Google Apps Script:
Finding the length of a string

How to:

In Google Apps Script, you can find the length of a string using the .length property, similar to JavaScript. This property returns the number of characters within the string, including spaces and special characters. Here are some examples:

// Define a string
var text = "Hello, World!";
// Find the length of the string
var length = text.length;
// Log the length
Logger.log(length); // Output: 13

In scenarios where you’re working with user input from Google Forms or Sheets, finding the string length helps in data validation:

// Sample string input from a user in Google Sheets
var userEntry = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet().getRange("A1").getValue();
// Calculate and log the length of the input
Logger.log(userEntry.length); // Output depends on the content of cell A1

Let’s add a practical example that includes a condition. If the input exceeds a certain length, you might want to throw an error or a warning:

var comment = "This is a sample comment that is too long for our database.";
if(comment.length > 50) {
  Logger.log("Error: Your comment should not exceed 50 characters.");
} else {
  Logger.log("Thank you for your submission.");
}
// Output: Error: Your comment should not exceed 50 characters.

Deep Dive

In the context of Google Apps Script, which is based on JavaScript, the .length property comes from the ECMAScript standard, which governs JavaScript’s specifications. The .length property has been a part of JavaScript since its nascent stages, providing a simple way to assess the size of a string.

One notable detail is that Google Apps Script is executed on Google’s servers, not in the browser. This means that when you’re dealing with strings and their lengths, especially in large datasets retrieved from Google Sheets or Docs, the execution time could be affected due to network latency and the scripts’ runtime limitations.

While .length is a straightforward and widely used method to find a string’s length, alternative strategies might involve regex or iterating through a string to count characters, especially when dealing with multi-byte characters or when you need to filter out certain types of characters. However, for most practical purposes within Google Apps Script, .length provides a reliable and efficient way to determine string length.

Always remember, especially in Google Apps Script, to consider the context in which you are running your code. Performance and execution limits may guide you toward optimizing your string handling procedures, including how you determine their length.