What's the best way to monitor specific Google Sheets changes and avoid infinite loops?

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1

Hey everyone, I’m working on a project where I need to keep an eye on changes in one Google Sheet (let’s call it Sheet A) and then automatically update another sheet (Sheet B) based on those changes. I’ve got the basic notification system working for the whole document, but I’m running into a couple of issues:

  1. I can’t figure out how to watch just one specific sheet instead of the entire document. Any ideas?

  2. I’m stuck in an infinite loop. When my app gets a notification about Sheet A changing and updates Sheet B, it triggers another notification, and the cycle keeps going. How can I break this loop?

I’ve tried following some online guides, but they don’t seem to cover these specific problems. Has anyone dealt with something similar before? Any tips or tricks would be super helpful! Thanks in advance!

2

I’ve been down this rabbit hole before, mate. Watching specific sheets can be tricky, but here’s what worked for me: use the Sheet API’s watch method with a custom filter. It lets you zero in on the exact range you need to monitor in Sheet A.

For the infinite loop headache, I implemented a simple cooldown system. Basically, after updating Sheet B, I set a timer (say, 5 seconds) during which any incoming notifications are ignored. It’s not perfect, but it got the job done without overcomplicating things.

One more thing - make sure you’re handling API quota limits properly. I learned that the hard way when my script hit the ceiling during testing. Setting up exponential backoff for API calls saved my bacon.

Hope this helps! Let us know how it goes.

3

yo john, i had similar probs. try using getSheetByName() to watch specific sheet. for loop issue, use a flag or timestamp to ignore ur own changes. worked for me. good luck bro!

4

I encountered a similar issue in a project last year. For monitoring specific sheets, you can use the getSheetByName() method to target the exact sheet you want to watch. This narrows down the scope and improves efficiency.

As for the infinite loop problem, implement a flag system. Set a boolean flag when your script makes changes, and only process notifications if this flag is false. Reset the flag after processing. This way, you’ll ignore notifications triggered by your own updates.

Another approach is using a timestamp system. Store the last update time and only process changes that occurred after that timestamp. This prevents reprocessing the same changes multiple times.

Remember to thoroughly test your solution to ensure it works as expected in various scenarios.