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Accessing data in Google Drive tables with Google App maker


How can I access the data contained in Google drive tables?

I created some basic apps after reading the tutorials, but I'm unable to to see the sample data I entered.


Solution

  • Option 1: Don't use Drive Tables

    App Maker gives you power to connect to Cloud SQL instance, that you can access through Cloud Shell or connect with some tools like MySQL Workbench.

    Pros

    • Works nice if you have your own Cloud SQL instance

    Cons

    • This approach falls short in environments with shared Cloud SQL instances
    • Cloud SQL is not free

    Option 2: Export data to spreadsheet

    Regardless what data backend you are using you can dump all your data to spreadsheet.

    Cons

    • Basically it is one-way data access (read only), unless you want to mess with importing edited data back to your deployemnt...

    Option 3: Drag'n'drop way

    There is an option to keep Debug page and drop on it tables/forms for models you want to look it.

    Pros

    • Seamless access to data directly from you development environment (browser).

    Cons

    • It is hard to maintain such Debug especially when you are actively working on your database structure.
    • Need to think about security and hide the page from your end users.
    • Need to keep dedicated datasource(s) for the debug tables/forms, that should have no filters applied (at this time there is no client-side analogue of app.models.MyModel.newQuery() server-side API).

    Option 4: Drag'n'drop way (advanced edition!)

    The basic idea is to create a page with dynamic table (to view/edit data) and form (to add records). Using this highly dynamic page will eliminate shortage #1 from the option #3: Editor -> Model Editor -> Layout Runtime -> Table Runtime -> Form

    This approach has similar pros and cons as previous one plus there are some App Maker limitations that make it hard to implement (but it is doable on some extent).