Generate & send PDFs from Google Sheets

Coding level: Beginner

Duration: 15 minutes
Project type: Automation with a custom menu (/apps-script/guides/menus)

Objectives
Understand what the solution does.

Understand what the Apps Script services do within the solution.

Set up the script.

Run the script.

About this solution

Automatically create PDFs with information from sheets in a Google Sheets spreadsheet. Once the PDFs are generated, you can email them out directly from
Sheets. This solution focuses on creating custom invoices, but you can update the template and script to fit your needs.

How it works
The script uses the Invoice template sheet as a template to generate PDFs. Information is sourced from the other sheets to fill in specific cells on the
template. To email the PDFs, the script iterates through the Invoices sheet to get the PDF link and associated email address. The script creates a generic email
subject and body, and attaches the PDF before sending.

Apps Script services

This solution uses the following services:
 Spreadsheet service (/apps-script/reference/spreadsheet)–Provides all of the
information for generating invoice PDFs and creating the email. Clears data
from the template when a user clicks Reset template in the custom menu.

Utilities service (/apps-script/reference/utilities)–Pauses the script with the

sleep() method while iterating through each customer to help ensure the
correct information is added to each invoice.

URL Fetch service (/apps-script/reference/url-fetch)–Exports the Invoice

template sheet to a PDF.

Script service (/apps-script/reference/script)–Authorizes URL Fetch Service to

access the spreadsheet.

Drive service (/apps-script/reference/drive)–Creates a folder for the exported

PDFs. Attaches the PDF files to the emails.

Gmail service (https://developers.google.com/apps-script/reference/gmail)–Builds

and sends the emails.

Prerequisites
To use this sample, you need the following prerequisites:

A Google Account (Google Workspace accounts might require administrator approval).

A web browser with access to the internet.

Set up the script

1. Click the following button to copy the Generate and send PDFs from Google Sheets spreadsheet. The Apps Script project for this solution is attached to
the spreadsheet.
 Make a copy (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kT3jCJcjQZVr0JQtEev5exCKhc6VqFhD3UKaBBV6Lvo/copy?resourcekey=0-3CcEz63Pa_yYyf216zbcaw#gid=1382003

2. Click Extensions > Apps Script.

3. In the Code.gs file, update the following variables:

a. Set EMAIL_OVERRIDE to true.

b. Set EMAIL_ADDRESS_OVERRIDE to your email address.

4. Click Save

Run the script

1. Return to the spreadsheet and click Generate and send PDFs > Process invoices.

2. When prompted, authorize the script. If the OAuth consent screen displays the warning, This app isn't verified, continue by selecting Advanced > Go to
{Project Name} (unsafe).

3. Click Generate and send PDFs > Process invoices again.

4. To view the PDFs, switch to the Invoices sheet and click the links in the Invoice link column.

5. Click Generate and send PDFs > Send emails.

6. Check your email to review the emails and attached PDFs. Because you set EMAIL_OVERRIDE to true in the previous section, the script sends all of the
emails to the email address you specified for EMAIL_ADDRESS_OVERRIDE. If you set EMAIL_OVERRIDE to false, the script sends the emails to the email
addresses listed on the Customers sheet.

7. (Optional) To clear the data from the Invoice template sheet, click Generate and send PDFs > Reset template.

Review the code

To review the Apps Script code for this solution, click View source code below:

View source code

add_circle

Code.gsMenu.gs (#menu.gs)Utilities.gs (#utilities.gs)

(#code.gs)

solutions/automations/generate-pdfs/Code.js

View on GitHub (https://github.com/googleworkspace/apps-script-samples/blob/main/solutions/automations/generate-pdfs/Code.js)

// To learn how to use this script, refer to the documentation:

// https://developers.google.com/apps-script/samples/automations/generate-pdfs

/*
Copyright 2022 Google LLC

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");

you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software

distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
*/

// TODO: To test this solution, set EMAIL_OVERRIDE to true and set EMAIL_ADDRESS_OVERRIDE to your email address.
const EMAIL_OVERRIDE = false;
const EMAIL_ADDRESS_OVERRIDE = '[email protected]';

// Application constants
const APP_TITLE = 'Generate and send PDFs';
const OUTPUT_FOLDER_NAME = "Customer PDFs";
const DUE_DATE_NUM_DAYS = 15

// Sheet name constants. Update if you change the names of the sheets.
const CUSTOMERS_SHEET_NAME = 'Customers';
const PRODUCTS_SHEET_NAME = 'Products';
const TRANSACTIONS_SHEET_NAME = 'Transactions';
const INVOICES_SHEET_NAME = 'Invoices';
const INVOICE_TEMPLATE_SHEET_NAME = 'Invoice Template';

// Email constants
const EMAIL_SUBJECT = 'Invoice Notification';
const EMAIL_BODY = 'Hello!\rPlease see the attached PDF document.';

/**
* Iterates through the worksheet data populating the template sheet with
* customer data, then saves each instance as a PDF document.
*
* Called by user via custom menu item.
*/
function processDocuments() {
const ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
const customersSheet = ss.getSheetByName(CUSTOMERS_SHEET_NAME);
const productsSheet = ss.getSheetByName(PRODUCTS_SHEET_NAME);
const transactionsSheet = ss.getSheetByName(TRANSACTIONS_SHEET_NAME);
const invoicesSheet = ss.getSheetByName(INVOICES_SHEET_NAME);
const invoiceTemplateSheet = ss.getSheetByName(INVOICE_TEMPLATE_SHEET_NAME);

// Gets data from the storage sheets as objects.

const customers = dataRangeToObject(customersSheet);
const products = dataRangeToObject(productsSheet);
const transactions = dataRangeToObject(transactionsSheet);

ss.toast('Creating Invoices', APP_TITLE, 1);

const invoices = [];

// Iterates for each customer calling createInvoiceForCustomer routine.

customers.forEach(function (customer) {
ss.toast(`Creating Invoice for ${customer.customer_name}`, APP_TITLE, 1);
 let invoice = createInvoiceForCustomer(
customer, products, transactions, invoiceTemplateSheet, ss.getId());
invoices.push(invoice);
});
// Writes invoices data to the sheet.
invoicesSheet.getRange(2, 1, invoices.length, invoices[0].length).setValues(invoices);
}

/**
* Processes each customer instance with passed in data parameters.
*
* @param {object} customer - Object for the customer
* @param {object} products - Object for all the products
* @param {object} transactions - Object for all the transactions
* @param {object} invoiceTemplateSheet - Object for the invoice template sheet
* @param {string} ssId - Google Sheet ID
* Return {array} of instance customer invoice data
*/
function createInvoiceForCustomer(customer, products, transactions, templateSheet, ssId) {
let customerTransactions = transactions.filter(function (transaction) {
return transaction.customer_name == customer.customer_name;
});

// Clears existing data from the template.

clearTemplateSheet();

let lineItems = [];

let totalAmount = 0;
customerTransactions.forEach(function (lineItem) {
let lineItemProduct = products.filter(function (product) {
return product.sku_name == lineItem.sku;
})[0];
const qty = parseInt(lineItem.licenses);
const price = parseFloat(lineItemProduct.price).toFixed(2);
const amount = parseFloat(qty * price).toFixed(2);
lineItems.push([lineItemProduct.sku_name, lineItemProduct.sku_description, '', qty, price, amount]);
totalAmount += parseFloat(amount);
});
 // Generates a random invoice number. You can replace with your own document ID method.
const invoiceNumber = Math.floor(100000 + Math.random() * 900000);

// Calulates dates.
const todaysDate = new Date().toDateString()
const dueDate = new Date(Date.now() + 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * DUE_DATE_NUM_DAYS).toDateString()

// Sets values in the template.

templateSheet.getRange('B10').setValue(customer.customer_name)
templateSheet.getRange('B11').setValue(customer.address)
templateSheet.getRange('F10').setValue(invoiceNumber)
templateSheet.getRange('F12').setValue(todaysDate)
templateSheet.getRange('F14').setValue(dueDate)
templateSheet.getRange(18, 2, lineItems.length, 6).setValues(lineItems);

// Cleans up and creates PDF.

SpreadsheetApp.flush();
Utilities.sleep(500); // Using to offset any potential latency in creating .pdf
const pdf = createPDF(ssId, templateSheet, `Invoice#${invoiceNumber}-${customer.customer_name}`);
return [invoiceNumber, todaysDate, customer.customer_name, customer.email, '', totalAmount, dueDate, pdf.getUrl(), 'No'];
}

/**
* Resets the template sheet by clearing out customer data.
* You use this to prepare for the next iteration or to view blank
* the template for design.
*
* Called by createInvoiceForCustomer() or by the user via custom menu item.
*/
function clearTemplateSheet() {

const ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
const templateSheet = ss.getSheetByName(INVOICE_TEMPLATE_SHEET_NAME);
// Clears existing data from the template.
const rngClear = templateSheet.getRangeList(['B10:B11', 'F10', 'F12', 'F14']).getRanges()
rngClear.forEach(function (cell) {
cell.clearContent();
});
// This sample only accounts for six rows of data 'B18:G24'. You can extend or make dynamic as necessary.
 templateSheet.getRange(18, 2, 7, 6).clearContent();
}

/**
* Creates a PDF for the customer given sheet.
* @param {string} ssId - Id of the Google Spreadsheet
* @param {object} sheet - Sheet to be converted as PDF
* @param {string} pdfName - File name of the PDF being created
* @return {file object} PDF file as a blob
*/
function createPDF(ssId, sheet, pdfName) {
const fr = 0, fc = 0, lc = 9, lr = 27;
const url = "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/" + ssId + "/export" +
"?format=pdf&" +
"size=7&" +
"fzr=true&" +
"portrait=true&" +
"fitw=true&" +
"gridlines=false&" +
"printtitle=false&" +
"top_margin=0.5&" +
"bottom_margin=0.25&" +
"left_margin=0.5&" +
"right_margin=0.5&" +
"sheetnames=false&" +
"pagenum=UNDEFINED&" +
"attachment=true&" +
"gid=" + sheet.getSheetId() + '&' +
"r1=" + fr + "&c1=" + fc + "&r2=" + lr + "&c2=" + lc;

const params = { method: "GET", headers: { "authorization": "Bearer " + ScriptApp.getOAuthToken() } };

const blob = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, params).getBlob().setName(pdfName + '.pdf');

// Gets the folder in Drive where the PDFs are stored.

const folder = getFolderByName_(OUTPUT_FOLDER_NAME);

const pdfFile = folder.createFile(blob);

return pdfFile;
}
/**
* Sends emails with PDF as an attachment.
* Checks/Sets 'Email Sent' column to 'Yes' to avoid resending.
*
* Called by user via custom menu item.
*/
function sendEmails() {
const ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
const invoicesSheet = ss.getSheetByName(INVOICES_SHEET_NAME);
const invoicesData = invoicesSheet.getRange(1, 1, invoicesSheet.getLastRow(), invoicesSheet.getLastColumn()).getValues();
const keysI = invoicesData.splice(0, 1)[0];
const invoices = getObjects(invoicesData, createObjectKeys(keysI));
ss.toast('Emailing Invoices', APP_TITLE, 1);
invoices.forEach(function (invoice, index) {

if (invoice.email_sent != 'Yes') {
ss.toast(`Emailing Invoice for ${invoice.customer}`, APP_TITLE, 1);

const fileId = invoice.invoice_link.match(/[-\w]{25,}(?!.*[-\w]{25,})/)

const attachment = DriveApp.getFileById(fileId);

let recipient = invoice.email;

if (EMAIL_OVERRIDE) {
recipient = EMAIL_ADDRESS_OVERRIDE
}

GmailApp.sendEmail(recipient, EMAIL_SUBJECT, EMAIL_BODY, {

attachments: [attachment.getAs(MimeType.PDF)],
name: APP_TITLE
});
invoicesSheet.getRange(index + 2, 9).setValue('Yes');
}
});
}

/**
* Helper function that turns sheet data range into an object.
 *
* @param {SpreadsheetApp.Sheet} sheet - Sheet to process
* Return {object} of a sheet's datarange as an object
*/
function dataRangeToObject(sheet) {
const dataRange = sheet.getRange(1, 1, sheet.getLastRow(), sheet.getLastColumn()).getValues();
const keys = dataRange.splice(0, 1)[0];
return getObjects(dataRange, createObjectKeys(keys));
}

/**
* Utility function for mapping sheet data to objects.
*/
function getObjects(data, keys) {
let objects = [];
for (let i = 0; i < data.length; ++i) {
let object = {};
let hasData = false;
for (let j = 0; j < data[i].length; ++j) {
let cellData = data[i][j];
if (isCellEmpty(cellData)) {
continue;
}
object[keys[j]] = cellData;
hasData = true;
}
if (hasData) {
objects.push(object);
}
}
return objects;
}
// Creates object keys for column headers.
function createObjectKeys(keys) {
return keys.map(function (key) {
return key.replace(/\W+/g, '_').toLowerCase();
});
}
// Returns true if the cell where cellData was read from is empty.
 function isCellEmpty(cellData) {
return typeof (cellData) == "string" && cellData == "";
}

Contributors
This sample is maintained by Google with the help of Google Developer Experts.

Next steps
Custom menus in Google Workspace (/apps-script/guides/menus)

Extend Google Sheets (/apps-script/guides/sheets)

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Last updated 2023-10-09 UTC.