Creating a hyperlink in active cell from uploaded file - hyperlink

Question

I'm designing a shared Google Sheets for our team to keep track of each piece of content we produce. I want to implement a feature that allows people to upload a preview clip and have a hyperlink automatically created within the active cell.
My script so far serves up HTML as a user interface with a file upload and name entry. This part works fine and allows anyone to upload straight to Google Drive.
I've been having trouble getting it to automatically create a hyperlink in the active cell to the uploaded file. Been searching around, but haven't had a great deal of luck.
function onOpen() {
SpreadsheetApp.getUi()
.createMenu('File Upload')
.addItem('Open', 'openDialog')
.addToUi();
}
function openDialog() {
var html = HtmlService.createHtmlOutputFromFile('form.html')
.setSandboxMode(HtmlService.SandboxMode.IFRAME);
SpreadsheetApp.getUi()
.showModalDialog(html, 'Upload A File');
}
function uploadFiles(form) {
try {
var dropbox = "Clips";
var folder, folders = DriveApp.getFoldersByName(dropbox);
if (folders.hasNext()) {
folder = folders.next();
} else {
folder = DriveApp.createFolder(dropbox);
}
var blob = form.myFile;
var file = folder.createFile(blob);
file.setDescription("Uploaded by " + form.myName);
return "File uploaded successfully " + file.getUrl();
} catch (error) {
return error.toString();
}
}

Answer 1

My suggestion is to modify the return value from uploadFiles() to be an object, then use the URL to populate a spreadsheet HYPERLINK() formula.
return "File uploaded successfully " + file.getUrl();
Becomes:
return {
result: "File uploaded successfully",
fileURL: file.getUrl(),
fileDesc: file.getDescription() // Could be other values
};
Next, a function that sets the formula. This server-side function would be called with the values to be used in the formula, which were previously returned from uploadFiles(). I'm assuming this is from your client-side JavaScript, but that's just a guess, since you didn't include that in your question.
function setHyperlink( fileURL, fileDesc ) {
var formula = '=HYPERLINK("' + fileURL + '","' + fileDesc + '")';
SpreadsheetApp.getActiveCell()
.setFormula( formula );
return true;
}

Answer 2

I ended up solving this issue using the GAS Properties Service - creating 2 new User Properties to contain URL and Name data.
I also found a few issues with getActiveCell - it kept placing the link in A1. Although I had used Google's suggested method for returning the active cell, I was able to use the fix suggested here:
http://bit.ly/20Gc7l6
Here's my final script
function onOpen() {
SpreadsheetApp.getUi()
.createMenu('File Upload')
.addItem('Open', 'openDialog')
.addToUi();
}
function openDialog() {
var html = HtmlService.createHtmlOutputFromFile('form.html')
.setSandboxMode(HtmlService.SandboxMode.IFRAME);
SpreadsheetApp.getUi()
.showModalDialog(html, 'Upload A File');
}
function uploadFiles(form) {
try {
var dropbox = "Blacksand Clips";
var folder, folders = DriveApp.getFoldersByName(dropbox);
if (folders.hasNext()) {
folder = folders.next();
} else {
folder = DriveApp.createFolder(dropbox);
}
var blob = form.myFile;
var file = folder.createFile(blob);
file.setDescription(file.getDescription());
var userProperties = PropertiesService.getUserProperties();
var link = file.getUrl();
var name = file.getName();
userProperties.setProperty('link', link);
userProperties.setProperty('name', name);
setHyperlink();
return "File uploaded successfully ";
} catch (error) {
return error.toString();
}
}
function setHyperlink() {
var userProperties = PropertiesService.getUserProperties();
var link = userProperties.getProperty('link');
var displayName = userProperties.getProperty('name');
var value = 'hyperlink("' + link + '","' + displayName + '")'
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
var cell = ss.getActiveCell().activate();
cell.setFormula( value )
return true;
}