the corresponding blogpost. With code like that, your app can automatically insert your relevant events into your users’ calendars, saving them the effort of manually doing it themselves. One of the surprising aspects is that a limited set of actions, such as RSVPing, is even available to non-Google Calendar users. By the way, inserting events is just the beginning. Developers can also delete or update events instantly in case that upcoming dinner gets pushed back a few weeks. Events can even be repeated with a recurrence rule. Attachments are also supported so you can provide your users a PDF of the concert tickets they just booked. Those are just some of the things the API is capable of.
Ready to get started? Much more information, including code samples in Java, PHP, .NET, Android, iOS, and more, can be found in the Google Calendar API documentation. If you’re new to the Launchpad Online developer series, we share technical content aimed at novice Google developers… the latest tools and features with a little bit of code to help you launch that app. Please give us your feedback below and tell us what topics you would like to see in future episodes!
Posted by, Chris Han, Product Manager Google Apps Marketplace
The Google Apps Marketplace brings together hundreds of third-party applications that integrate with and enhance Google Apps for Work. It’s a great place to get discovered by more than five million Google Apps customers. Many of these customers depend on Google Apps Marketplace to find the solutions their organizations need, driving millions of users to the top listed apps.
Today, we’ve launched a brand new Google Apps Marketplace site aimed to improving discoverability and getting your app installed by even more customers. No need to do anything if you’ve already listed your app publicly on Google Apps Marketplace. Your app will appear on the new site automatically.
If you haven’t listed your app yet on Google Apps Marketplace, follow these instructions to get started!