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Pull text from Google Docs into row in sheets, and capture changes in Docs?

  • 3 July 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 807 views

My Goal: To auto translate text in Google Sheets from Google Docs

How I want the ZAP to work: 

  1. When a new Doc is made in a folder on drive (trigger)
  2. The text of that doc is inserted into a cell on a new row in Sheets where is can be auto translated to various languages in other columns
  3. IF text in one of the existing Doc files changes, the corresponding cells in Sheets are updated with the latest text to be translated (not a new row)  

Is this possible?

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Best answer by Anonymous 14 July 2020, 11:32

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4 replies

Hey! Sorry - As Steph explained, my account is being restored.

  1. Yes - The solution should work with two folders - You can use the “New file in folder” trigger

 

The Airtable solution would just be to have a database of all your docs, and when one is updated, you could check a box, and automatically trigger your script to run. It is basically the same as the first solution though - Just, in my eyes a bit cleaner and easier to manage.

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

Hello! For the first part, you should just be able to do this with a simple Google Docs (New Document) to Google Sheets zap (New Row). You’ll likely need to strip the HTML tags before sending it to G-Sheets.

For the second part...You’ll need to have a way to manage this, and you could do it in any number of ways. 

If you can update the doc and put it in a new folder to trigger a zap you could:

  1. New Doc in folder (updated text)
  2. Look up doc ID in G-Sheets (Will need to have been added previously)
  3. Update text
  4. Put Doc back in main folder

Hope this helps. How easy this will be will be dependent on your reliance of Google tools. I think you could perhaps manage this better by using something like Airtable.

Let us know how you get on!

Thanks. Can I make your solution work with two folders or is a new folder needed for every change? 

What would the AirTable solution be? 

Userlevel 7
Badge +8

Hi there @Dante - Thanks for being patient. Andy’s account is currently being restored so he’s not able to respond directly to you. I’ve alerted him to best give you an answer and I’ll be sure to come back with it. Thanks again and stay tuned!