Briefcase.js

Javascript library to use Google Spreadsheet as a database

What?

Retrieving data from a Google spreadsheet is easy when there are only 2 columns. If the table is more complex, the data isn't formatted in an nice way, and therefore not easily usable. Briefcase makes a call to your Google Spreadsheet and returns clean data; JSON or CSV (and now even XML, just in case someone still uses it).

See examples/getJSON for a quick start.

Note: Using Google Spreadsheet as a database is not recommended for production work; but can be useful for quick prototypes and local applications

Setup

1. Create your Google spreadsheet(or form, then > View Responses)

• give a title to your columns, even the first one (this title will be used as a parameter)

2. Publish it.

• Click File> Publish to the web

3. Get the id

• The key that is in the URL when you publish it (i.e. 1nLQeSvCwV9EorcEvmqDEMz-cyJ6TpJsI)

For more detailed instructions, see this blog post

Use

Include briefcase.js

You can then call either:

• briefcase.getJSON() > returns a clean JSON array with your data,
• briefcase.getRawJSON() > returns JSON without modification,
• briefcase.getCSV() > returns string of comma separated values
• briefcase.getXML() > returns data in a structured XML.

Each of these functions accepts 2 parameters: options (an Object), and callback (your callback function).

Available options:

• id: your spreadsheet id // mandatory
• type: either "spreadsheet" or "form" //default is "spreadsheet", "form" is to be used if your spreadsheet is a Google Form responses spreadsheet.
• sheetNumber: the sheet to use in your spreadsheet // default is 1
• leftColumnTitle: the title of the column that contains the list of your items // default is "item", mandatory, cannot be left empty
• showTimeStamp: if you're using a form, whether to retrieve associated timestamp or not // default is false.
• download: whether to download a JSON or CSV file from the spreadsheet // default is false. Please note this option is only available in Chrome, Firefox and Opera.

TODO

• Get rid of jQuery
• Implement CSV option
• Add file download option
• Add XML option (?)
• Add response when error