/PlainTextCSV_GoogleAppsScript

Create a Google Sheet from a CSV file preventing auto-formatting of date and number fields - - Google Apps Script

Primary LanguageHTMLMIT LicenseMIT

PlainTextCSV_GoogleAppsScript

Create a Google Sheet from a CSV file preventing auto-formatting of date and number fields

By default, both Excel and Google Sheets auto-format date and numeric fields on import. This can introduce errors in systems that expect these values to be retained as strings.

For example 2016-04 is converted to a date 04/01/2016

Source Project - Clone It For Yourself

  • Google Script Project
    • Select "Make a Copy" to save an editable copy
    • Click "Deploy as Webapp", set the run as parameters as appropriate to you
    • Get the current web app URL
    • Run the Web App to upload a CSV file

Sample Screenshots

Web Service Landing Page

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Sample CSV Input

Note the date fields that should not be auto-formatted.

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Sample Generated Google Sheet

Note the preservation of the date strings in the resulting spreadsheet.

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Installation

  • Open Google Drive
  • Create a new "Google Apps Script" and name it "CSV Upload"
  • Load the 3 code files in this repository
  • Click the "Deploy as Web App" button (cloud with an arrow in it)
  • Execute the app as: User Running the Script
  • Who has access: Choose the appropriate audience
  • Save the URL to the deployed application (be sure the URL ends with /exec and not /dev)
  • Share the URL with your users
  • Users will need to authorize the application to write to Google Drive before running the application

StackOverflow Thread

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/36605298/create-a-google-sheet-with-plain-text-cells-to-prevent-auto-format-of-strings

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