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@Pathoschild
Last active August 1, 2024 21:43
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A Google Sheets script which adds color preview to cells. When you edit a cell containing a valid CSS hexadecimal color code (like #000 or #000000), the background color is changed to that color and the font color is changed to the inverse color for readability.
/*
This script is meant to be used with a Google Sheets spreadsheet. When you edit a cell containing a
valid CSS hexadecimal color code (like #000 or #000000), the background color will change to that
color and the font color will be changed to the inverse color for readability.
To use this script in a Google Sheets spreadsheet:
1. go to Tools » Script Editor;
2. replace everyting in the text editor with this code;
3. click File » Save;
4. set the title to "Set color preview on edit".
This will apply to cells when they're edited. If you already have values, you can force them to
update by cutting & pasting them over themselves.
Includes improvements from...
- wjmazza (tweaked regex);
- XCompWiz (optimised when editing larger ranges).
*/
/*********
** Properties
*********/
/**
* A regex pattern matching a valid CSS hex color code.
*/
var colorPattern = /^#([0-9a-f]{3})([0-9a-f]{3})?$/i;
/*********
** Event handlers
*********/
/**
* Sets the foreground or background color of a cell based on its value.
* This assumes a valid CSS hexadecimal color code like #FFF or #FFFFFF.
*/
function onEdit(e) {
// iterate over cell range
var range = e.range;
var data = range.getValues(); // read all the data up-front (much faster than reading each cell individually)
var rowCount = range.getNumRows();
var colCount = range.getNumColumns();
for(var r = 0; r < rowCount; r++) {
for(var c = 0; c < colCount; c++) {
var cell = range.getCell(r + 1, c + 1);
var value = data[r][c];
if(isValidHex(value)) {
cell.setBackground(value);
cell.setFontColor(getInverseHex(value));
}
else {
cell.setBackground(null);
cell.setFontColor(null);
}
}
}
};
/*********
** Helpers
*********/
/**
* Get whether a value is a valid hex color code.
*/
function isValidHex(hex) {
return colorPattern.test(hex);
};
/**
* Get a hex color code that is the inverse of the provided code.
* Derived from stackoverflow.com/questions/9600295 with added
* support for CSS shorthand hex notation.
*/
function getInverseHex(hex) {
// expand shorthand color
hex = hex.replace(/^#(.)(.)(.)$/, '#$1$1$2$2$3$3');
// convert hex to decimal value
var inverse = parseInt(hex.substring(1), 16);
// invert color
inverse = 0xFFFFFF ^ inverse;
// convert back to hex notation
return '#' + ('000000' + inverse.toString(16)).slice(-6);
};
@micarner
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For some reason I can't get this working. Everytime it runs I see this error in the console:
Google Apps Script: TypeError: Cannot read property 'setBackground' of undefined

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