I need to split a Google Sheet into multiple tabs (sheets) based on column value

Question

I have searched many possible answers but cannot seem to find one that works. I have a Google Sheet with about 1600 rows that I need to split into about 70 different tabs (with about 20-30 rows in each one) based on the value in the column titled “room”. I have been sorting and then cutting and pasting but for 70+ tabs this is very tedious.

I can use the Query function but I still need to create a new tab, paste the function and update the parameter for that particular tab.

This script seemed pretty close:

ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
itemName = 0;
itemDescription = 1;
image = 2;
purchasedBy = 3;
cost = 4;
room = 5;
isSharing = 6;
masterSheetName = "Master";

function onOpen() {
  var ui = SpreadsheetApp.getUi();
  ui.createMenu('Update Purchases')
      .addItem('Add All Rows To Sheets', 'addAllRowsToSheets')
      .addItem('Add Current Row To Sheet', 'addRowToNewSheet')
      .addToUi();
}

function addRowToNewSheet() {
  var s = ss.getActiveSheet();
  var cell = s.getActiveCell();
  var rowId = cell.getRow();
  var range = s.getRange(rowId, 1, 1, s.getLastColumn());
  var values = range.getValues()[0];
  var roomName = values[room];
  appendDataToSheet(s, rowId, values, roomName);
}

function addAllRowsToSheets(){
  var s = ss.getActiveSheet();
  var dataValues = s.getRange(2, 1, s.getLastRow()-1, s.getLastColumn()).getValues();
  for(var i = 0; i < dataValues.length; i++){
    var values = dataValues[i];
    var rowId = 2 + i;
    var roomName = values[room];
    try{
      appendDataToSheet(s, rowId, values, roomName);
    }catch(err){};
  }
}

function appendDataToSheet(s, rowId, data, roomName){
  if(s.getName() != masterSheetName){
    throw new Error("Can only add rows from 'Master' sheet - make sure sheet name is 'Master'");
  }
  var sheetNames = [sheet.getName() for each(sheet in ss.getSheets())];
  var roomSheet;
  if(sheetNames.indexOf(roomName) > -1){
    roomSheet = ss.getSheetByName(roomName);
    var rowIdValues = roomSheet.getRange(2, 1, roomSheet.getLastRow()-1, 1).getValues();
    for(var i = 0; i < rowIdValues.length; i++){
      if(rowIdValues[i] == rowId){
        throw new Error( data[itemName] + " from row " + rowId + " already exists in sheet " + roomName + ".");
        return;
      }
    }
  }else{
    roomSheet = ss.insertSheet(roomName);
    var numCols = s.getLastColumn();
    roomSheet.getRange(1, 1).setValue("Row Id");
    s.getRange(1, 1, 1, numCols).copyValuesToRange(roomSheet, 2, numCols+1, 1, 1);
  }
  var rowIdArray = [rowId];
  var updatedArray = rowIdArray.concat(data);
  roomSheet.appendRow(updatedArray);
}

But I always get an unexpected token error on line 51 or 52:

var sheetNames = [sheet.getName() for each(sheet in ss.getSheets())]; 

(And obviously the column names, etc. are not necessarily correct for my data, I tried changing them to match what I needed. Not sure if that was part of the issue.)

Here is a sample of my data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kpD88_wEA5YFh5DMMkubsTnFHeNxRQL-njd9Mv-C_lc/edit?usp=sharing This should return two separate tabs/sheets based on room .

I am obviously not a programmer and do not know Visual Basic or Java or anything. I just know how to google and copy things....amazingly I often get it to work.

Let me know what else you need if you can help.

Answer 1

I was using Kessy's nice script, but started having trouble when the data became very large, where the script timed out. I started looking for ways to reduce the amount of times the script read/wrote to the spreadsheet (rather than read/write one row at a time) and found this post https://stackoverflow.com/a/42633934

Using this principle and changing the loop in the script to have a loop within the loop helped reduce these calls. This means you can also avoid the second call to append rows (the "else"). My script is a little different to the examples, but basically ends something like:

`for (var i = 1; i < theEmails.length; i++) {    
//Ignore blank Emails and sheets created
if (theEmails[i][0] !== "" && !completedSheets.includes(theEmails[i][0])) { 

  //Set the Sheet name = email address.  Index the sheets so they appear last.

    var currentSheet = theWorkbook.insertSheet(theEmails[i][0],4+i);
  
  //append the header
  
  //To avoid pasting formulas, we have to paste contents
  headerFormat.copyTo(currentSheet.getRange(1,1),{contentsOnly:true});

  //Now here find all the rows containing the same email address and append them
  var theNewRows =[];
  var b=0;
  for(var j = 1; j < rows.length; j++)
{
 
if(rows[j][0] == theEmails[i][0]) {
  
  theNewRows[b]=[];//Initial new array
  theNewRows[b].push(rows[j][0],rows[j][1],rows[j][2],rows[j][3],rows[j][4],rows[j][5],rows[j][6],rows[j][7]);
  b++;
}
}var outrng = currentSheet.getRange(2,1,theNewRows.length,8); //Make the output range the same size as the output array
outrng.setValues(theNewRows);

I found a table of ~1000 rows timed out, but with the new script took 6.5 secs. It might not be very neat, as I only dabble in script, but perhaps it helps.

Answer 2

I have done this script that successfully gets each room and creates a new sheet with the corresponding room name and adding all the rows with the same room.

function myFunction() {
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();

  // This var will contain all the values from column C -> Room
  var columnRoom = sheet.getRange("C:C").getValues();

  // This var will contain all the rows
  var rows = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet().getDataRange().getValues();

  //Set the first row as the header
  var header = rows[0];

  //Store the rooms already created
  var completedRooms = []

  //The last created room
  var last = columnRoom[1][0]


  for (var i = 1; i < columnRoom.length; i++) {    

    //Check if the room is already done, if not go in and create the sheet
    if(!completedRooms.includes(columnRoom[i][0])) {

      //Set the Sheet name = room (except if there is no name, then = No Room)
      if (columnRoom[i][0] === "") {
        var currentSheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().insertSheet("No Room");
      } else {
        var currentSheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().insertSheet(columnRoom[i][0]);
      }


      //append the header
      currentSheet.appendRow(header);
      currentSheet.appendRow(rows[i]);
      completedRooms.push(columnRoom[i][0])
      last = columnRoom[i][0]
    } else if (last == columnRoom[i][0]) {

    // If the room's sheet is created append the row to the sheet


      var currentSheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet()
      currentSheet.appendRow(rows[i]);
    }

  }

}

Please test it and don't hesitate to comment for improvements.

Answer 3

Try the below code:

• 'splitSheetIntoTabs' will split your master sheet in to separate sheets of 30 rows each. It will copy only the content not the background colors etc.
• 'deleteTabsOtherThanMaster' will revert the change done by 'splitSheetIntoTabs'. This function will help to revert the changes done by splitSheetIntoTabs.

function splitSheetIntoTabs() {
   var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
  var rows = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet().getDataRange().getValues();
  var header = rows[0];
  var contents = rows.slice(1);
  var totalRowsPerSheet = 30; // This value will change no of rows per sheet
  
  //below we are chunking the toltal row we have into 30 rows each
  var contentRowsPerSheet = contents.map( function(e,i){ 
     return i%totalRowsPerSheet===0 ? contents.slice(i,i+totalRowsPerSheet) : null; 
}).filter(function(e){ return e; });

  contentRowsPerSheet.forEach(function(e){
    //crate new sheet here
  var currSheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().insertSheet();
    
    //append the header
    currSheet.appendRow(header);
    
    //populate the rows
    e.forEach(function(val){
      currSheet.appendRow(val);
    });
    
  });
  

}


// use this function revert the sheets create by splitSheetIntoTabs()

function deleteTabsOtherThanMaster() {
  var sheetNotToDelete ='Master';
    var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
  
  
    ss.getSheets().forEach(function(sheet){
      if(sheet.getSheetName()!== sheetNotToDelete)
      {
        ss.deleteSheet(sheet);
      }
    });


}