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I developed a Google Form that copies responses to a linked output spreadsheet in Google Sheets.

In addition to the columns created by the form question/responses themselves, I've added additional custom columns. These columns contain functions (and formatting) to manipulate and utilize the response data for a script I wrote. I copied the generic functions through each row for these additional columns.

Everything works as I expect, except....

Every time another user fills out the form (i.e., every new response I receive), a new row is created in my Google spreadsheet instead of simply "adding" to my next function-containing row. As a result, the new response rows are added without the generic functions/formatting, leaving my previously "set up" rows below the newly added response row.

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Is there some way to have new response rows be created in a way that incorporates functions in the non-form column cells?

  • In other words, I don't want to have to copy functions into cells of new rows every time a new response is generated, but instead to have these functions "auto-fill."
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This post is eight months old as I respond here, but the basic answer is, Yes: use an array formula in the first cell of those columns.

I don't know what your custom functions do or if they would involve any calculations that don't work with arrays, but as written, these formulas would work:

In E1: =ArrayFormula({"Custom Column 1";IF(A2:A="","",Function(A2:A,B2:B,C2:C)})

In F1: =ArrayFormula({"Custom Column 2";IF(A2:A="","",Function(A2:A,E2:E)})

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  • Thanks, Erik. I'll have to check in on this to see if it works out for my case (which I'll have to brush some dust off to check...). Oct 14, 2018 at 15:19
  • theforestcologist, if you try it and it doesn't work, it's because you've got certain parts of your function that conflict with array use. There is almost always a way to rework a formula so that it does work with a single-cell array, however. If this is the case when you try it, I'm happy to take a look at your Google doc (post it here) and suggest an alternative.
    – Erik Tyler
    Oct 14, 2018 at 19:15

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