Calculator using Google Sheets to do the math

emilioalvarezg · 2024-10-03T21:15:48.210Z

I’m new to bubble and I’m trying to build a production cost calculator for pig farmers. I have a large Google Sheets workbook that takes a large amount of variables and, through lots of references and calculations with these, outputs the result in terms of money per weight, which is the desired result.

What I want to do is to input the variables in Bubble, send them to the specific cells in Google Sheets, replace the value in said cells temporarily and retrieve the result cell’s value and display it back in Bubble.

I’ve added some plugins to do this but my problem is that I can’t get them to replace the values of specific cells, they add a new line to the end, so the result is never found because of the cell references aren’t in the right place.

I’d really appreciate any ideas. Thanks in advance.

AliFarahat · 2024-10-04T02:01:35.090Z

Hey @emilioalvarezg

Instead of sending and receiving the data try to use the below plugin to do the calculation directly in bubble.

Bubble

Templates for Bubble

Buy and sell Bubble templates to speed up app development. Bubble is a visual programing language that lets you build apps without code.

Here is a demo page (unfortunately not the best on mobile, and will improve that later)

Bubble

Bubble - Visual Programming

Build stuff without code and launch a startup without a tech-cofounder! Bubble is a visual programing language. Instead of typing code, use a visual editor to build applications.

emilioalvarezg · 2024-10-04T02:21:58.000Z

Ali,

Thank you, I’ll give it a try in the morning.

Emilio Alvarez

tunacardak · 2024-10-04T06:52:56.577Z

Hello, if you will want to work with google spreadsheets you can write some code and prepare your excel document to send and recieve data or you can check similar services like https://sheetdb.io/

emilioalvarezg · 2024-10-04T15:46:58.411Z

@tunacardak, thanks. I’ve had some success with it but I haven’t quite gotten the hang of it, I’ll keep tinkering with it.

emilioalvarezg · 2024-10-14T18:59:37.823Z

I keep getting a 404 error when I try to patch into google sheets. I can post, but it does so in another row and that throws off the math.
I’m using sheetdb.io
Thanks

Jozo · 2025-02-20T01:45:54.250Z

Hey @emilioalvarezg - did you find a good solution here? I have pretty much the same use case. Want to reference the google sheet and then ideally have dynamic charts that move as you slide an input slider around etc.
Also want users to be able to save scenarios etc.
Any help is appreciated! Thanks mate. Joe

emilioalvarezg · 2025-02-20T04:13:07.943Z

Hi Jozo,

What I did was to use bubble’s internal database to save all the user inputs and then sending it to Google Sheets with one call, after all inputs are filled. They will fill only one line and when another user sends his/her data it will be replaced in the same line in GS. Bubble’s database is used to save all user’s inputs and display the results.

Jozo · 2025-02-21T06:23:37.499Z

Gotcha ok. So I imagine there’s a button for ‘calculate’ that sends all User1’s inputs to GS, runs the calc, then brings back the result cell’s value immediately. Then if another user does the same, it does the same.
Not sure if it’ll work for me as I’d like many calcs to be made in real time, as the user toggles a slider input and the result of the calcs is made in real time.
Will look into either calculations in Bubble itself (limited) or javascript with Toolbox plugin (scary). Thanks

boston85719 · 2025-02-21T08:50:21.754Z

You can specify which cells when making the API call to Google Sheets