![]() In this example, I called my sheet object sheet (you can call it anything), so the code is sheet.getRange(). Fortunately, it’s easy to turn a spreadsheet’s cell location into a cell range object with yourSheetObject.getRange(). In order to read or write data in a Sheets cell, that cell needs to be a range object. The first line of code creates a variable for whatever spreadsheet is active, followed by a variable holding the number of that sheet’s first empty row. (Click image to enlarge it.)Ĭhange that function name to storeTemperature() (or whatever you might like to call it), and use the following code: function storeTemperature() You’ll see a default function pop up called myFunction. Head to Extensions > Apps Script to create functions for the spreadsheet. To store data, we’ll need to create a spreadsheet function. That’s not very scalable! Instead, let’s create a new function to 1) Find the first empty row in the sheet and 2) copy the value from cell B2 into another empty cell for storage. To keep historical data as the sheet’s currently designed, I’d need to copy and paste values manually into another cell each time I opened it. The way the spreadsheet is currently set up, the temperature won’t be saved it will change each time you open the sheet. ![]() (Click image to enlarge it.)Īnd I want the date and time in column C. Inserting the formula in the spreadsheet. I’ll put the formula in the second column. This will make it easy to add additional places to my sheet in the future. In my spreadsheet’s first column, I’ll list the location I’m tracking. For a Google Sheet, the function to read part of a web page is:įor my National Weather Service Needham, MA page and temperature selector, that’s Spreadsheet formulas can do more than math calculations they can also extract data from web pages. The XPath selector I’ll use in my Google Sheet is now That will cause problems, so if your XPath includes double quotation marks, change them all to single quotes manually. Unfortunately, the selector itself also has double quotation marks. The one key point is that the XPath selector will end up surrounded by double quotation marks in your Google Sheets formula. XPath is often more complicated than CSS, but you don’t need to worry about what all the expressions mean. Click on XPath, and the XPath version will show up looking something like this: IDG/Sharon Machlis I need XPath, which is an option all the way at the bottom right. myforecast-current-lrg is a css selector. In the bottom right, a selector appears but that. Selecting the temperature on the National Weather Service page for Needham, MA. If others had shown up as green or yellow, I would have clicked those to turn them off in order to make sure my XPath was choosing only what I need. This page was easy: I clicked the temperature, and it was the only item selected. (Foundry is Computerworld’s parent company.) In the image below, I visited the National Weather Service page for Needham, MA, the location of Foundry corporate headquarters. If they are, click on the ones that you want to remove from your selection. Other areas of the page may be green or yellow, too. The trick is to make sure you’re only selecting that. Install the SelectorGadget Chrome browser extension, activate it by clicking the browser tool icon, and then click on the section of the page you want to scrape. (There’s a less-than-2-minute video on the site demonstrating how it works.) Fortunately, there’s an easy-to-use point-and-click tool that helps you do just that: SelectorGadget. Google Sheets needs an “XPath” selector to pluck just a portion of data from a web page. Find the “XPath” for the part of the web page you want to scrape ![]() (The default will be “Untitled spreadsheet,” but you can click on that to change it to something that will better identify it in your list of documents.) 2. Title the sheet anything you want, and you’re ready to begin.
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