How to get Google script trigger to fire automatically (works manually) when creating a new folder

Question

I created a script to create a new folder every time a form is submitted. The point of the script was to put each newly created folder in a specific parent folder determined by a column value on a spreadsheet (new values are generated when forms are submitted). At the moment the script does not fire automatically even though a trigger event is setup, but will fire and create the new folder in the proper location when manually run. Any help would be appreciated.

function createNewFolder() {

    // identify the sheet where the data resides 
    var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
    var names = ss.getSheetByName("Form Responses 1");
    var ids = ss.getSheetByName("Form Responses 1");

    //identify the cell that will be used to name the folder  
    var getName = names.getRange(names.getLastRow(), 3).getValue();

    //identify the cell that determines which parent folder to use
    var folderId = ids.getRange(ids.getLastRow(), 5).getValue();

    //identify the parent folder the new folder will be in 
    var parentFolder = DriveApp.getFolderById(folderId);

    //create the new folder 
    var newFolder = parentFolder.createFolder(getName);

}

The trigger fails about 85% of the time and is setup to fire when a new form response is logged on the associated spreadsheet.

Does it fail with any error messages? Please share these in your question if so. — ross, Jun 11 '19 at 22:33
Aaron, please, clarify if the `createNewFolder()` function is invoked from the `onFormSubmit` installable trigger? — Oleg Valter is with Ukraine, Jun 11 '19 at 22:41
The error message is: No item with the given ID could be found, or you do not have permission to access it. at createNewFolder(Code:19). My initial thought was that the script was moving to the next line before the spreadheet cell was populated, so I tried to add a delay using the sleep utility. — Aaron Taveras, Jun 11 '19 at 23:18
The function is invoked from the onFormSubmit installable trigger. — Aaron Taveras, Jun 11 '19 at 23:21
Ok, thanks, and one more clarification to go) Is the `onFormSubmit()` created and installed on the Form's apps script project or on the Spreadsheet's project? — Oleg Valter is with Ukraine, Jun 11 '19 at 23:45

Cooper · Answer 1 · 2019-06-12T00:18:09.763

Try replacing your onFormSubmit function with this:

This function should be created in the spreadsheet that has the linked sheets. This function utilizes the data that is sent in the form submit event object. Don't forget to include the 'e' in the function as a parameter.

function createNewFolder(e) {
  var parentFolder = DriveApp.getFolderById(e.values[4]);
  var newFolder = parentFolder.createFolder(e.values[2]);
}

Event Object Form Submit

Also you may want to look at this question since we have been seeing a lot of problems with spurious form submit triggers. If you don't need to implement it fine but it might be something to consider.

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 11 '19 at 22:42

-1

It's most likely an async issue. The parentFolder.createFolder function probably is getting called before the parentFolder is done fetching data from DriveApp. Try this:

var newFolder = parentFolder.then(() => {
    parentFolder.createFolder(getName)
})

answered Jun 11 '19 at 22:42

Matt Berg

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Matt, since when has the apps scipt recieved ES6 support (without the typescript)? Last time I checked, using arrow functions results in error on a project save attempt. Also, all of the apps script code runs server-side and is [synchronous](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31241396/is-google-apps-script-synchronous)... – Oleg Valter is with Ukraine Jun 11 '19 at 23:04

How to get Google script trigger to fire automatically (works manually) when creating a new folder

2 Answers2