Challenge 1
In this moment of time it is not possible to import data (or paste chunks of data) into Glide.
@Manu.n has shown a way to import a row at a time from Google sheets to Glide tables which is quite handy if you have not to much data to import. But if you have hundreds or thousands of rows this approach is not the way to go.
Manu.n's approach - great for a smaller number of rows
Import Data From Excel & Sheets into Glide Table - #18 by Manu.n
I will show how to use a software robot (RPA) to do the job.
Challenge 2
Deleting items from Glide tables also causes problems as rows are not always deleted by Glide - they sometimes comes back.
I propose that you just mark a row as deleted and then do a batch delete job by use of a robot
Video of setup
I will take you through the process in this video
How-to
Prerequisite:
Install the robot - it is opensource
Installing robot
Install like suggested in root of c directory
Installation ā TagUI 6.110.0 documentation
If you want to further understand how to use the robot please have a look in the documentation
Main concepts ā TagUI 6.110.0 documentation
RPA script files
Download the files and place them in this directory on your computer: C:\tagui\flows\samples
RPA script for copying data from GS to GT
Copy_data_from_GS_to_GT_ver_1_2_template.tag - Google Drive
//-----------------------------------------------------------
// Copy data from GS to GT
// Created by krivo aka Kristian Voigt
//-----------------------------------------------------------// this command that must be run in command line window (cmd)
// tagui c:\tagui\flows\samples\Copy_data_from_GS_to_GT_ver_1_2_template.tag//------------------------ open app and sign in--------------
//open the glide app
//wait is used in order to make the app open correctly AND sign in. It can also be used to maximize the window
wait 45// ------------------------ copy ---------------------
// Select the tab where list of elements are found to be copied
click //button [contains(., āCopy to glideā)]// copy a number a elements from google sheet to glide table
// sometimes the clicks are not registered so therefore you might have to specify a bigger number than elements that needs to be copied
// the job will fail gracefully if there are no more items to copy
for n from 1 to 100
click //*[contains(@class,āseparator selected-item-list-itemā)]
RPA script for deleting data from to GT
Delete_data_from_GT_ver_1_2_template.tag - Google Drive
//-----------------------------------------------------------
// Delete data from Glide table
// Created by krivo aka Kristian Voigt
//-----------------------------------------------------------// the command that must be run in command line window (cmd)
// tagui c:\tagui\flows\samples\Delete_data_from_GT_ver_1_2_template.tag//------------------------ open app and sign in--------------
//open the glide app
//wait is used in order to make the app open correctly AND sign in. It can also be used to maximize the window
wait 60//------------------------ delete ------------------------
// Select the window where list of elements are found to be deleted
click //button [contains(., āDelete from glideā)]// delete a number a elements from glide table
// sometimes the clicks are not registered so therefore you might have to specify a bigger number than elements that needs to be deleted
// the job will fail gracefully if there are no more items to delete
for n from 1 to 200
click //*[contains(@class,āseparator selected-item-list-itemā)]
App to try out
Copy the app to your own Glide account
Run
Adjust the scripts so they point to your own app. Inside the script file it is indicated where to change
Run the scripts from a command window (cmd in windows)
Use the concept in your already created app
There are a few ways where you can use the concept in your existing apps.
- Recreate the sample app inside your existing app - you just need two extra tabs (which you should put visibility on so your users donāt see them)
- Create a new app where the Glide table is a link to an existing table inside your existing app
Lessons learned
Trying to get the signing in process to be supported by the robot was a nightmare. Either the robot, cookies or glide made the email address reappear and couldnāt be totally cleared. Anyway, you will still need to input the pin-code so the benefit of automation a part of sign-in process isnāt that big.
Feedback
Please leave some feedback on how you succeed - or if you encounter problems e.g. when doing large Google sheets.