How can I test a trigger function (activator) in Google Apps Script

Write a test function that passes a mock event to the trigger function. Here is an example that tests a trigger function onEdit(). This passes an event object with all the information described for "Spreadsheet Edit Events" in Understanding Events .

To use it, set an interrupt on your objective function onEdit, select the function test_onEditand click Debug.

/*
 * Función de prueba para onEdit. Pasa un objento de evento para simular una
 * edición  a una celda en una hoja de cálculo 
 *
 * Para actualizaciones revisar https://stackoverflow.com/a/16089067/1677912
 *
 * Véase 
 * https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/triggers/events#google_sheets_events
 */

function test_onEdit() {
  onEdit({
    user : Session.getActiveUser().getEmail(),
    source : SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet(),
    range : SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveCell(),
    value : SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveCell().getValue(),
    authMode : "LIMITED"
  });
}

If you're curious, this was written to test the conditional on three cells function onEditfor Google Spreadsheet .

Below is a function for form submit events in the spreadsheet. This builds a mock event by reading data from the form submit. This was originally written for Getting TypeError in onFormSubmit trigger? .

/**
 * Función de prueba para funciones disparadoras en hojas de cálculo de
 * envío de formularios.
 * Recorre el contenido de la hoja, creando eventos de envío de formulario
 * simulados 
 *
 * Para actualizaciones revisar: https://stackoverflow.com/a/16089067/1677912
 *
 * Véase 
 * https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/triggers/events#google_sheets_events
 */

function test_onFormSubmit() {
  var dataRange = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet().getDataRange();
  var data = dataRange.getValues();
  var headers = data[0];
  // Inicia en la fila 1, saltando los encabezados en la fila 0
  for (var row=1; row < data.length; row++) {
    var e = {};
    e.values = data[row].filter(Boolean);  // filtro: https://stackoverflow.com/a/19888749
    e.range = dataRange.offset(row,0,1,data[0].length);
    e.namedValues = {};
    // Recorre los encabezados para crear un objeto namedValues
    // NOTA: todos los namedValues son arreglos.
    for (var col=0; col<headers.length; col++) {
      e.namedValues[headers[col]] = [data[row][col]];
    }
    // Pasar el evento simulado a onFormSubmit
    onFormSubmit(e);
  }
}

Tips

When simulating events, take care to match the document event objects as precisely as possible.

• If you want to validate the documentation, you can log the events received from the trigger function.

  Logger.log( JSON.stringify( e , null, 2 ) );
  

  • On form submit events in a spreadsheet:
  • all namedValues ​​are arrays.
  • Timestamps are strings, and their format will be localized to the location of the form. If read from the spreadsheet with the default ^* format , they will be date objects. If the trigger function depends on the string format of the timestamp (which is a bad idea), take care to ensure that the value is simulated appropriately.
  • If there are columns in the spreadsheet that are not in the form, the technique in this code will simulate an "event" with those additional values ​​included, which is not what will be received from a form submit.
  • As reported in Issue 4335 , the fix valoreswill skip blank responses (in "new forms" + "new spreadsheet"). The method filter(Boolean)is used to simulate this behavior.

^* A cell formatted as "plain text" will preserve the date as a string, and is not a good idea.

References
Mogsdad 's reply edit 2014-12-03 17:16:57Z.