Hello,
I’ve built an app using Glide tables.
I would like to know sync it with a Google sheet.
My understanding is that, by syncing Google sheet and Glide, each change in a cell is reflected both in Glide and Google Sheet.
So I created a Sheet named “My app” and have given each tab the name of a data table in Glide App.
In Glide tables (left-hand panel) I selected the + and sync data with Google sheet and selected that sheet.
In Settings, user data Sync data normal is selected and I see the Google sheet “My app”.
Now I was expecting a sync to happen, ie the data to be copied from Glide app to the My app sheet, which is not the case. I tried sync data manually but nothing happens.
So I exported all data and got a 55a87b.My app.ods file, which I saved in my Google drive and manually copied all data, tab by tab, into my google sheet.
Now I see new tables in my app (with green icon), which are a duplication of the Glide tables (with white icon).
These are in sync with google sheets. I tried to change a value and the change is reflected.
However, they are not in sync with the Glide tables and my layout pages grab the data from the Glide tables.
Shall I then change all data sources to the new Google sheet tables and basically rebuild the app?
What happens to the users? Will they still have access?
PS: I think that - when setting up the project - there should be a clear warning about the consequences of using Glide vs Google sheets (or other data source).
Native tables do not sync with external data sources such as Google Sheets.
As you’ve noticed, you can add a Google Spreadsheet to an existing App, and any sheets in that spreadsheet will appear in the Data Editor with a green icon. But these will be considered new tables, in the same way as if you added new native tables.
If your goal is to have everything sync with the Google Spreadsheet, then yes. But my question would be why on earth would you do that? Moving from native tables to Google Sheets as a data source is a giant leap backwards, in my opinion. Unless you have a really good reason to do that.
That depends on what you do with your User Profiles configuration. Presumably your User Profiles are currently pointed at a native table. If you want to switch that to a Google Sheet sourced table you can, but you just need to ensure you reconfigure your User Profiles correctly when you do.
One other point I should make here is that when you change the source of your User Profiles, any and all columns, components and workflows that reference the User Profile row will break. And tracking down and fixing those breakages can be quite difficult - Find uses won’t help you in this situation. If you do decide to do this, I would recommend making a copy of your App first, so that you have a reference point.
Can you elaborate on why, in your opinion, “Moving from native tables to Google Sheets as a data source is a giant leap backwards”?
The reason for having them synced is that the charity for whom this is built are used to have a bird’s eye view on Google Sheets and would prefer that, rather than download the csv files from the tables.
Google Sheets are more stable than Glide tables, and you can always rely on them, Glide is an experimental platform that is changing over time with absolutely no consideration of how much time and money you spend to progress your App here… so be careful, best practice will be to fetch your data from Google sheets using JS column.
I am not concerned with performance as the app is pretty basic.
I have started with Glide tables as I was working on a free account.
I moved this specific app to a paid account, and since the people using it are used to Google Sheets, I was pondering pros and cons of maintaining the source of truth in a format familiar to them.
Of course it’s your choice to use whatever data source works best for your situation.
I’m just speaking from experience. I started building Glide Apps about 5 years ago, when Google Sheets were the only option. I’ve built hundreds of Apps in that time. Although I still have some Apps that use Google Sheets, in most cases I’m actively working or planning to migrate them to native tables.
These days when I start a new App, my first choice will always be native Glide Tables.
Thanks @Darren_Murphy .
What’s the drawback of syncing with Google Sheets, besides performance?
I’m terrified I’d make some boo boo when trying to move from Glide Tables to Google Sheets, so for the time being I’m keeping data on Glide Tables.
It’s mainly performance. I experience regular issues with some Apps I have that use Google Sheets where data doesn’t sync properly. This problem seems to get worse the more data that you have. There are other little things, such as when you delete a row in the Glide Table that’s connected to a Google Sheet, the associated row in the sheet is cleared rather than deleted, so you wind up with a sheet littered with empty rows. Another consideration is cost. Every change (add/edit/delete) that you make in a table that’s connected to a Google Sheet will cost you an update, and these can quickly add up. And there is also cost associated with syncing the data. None of these costs apply when using native tables.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually a big fan of Google Sheets, and have been using them ever since they’ve been a thing. I just don’t consider them a good choice with Glide Apps. There was a time when they were, but that time has passed.
All that said, there can be good reasons to use them. If you want regular data backups, for example, then it’s trivial to make backups of Google Sheets, but not so with native tables. Also, if there are other users of the data that won’t have access to your App (for whatever reason), then using Google Sheets might be a good option.