Google Slides API insert text in existing table

[Lis Kl]

I have an existing presentation with a mockup table with all the dimensions and colors as wanted. It does not contain any text. This is the code I ran to try to populate the table. 

See the code in Stackoverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68444131/new-information-google-slides-api-insert-text-in-existing-table

the error for every request in the batchUpdate looks like:

GoogleJsonResponseException: API call to slides.presentations.batchUpdate failed with error: 

Invalid JSON payload received. Unknown name "pageElements" at 'requests[0]': Cannot find field. 

Invalid JSON payload received. Unknown name "pageType" at 'requests[0]': Cannot find field. 

Invalid JSON payload received. Unknown name "objectId" at 'requests[0]': Cannot find field. 

Invalid JSON payload received. Unknown name "pageElements" at 'requests[1]': Cannot find field. 

Invalid JSON payload received. Unknown name "pageType" at 'requests[1]': Cannot find field. 

...

This is a typical request displayed by console.log:

{ "objectId": "SLIDES_API142383606_0" , "pageType": "SLIDE" , "pageElements": [ { "objectId": "SLIDES_API142383606_1" , "table": { "rows": 8 , "columns": 8 , "tableRows": [ { "tableCells": [ { "location": { "rowIndex": 3, "columnIndex": 2 } ,"text": { "nextVal": "silf" } } ] } ] } } ] }

I used the documentation but I find it very difficult. Any help appreciated.

[Clark Lind]

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that you are declaring nextVal, then inserting it into the objects before it has been updated. So it is "undefined" the first iteration.
You are doing this: 
    theTableCellObj = { "location": { "rowIndex": r ,"columnIndex": c }, "text": { nextVal } };   //but nextVal = undefined.

Then when you call this:     nextVal = inArr[r][c].toString();

No where has inArr been declared (at least in your visible code), and no where is inArr being populated with anything that I can see. Unless there is more code, what you've shared seems incomplete to me. (I'm not the best coder, sorry!)

[Lis Kl]

cwl  - Thanks for your reply. The array is populated in other code and passed in. All the entries in the array are populated. Put a space in the 'empty' ones so I would not have to detect empty / undefined / null / confusion. This is the display:

tblArr: [ [ ' ', ' ', 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F', ' ' ], [ ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ' ], [ '1', ' ', 'gub', 'ras', 'mef', 'crulp', 'buct', 'zub', ' ' ], [ '2', ' ', 'clack', 'bilp', 'qualt', 'posk', 'gelt', 'taft', ' ' ], [ '3', ' ', 'julm', 'crift', 'kep', 'sit', 'glap', 'trin', ' ' ], [ '4', ' ', 'jip', 'dolp', 'hush', 'sos', 'fresh', 'rop', ' ' ], [ '5', ' ', 'crit', 'bel', 'frel', 'hes', 'rift', 'lisp', ' ' ], [ '6', ' ', 'trus', 'drelf', 'memp', 'clas', 'belm', 'drulf', ' ' ], [ ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ' ] ]

I looks different in the log but the spaces have all been squashed out here. At your suggestion I have added:

      if ( !nextVal )    {

        nextVal = inArr[r][c].toString();

        console.log('r: ', r, ' c: ', c, ' val: ', nextVal );

        nextReq = 

        {

          'objectId': templateSlideId,

          'pageType':  'SLIDE',

          'pageElements': [thePageElement]

        }  

        requests.push(nextReq);

        console.log(JSON.stringify(nextReq) );

      }

It made no difference to the error messages unfortunately. Today I added a list of all the methods I have tried to the Stackoverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68444131/new-information-google-slides-api-insert-text-in-existing-table  Maybe it will give someone more ideas of things to try.

I teach and my students are on small Chromebooks. I am creating 9x9 tables (labels, frame, and 6x6 grid) to display in a Google slide or Jamboard. I want it to fill the entire available space. The methods l which do not fail result in tiny tables swimming in lots of white space. Using the table in the spreadsheet wastes screen space with the toolbars for the spreadsheet.

[Lis Kl]

Here is a link to the whole mess with all the different methods I have tried. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xKoMy7JrguQMWInYCpz8IeRmQwQXW_zWs2jnryzhYBQ/edit?usp=sharing

[Clark Lind]

I am looking at it.

[Clark Lind]

I was able to get this to work:

function populateMockupTable(inArr)   {

  console.log('Begin populateMockupTable' );

//  console.log(inArr);

  const ui = SpreadsheetApp.getUi();

  let templatePres, slidesArr, tblArr;

  try    {

    templatePres = SlidesApp.openById(templatePresId);

  }  catch ( err)    {

    ui.alert('You do not have a presentation. Ending.');

    return;

  }

  

  try    {

    slidesArr = templatePres.getSlides();

  }  catch ( err)    {

    ui.alert('Could not get slides from presentation. Ending.');

    return;

  }

  let templateSlideId = slidesArr[1].getObjectId();

//  console.log('templateSlideId: ', templateSlideId );

  

  try    {

    tblArr = slidesArr[1].getTables();

  }  catch ( err)    {

    ui.alert('Could not get slides from presentation. Ending.');

    return;

  }

  let theTblId = tblArr[0].getObjectId();  // table page element

//  console.log('theTblId: ', theTblId );

  

    let requests =[], numRows = inArr.length, numCols = inArr[0].length, r, c;

  

  

  for ( let r = 0 ; r < numRows ; r++ ) {

    for ( let c = 0 ; c < numCols ; c++ ) {

      requests.push(

        {"insertText":

          {"objectId": theTblId

          ,"cellLocation": {

             "rowIndex": r,

             "columnIndex": c

           }

          ,"text": inArr[r][c].toString()

          }

        }

      );

    }

  }

//  console.log('number of updates: ', requests.length);

  if (requests.length > 0)   {

  var response = Slides.Presentations.batchUpdate(

      { 'requests': requests }, templatePresId );

  }

 

//  console.log('End populateMockupTable' );

//  console.log(requests);

}

And this works now too:

function insertText()   {

  console.log('Begin insertText' );

  var inArr = buildArr();

 // console.log(inArr );

  const ui = SpreadsheetApp.getUi();

  let templatePres = SlidesApp.openById(templatePresId);

  let slidesArr = templatePres.getSlides();

  let templateSlideId = slidesArr[0].getObjectId();

  console.log('templateSlideId: ', templateSlideId );

  let tblArr = slidesArr[0].getTables();

  let theTblId = tblArr[0].getObjectId();  // table page element

  numTblCols = tblArr[0].getNumColumns();

  numTblRows = tblArr[0].getNumRows();

  console.log('rows, Cols: ',numTblRows, numTblCols );

  

  let requests =[], numRows = inArr.length, numCols = inArr[0].length, r, c;

  

  

  for ( let r = 0 ; r < numRows ; r++ ) {

    for ( let c = 0 ; c < numCols ; c++ ) {

      requests.push(

        {"insertText":

          {"objectId": theTblId

          ,"cellLocation": {

             "rowIndex": r,

             "columnIndex": c

           }

          ,"text": inArr[r][c].toString()

          }

        }

      );

    }

  }

  console.log('number of updates: ', requests.length);

  if (requests.length > 0)   {

  var response = Slides.Presentations.batchUpdate(

      { 'requests': requests }, templatePresId );

  }

  console.log('End insertText' );

}

My result (since I didn't have access to your slide: