Is it possible to link a cell in Google Spreadsheets to a Google text document? (not spreadsheets)

Question

I learned here on Web Applications how to link a cell in Google Spreadsheet to a cell in another Google Spreadsheet:

How do I link a cell in Google Spreadsheets to a cell in another document?

Is it possible to link a cell in Google Spreadsheets to a Google Document (text)? I'd like to use the values ​​in cells to fill in forms and contracts have text in Google Docs.

How to do that?

Answer 1

At this time it's not possible because Google Docs doesn't have built-in features to embed external content.

There are features to insert external content like the Insert menu, the Research tool, and add-ons but they are not able to "link" content. The insert an image, insert a drawing, insert a copy of the selected content; the research tool could insert link to a web page, a copy of text or of a image, but not to embed them in the way that an IFRAME works in a webpage or a gadget/widget in a web page or a sharing tool like Google+ among others.

References from the Google Docs Help Center
Insert an image
Insert a drawing
Research tool

Answer 2

There are some attempts to do this via extensions https://gsuite.google.com/marketplace/app/embedacell/691442818522?pann=cwsdp&hl=en unfortunately, it seems like this plugin is no longer working after changes to the OAuth screen (cf https://github.com/eljobe/embed-a-cell/issues/11)

If you are interested in this and are part of a G Suite organization, please upvote this feature request so the Google Team can implement it directly : https://www.cloudconnectcommunity.com/ccc/ls/community/g-suite-chrome-feature-ideas/post/5155869423828992

Answer 3

At this time I've used only the following two solution alternatives, one direct and one indirect. For form-like data, I'd suggest the Indirect one. If you want to include for example a name in the middle of text, the Indirect method might be feasible. At least if the surrounding text is not updated often.

Direct method

Create a chart from a single cell and link it to Google Docs through Insert Chart > From Sheets. This option requires a bit of tweaking and doesn't update automatically (in the time of writing). Try the following in Google Sheets

• Select the cell for output
• Insert > Chart
• Change the Data Range to contain only the desired cell
• uncheck Use row [ ] as headers
• change Chart type to Scorecard chart (down in Other)
• from tab Customise remove the title by giving an empty string in Chart and axis titles > Title text
• Optionally: change the font in Customise > Chart style

Now the chart is ready for linking in Docs. However as already mentioned, the data didn't update immediately. After a Docs refresh an Update-button appeared over the chart. And that's why I'd recommend the following solution.

Indirect method

Use Sheets for formatting the text, keeping the text in one sheet and the data in one sheet (or several). Then the data from other sheets is easily linked to the the text part. Works but the text editing part is cumbersome for example in contract texts where the data is in the middle of the flow.