Question

I’m trying to find out two things.

1. Can I optimize my code so that it will run faster
2. Is there a way to test the speed of my script.

My script is simply pulling data from a URL (Example: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/items?q=Water&max=100&format=json) that will be pasted into the first cell of a spreadsheet. It then populates the cells with the first column storing the title and the second column storing the summary.

I’m using a trigger that will execute the script onEdit() so that it will run whenever a edit is made to the first cell of the spreadsheet.

Any pointers, tips, or even a go look here is appreciated

Here’s my code,

function respondToSearch() {

     // Gets the active sheet in a spreadsheet
     var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet(); 

     // Gets sheet 1 and sets the first column to a width of 200 and the second 
     column to width 500
     var sheet = ss.getSheets()[0].setColumnWidth(1, 200).setColumnWidth(2, 500);
     var activeSheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();

     // Gets the value from the top left cell in a range
     var dataRange = activeSheet.getDataRange().getValue();

     // Sends an HTTP request to fetch the URL
     var searchResponse = UrlFetchApp.fetch(dataRange);

     // Get the response as a string and parse (string is in JSON format) 
     var parsedResponse = Utilities.jsonParse(searchResponse.getContentText());

     // Array to hold letter corresponding to spreadsheet columns
     var cellLetters = ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i", "j", "k", "l", 
     "m", "n", "o", "p", "q", "r", "s", "t"];

     // Loop through the "item" objects and display the properties in the 
     spreadsheet
     for (var i = 0; i < 2; i++) {  
       for (var j = 0; j < parsedResponse.items.length; j++) {      

       // Starts with items[0] (1st object) and displays the properties
       var parsedItems = [parsedResponse.items[j].title, parsedResponse.items[j]
       .summary];

       // If a property is not undefined print the property in the spreadsheet 
       else print "N/A"
       if (parsedItems[i] != undefined) {
         var print = parsedItems[i];
       }
       else {
         var print = "N/A";
       }

       // Stores the current letter corresponding to the current spreadsheet column
       var cellLtr = cellLetters[i];

       // Starts the row available to display data at number 2
       var cellNum = [j + 2];
       var cell = cellLtr + cellNum;

       sheet.setActiveCell(cell).setFontSize("9").setHorizontalAlignment("left")
       .setVerticalAlignment("top").setValue(print);
      }
     }
    } 

Thank you

Answer 1

Can I optimize my code so that it will run faster

I think it is possible. Try to rewrite your code to set the font size and the alignments not for every cells but for the whole range.

Is there a way to test the speed of my script.

Yes. The code should looks line the following

var start = new Date();
my_time_consuming_function();
var diff = new Date() - start;
Logger.log("my_time_consuming_function takes: " + diff + " ms");