Accessing and processing Google Forms data using Java

Other Questions Google drive
1

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to work with Google Forms in my Java project. I’ve got a bunch of Form files in a Drive folder, and I can list them out. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

for (DriveFile form : formList) {
    System.out.println("Form Details:");
    System.out.println("ID: " + form.getUniqueId());
    System.out.println("Name: " + form.getFileName());
    System.out.println("Type: " + form.getFileType());
    System.out.println("----------------");
}

Now I want to get all the data from these forms (rows and columns). I thought about downloading them, but form.getDownloadLink() gives me nothing. The file type shows up as ‘application/vnd.google-apps.form’.

Any ideas on how to get the form data? I’m stuck and could really use some help. Thanks!

2

hey there! i’ve run into this before. the trick is to use the Google Sheets API instead of Drive API for forms. you’ll need to link your form to a Google Sheet first.

then use the Sheets API to grab the data. it’s a bit of a workaround, but it works. you’ll need to set up OAuth2 and add the Sheets API library to your project.

hope this helps! lemme know if you need more info.

3

I’ve dealt with a similar situation before, and I can tell you that working with Google Forms data in Java can be tricky. The issue is that Forms aren’t like regular files you can just download. What worked for me was using the Google Sheets API instead of the Drive API.

Here’s what I did: I created a Google Sheet that was linked to my Form responses. Then, I used the Sheets API to access that spreadsheet. It’s a bit roundabout, but it gets the job done. You’ll need to set up OAuth2 credentials and include the Google Sheets API client library in your project.

Once that’s set up, you can use something like this to get the data:

Sheets sheetsService = new Sheets.Builder(HTTP_TRANSPORT, JSON_FACTORY, credentials)
    .setApplicationName(APPLICATION_NAME)
    .build();

String spreadsheetId = "your-spreadsheet-id";
String range = "Form Responses 1!A1:Z";

ValueRange response = sheetsService.spreadsheets().values()
    .get(spreadsheetId, range)
    .execute();

List<List<Object>> values = response.getValues();

This approach has worked well for me. It might require some refactoring of your current code, but it should give you access to all the form data you need.

4

As someone who’s worked extensively with Google Forms and Java, I can shed some light on your issue. The problem is that Google Forms aren’t directly accessible through the Drive API. Instead, you need to use the Forms API or, as a workaround, the Sheets API.

If you’re set on using Java, I’d recommend going the Sheets route. Link your Form to a Google Sheet, then use the Sheets API to fetch the data. You’ll need to set up OAuth2 and include the necessary libraries.

Here’s a snippet to get you started:

Sheets service = new Sheets.Builder(HTTP_TRANSPORT, JSON_FACTORY, getCredentials(HTTP_TRANSPORT))
    .setApplicationName(APPLICATION_NAME)
    .build();

ValueRange result = service.spreadsheets().values().get(spreadsheetId, range).execute();
List<List<Object>> values = result.getValues();

This approach has worked well for me in similar projects. It might require some restructuring, but it’s a reliable way to access your form data in Java.