Google script function returns null even though variable contains data

Question

I have a small problem with a program I am trying to create. It is supposed to figure out how much exp it would take to bring an ability to a certain level. I have not yet gotten that far, as I am having trouble with the return at the end of the CalculateCost function. I was trying to pass an array of strings back to the function which called CalculateCost, however, this wasn't working, so I tried to join all the values into a single string. This also didn't work. I know that the variable that I am trying to return is not null, as I am using ui.alert() quite frequently to check variables' values. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here is the google sheet in question. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Xo_uppFDI_C65EVi-TZ1iHTseK-Fg1izyCRkeTKaV9k/edit?usp=sharing The script with the issue is called Ability Price Calculator.

Antoine Colson · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-05 20:36:42Z

1

It seems the problem was that function CalculateCost did not return anything...

function CalculateCost(abilityValues,index,level) {
  var ui = SpreadsheetApp.getUi();                                
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();                           
  var sheet = ss.getActiveSheet();                                
  ui.alert("CalculateCost");
  FindRequirements(abilityValues,index,sheet,level); 
  // current function returns nothing!  
} 

/* You may have thought, "oh but CalculateCost() already does the return, 
so there's no need". However, when we call a function that contains 
a return, it's as though we just paste the value that it returns. 
Plus, there was no command (alert, prompt, etc) at the end of your 
non-return-function, which made no sense. It made no sense to Google
at least, so it was... undefined. */

So I changed it to

function CalculateCost(abilityValues,index,level) {
  var ui = SpreadsheetApp.getUi();                                
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();                             
  var sheet = ss.getActiveSheet();                                 
  ui.alert("CalculateCost");
  var reqs = FindRequirements(abilityValues,index,sheet,level); // notice the reqs var   
  return reqs; // this line was missing
}

Besides, I ran into problems when troubleshooting your code: my main issue was that when we click on CalculateCost in the menu, we normally expect to call the CalculateCost() function, however we actually call the InputValues() function. It's easy to get lost when custom functions are not tied to the same menu item, so maybe you could change that later.

Please, could you let me know if my answer helped you with your code?

edited May 5, 2017 at 20:36

answered May 5, 2017 at 20:27

Antoine Colson

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2 Comments

joey hendrickson Over a year ago

So I simply forgot to return the variable a second time? This makes me feel really, really dumb. Thank you for pointing this out, it really helped.

Antoine Colson Over a year ago

hey, it shows that you are working hard on this code, I know that feels. Keep it up and it'll do exactly what you ask it ;)

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