Hi!
Right now my computations are all done in Google Sheets (last time I will do this, I promise). But every time a user inputs some information and clicks on a button, the information gets sent to Google sheets for computation and nothing gets loaded on the front end.
Is there a way to force Glide to sync when the information is retrieved in Google Sheets?
(I can’t move the computation to Glide easily… it’s too much!)
Thank you!
I think the best you can do is enable extra sync mode, if your plan supports it.
Ultimately, for best performance you should move all time sensitive calculations to Glide.
The following FAQ article has a lot of good related information:
Thanks for the link - I am not sure how to achieve this in the article (notifying Glide of the change. Is there an app script I could run)?
"2. Your data source notifies us of a change
When Google Drive or MS OneDrive tells us that your Google Sheet/Excel Workbook has changed, we sync your data. From the moment that we get that notification, it shouldn’t take long for the data to reach your project. The larger your data set — the longer this might take.
As Airtable lacks the ability to send notifications for base changes, Glide checks for updates every three minutes."
Yes. I will never use sheets +Glide combo again, it just doesn’t work! But for now it’s a bit too hard to move and I am looking for a workaround. Even extra sync mode is every few minutes only… too long for someone to hang around and wait right? hmm…
I think the below paragraph is important to note:
Now I don’t know what your App flow is, but I can imagine it’s something like this:
The above is very common, and honestly you will never have a good user experience in your App if you’re relying on the results of calculations in your Google Sheets. Consider that data needs to travel:
One thing you might be able to try is to update a second value in your Google Sheet via an action a few seconds after the first. This could possibly trigger a second sync, and this second sync might pick up the updated values. But even if that works, it will still be slow and it will double your sync counts.
The only real solution is to bite the bullet and move your calculations to Glide.
What sort of stuff are you doing in the Google Sheet? Moving it might not be as hard as you think…
Exactly as you said!
Well so it is an AI audio tour generator.
Okay.
So I guess the obvious thing would be to explore using the OpenAI integration instead of Apps Script for communicating with Chat-GPT. Did you implement all that before the integration was available?
There is also the JavaScript column that may be able to replace some/all of what you’re currently doing with AppsScript. You might even find that a bit of creative use of other computed columns can get the job done.
I don’t know. It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth the effort. But if you want a nice snappy App and happy users, it really is your only option 
Yes, this seems like much more than a simple calculation – the script is “building a tour”, which I imagine uses other databases to calculate distances, times and routes. I know when I input a destination in Google Maps, it takes some time to calculate a best route.
Setting expectations…
This is something I always tell salesmen. Don’t give the user false expectations, and they’ll be happy with the outcome. Perhaps a simple Hint component stating, “We are finding the best tour for you, please be patient!” would be a good interim solution while you explore the new AI integration that Glide has recently provided us.
I think even with that, you will have to set user expectations that AI needs to process stuff, and it isn’t going to be instantaneous.
Thank you. I am going to go down this route for now “check back in 5 minutes” (not ideal!)
Took me ages to get the script to work. But I will never be using Glide + Sheets combo again!
Never say never 
I’m a huge advocate of Glide Data Editor logic, and as a general rule I avoid Spreadsheet Formulas like the plague. But I still use plenty of Apps Script. Everything has it’s place - it’s just a matter of understanding the limitations and selecting the right tool for the job.
