Timestamp Script That Updates When Script Runs

[TJ Huntley]

I am completely new to Script. I am looking for a snippet of a script to insert a timestamp when this script runs. I have tried several onEdit scripts to no avail since the script doesn't trigger an edit. The only way I can see this working is by inserting a timestamp directly into the script. I would think this would be fairly easy for someone who knows more about scripting, but I am running into several issues not finding the correct method. The script below is what I am using. The problem is, some emails that I am parsing don't include a date, therefore a timestamp is needed.

function getRelevantMessages()

{

  var threads = GmailApp.search("newer_than:1d AND from:NewsJunkie.com AND -label:Process AND subject:You have news!",0,100);

  var messages=[];

  threads.forEach(function(thread)

                  {

                    messages.push(thread.getMessages()[0]);

                  });

  return messages;

}

function parseMessageData(messages)

{

  var records=[];

  if(!messages)

  {

    //messages are undefined or null or just empty

    return records;

  }

  for(var m=0;m<messages.length;m++)

  {

    var text = messages[m].getPlainBody();

    

    var matches = text.match(/(?:Your News\.\s+:\s|Source\s+:\s+|News Source:\s)([A-Za-z0-9\*].+)\s+(?:Station\s+|News Station\s+|Your News Station):\s+([A-Za-z0-9\*].+)\s+(?:Subscriber\.\s+:\s[A-Za-z0-9\*].+\s+QRL Code\s+:\s|Your QRL Code\s+:\s+|QRL Codes: \s)([0-9,\.].+)\s+(?:Remarks\s+:\s+|User Remarks:\s)([A-Za-z0-9,].+)/);

  

    if(!matches || matches.length < 5)

    {

      //No matches; couldn't parse continue with the next message

      continue;

    }

    var rec = {};

    rec.account = matches[1];

    rec.date = matches[4];

    rec.merchant= matches[3];

    rec.amount = matches[2];

    

    //cleanup data

    rec.amount = parseFloat(rec.amount.replace(/,/g, ''));

    records.push(rec);

  }

  return records;

}

function getMessagesDisplay()

{

  var templ = HtmlService.createTemplateFromFile('messages');

  templ.messages = getRelevantMessages();

  return templ.evaluate();  

}

function getParsedDataDisplay()

{

  var templ = HtmlService.createTemplateFromFile('parsed');

  templ.records = parseMessageData(getRelevantMessages());

  return templ.evaluate();

}

function saveDataToSheet(records)

{

  var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl("https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1234567890abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz");

  var sheet = spreadsheet.getSheetByName("Sheet1");

  for(var r=0;r<records.length;r++)

  {

    sheet.appendRow([records[r].account, records[r].date, records[r].merchant, records[r].amount ] );

  }

}

function onEdit(event)

{ 

  var timezone = "GMT+8";

  var timestamp_format = "MM-dd-yyyy hh:mm:ss"; // Timestamp Format. 

  var updateColName = "Amount";

  var timeStampColName = "Date";

  var sheet = event.source.getSheetByName('Sheet4'); //Name of the sheet where you want to run this script.

  var actRng = event.source.getActiveRange();

  var editColumn = actRng.getColumn();

  var index = actRng.getRowIndex();

  var headers = sheet.getRange(1, 1, 1, sheet.getLastColumn()).getValues();

  var dateCol = headers[0].indexOf(timeStampColName);

  var updateCol = headers[0].indexOf(updateColName); updateCol = updateCol+1;

  if (dateCol > -1 && index > 1 && editColumn == updateCol) { // only timestamp if 'Last Updated' header exists, but not in the header row itself!

    var cell = sheet.getRange(index, dateCol + 1);

    var date = Utilities.formatDate(new Date(), timezone, timestamp_format);

    cell.setValue(date);

  }

}

function processTransactionEmails()

{

  var messages = getRelevantMessages();

  var records = parseMessageData(messages);

  saveDataToSheet(records);

  labelMessagesAsDone(messages);

  return true;

}

function labelMessagesAsDone(messages)

{

  var label = 'Processed';

  var label_obj = GmailApp.getUserLabelByName(label);

  if(!label_obj)

  {

    label_obj = GmailApp.createLabel(label);

  }

  

  for(var m =0; m < messages.length; m++ )

  {

     label_obj.addToThread(messages[m].getThread() );  

  }

  

}

function doGet()

{

  return getParsedDataDisplay();

  //return getMessagesDisplay();

}

[Clark Lind]

I believe onEdit() requires human interaction. Try onChange() instead. That should react to any page change, human or otherwise.