Integrating Google Spreadsheets - Part 1

Here is a detailed description of how I integrated Google Spreadsheets into my application (I have broken the article in two posts):

My project required online access of the spreadsheets as well as being able to use their APIs to fetch, search, upload, download, read and delete spreadsheets.

In this first post, I explain on how I used their APIs to interact with the online docs.

Before moving any further, check out their online documentation of the APIs - Google Documents List Data API and Google Spreadsheets Data API

Here's a list of operations I performed using the APIs:

• Upload spreadsheets - I created the spreadsheets in my application(POI), filled them with content and evaluated the formulae. Then , i created a SpreadsheetEntry object and called the insert() method of the DocsService class. After the upload, I stored the resourceId of the entry in my application (that's the key to the doc just uploaded)
  


• Download spreadsheets - The APIs give a variety of download options, I used the xls option (4), created the export URL using the resourceId, and used the MediaSource class. Remember, to download spreadsheets, you need a valid SpreadsheetService token.
  


• Fetch spreadsheets - Same as handling the download option.
  


• Search within spreadsheets - Used the DocumentQuery class to create the query and the used the getFeed() method of the DocsService class. Check out the various url options for the DocumentQuery class, they really help to fasten search.
  


• Delete spreadsheets - Fetch the DocumentListEntry object of the document u need to delete, then call the DocsService's delete() method.
  


• Update/Read/Write cell contents - I found working with their cell-based APIs little slow, and since my requirement always involved reading and writing a lot of content, I used to download the spreadsheet, work on the local copy and then upload it back.
  

In the next post, I will elaborate on how I provided online access to users of my application to access the Spreadsheets online.