To start, announcements are submitted via a Google Form, so they end in a spreadsheet. There are three pieces of data: the text of the announcement, the category, and the expiry date.
The script creates a new Google Document (in a public folder), then takes data from the spreadsheet and pastes it into that newly created document. The code for the script follows. (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike).
function createAnnoucementDocument() {
// Set up a trigger to run this every weekday, perhaps at 8:00 am
// Define a custom paragraph style.
var styleHeading = {};
styleHeading[DocumentApp.Attribute.HORIZONTAL_ALIGNMENT] = DocumentApp.HorizontalAlignment.CENTER;
styleHeading[DocumentApp.Attribute.FONT_SIZE] = 18;
styleHeading[DocumentApp.Attribute.BOLD] = true;
var styleCategory = {};
styleCategory[DocumentApp.Attribute.HORIZONTAL_ALIGNMENT] = DocumentApp.HorizontalAlignment.LEFT;
styleCategory[DocumentApp.Attribute.FONT_SIZE] = 12;
styleCategory[DocumentApp.Attribute.BOLD] = true;
var styleText = {};
styleText[DocumentApp.Attribute.HORIZONTAL_ALIGNMENT] = DocumentApp.HorizontalAlignment.LEFT;
styleText[DocumentApp.Attribute.FONT_SIZE] = 12;
styleText[DocumentApp.Attribute.BOLD] = false;
// Get the current date
var app = UiApp.createApplication();
var dateToday = new Date();
// date formatting here: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html
var formattedDateToday = Utilities.formatDate(new Date(), "MST", "yyyy-MM-dd");
// Create the document
var documentName = formattedDateToday + " School Announcements";
var doc = DocumentApp.create(documentName);
// Move the document to the shared folder entitled "Announcements"
var documentFile = DocsList.getFileById(doc.getId());
var folderName = DocsList.getFolder("Announcements");
documentFile.addToFolder(folderName);
// the spreadsheet that contains the results of the announcement submission form
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.openById("***INSERT_SPREADSHEET_KEY_HERE***").getSheets()[0];
// Start creating the body of the document
var body = doc.getBody();
body.appendParagraph("Name of School Goes Here\r"+formattedDateToday).setAttributes(styleHeading);
// Read the whole spreadsheet into a list
// if Expiry Date (column D) is > or equal to today's date then process it, else ignore
// switch if category match then append to document
var data = sheet.getRange(2, 2, sheet.getLastRow(), sheet.getLastColumn()).getValues();
for (var row=0, total=data.length; row < total; row++) {
var rowData = data[row];
var announcementText = rowData[0];
var announcementCategory = rowData[1];
var announcementExpiry = rowData[2];
if (announcementExpiry >= dateToday) {
switch (announcementCategory) {
case "General":
body.appendParagraph(announcementText).setAttributes(styleText);
break;
}
}
}
body.appendParagraph("Events and Meetings").setAttributes(styleCategory);
for (var row=0, total=data.length; row < total; row++) {
var rowData = data[row];
var announcementText = rowData[0];
var announcementCategory = rowData[1];
var announcementExpiry = rowData[2];
if (announcementExpiry >= dateToday) {
switch (announcementCategory) {
case "Events and Meetings":
body.appendParagraph(announcementText).setAttributes(styleText);
break;
}
}
}
body.appendParagraph("Athletics").setAttributes(styleCategory);
for (var row=0, total=data.length; row < total; row++) {
var rowData = data[row];
var announcementText = rowData[0];
var announcementCategory = rowData[1];
var announcementExpiry = rowData[2];
if (announcementExpiry >= dateToday) {
switch (announcementCategory) {
case "Athletics":
body.appendParagraph(announcementText).setAttributes(styleText);
break;
}
}
}
body.appendParagraph("Cafeteria").setAttributes(styleCategory);
for (var row=0, total=data.length; row < total; row++) {
var rowData = data[row];
var announcementText = rowData[0];
var announcementCategory = rowData[1];
var announcementExpiry = rowData[2];
if (announcementExpiry >= dateToday) {
switch (announcementCategory) {
case "Cafeteria":
body.appendParagraph(announcementText).setAttributes(styleText);
break;
}
}
}
return app;
}
