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I working on building an application to having our corporate server perform an HTTP post operation to add a row in a Google Doc's spreadsheet. I have created the spreadsheet already and now I want to do the automated insertions programatically.

Any of the newer language methods (e.g Java, .NET, PHP and Python) are not installed on the server so I am limited it my choice of build software. The corporate server does support sockets protocol, so I plan on writing the application in one of the systems native languages.

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Questions about APIs are generally off-topic here. – Al Everett Oct 8 '12 at 2:41

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1 Answer

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When your application requests non-public user data, it must include an authorization token. The token also identifies your application to Google (source)

Unless you make your spreadsheet public, you'll need to authenticate.

Google Doc's API allows the use of OAuth 2.0, OAuth 1.0, AuthSub, or ClientLogin according to this documentation - although it does emphasis that OAuth 2.0 is the preferred method. ClientLogin is the probably the easiest to implement - and least preferred - so have a look at the various options and weigh up what will work for you.

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How does this differ from using a FORM created in Google Docs? Is that application already "known" to Google so it does not need an OAuth token? – Dave Hanneman Aug 13 '12 at 16:05
Looks like forms might use a special "formkey" token - have a look at this post which might prove to be the answer you need. – John C Aug 13 '12 at 23:33

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