my code doesn't work anymore but i haven't changed it

Question

i created several months ago a script to publish assignments for my students in google classroom.the code is the following

function createTrigger() { 
  // Trigger every day at 9
  ScriptApp.newTrigger('pubblicavideo')
      .timeBased()
      .atHour(9)
      .everyDays(1) // Frequency is required if you are using atHour() or nearMinute()
      .create();
}

function onOpen() { 
  //aggiunge il bottone autotrigger con run e stop all'apertura del documento spreadsheet
  var ui = SpreadsheetApp.getUi();
  
  ui.createMenu("Auto Trigger")
    .addItem("Run","runAuto")
    .addItem("Stop","deleteTrigger")
    .addToUi();
}

function runAuto() { 
  
  // resets the loop counter if it's not 0
  refreshUserProps(); 
   // clear out the sheet
  clearData();  
  // create trigger to run program automatically
  createTrigger();
}

function refreshUserProps() {
  var userProperties = PropertiesService.getUserProperties();
  userProperties.setProperty('loopCounter', 0);
  userProperties.setProperty('contarighe', 1);
}



function deleteTrigger() {
  
  // Loop over all triggers and delete them
  var allTriggers = ScriptApp.getProjectTriggers();
  for (var i = 0; i < allTriggers.length; i++) {
    ScriptApp.deleteTrigger(allTriggers[i]);
  }
}

function pubblica(k)
{
  var corso = Classroom.Courses.get(XXXXXXXXXXXXXX);
  var foglio = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
  var linkini = foglio.getRange("C709:C3014");
  var titolini = foglio.getRange("B709:B3014");
  var autorini = foglio.getRange("A709:A3014");
  var cell = linkini.getCell(k, 1);
  var cella = titolini.getCell(k, 1);
  var cello = autorini.getCell(k, 1);
  var link = cell.getValue();
  var titolo = cella.getValue();
  var autore = cello.getValue();
  var courseWork = {
  'title': titolo,
  'description': autore,
  'materials': [
     {'link': { "url": link}}    
],
  'workType': 'ASSIGNMENT',
  'state': 'PUBLISHED',
}
Classroom.Courses.CourseWork.create(courseWork,XXXXXXXXXXXXXX);
}

function clearData() {
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
  var sheet = ss.getSheetByName('Data');
  
  // clear out the matches and output sheets
  var lastRow = sheet.getLastRow();
  if (lastRow > 1) {
    sheet.getRange(2,1,lastRow-1,1).clearContent();
  }
}



function pubblicavideo()
{
  var pezzialgiorno = 3;   //numero di pezzi da pubblicare ogni giorno
   var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
  var sheet = ss.getSheetByName('Data');
  
  
   var userProperties = PropertiesService.getUserProperties();
  var loopCounter = Number(userProperties.getProperty('loopCounter'));
  var contarighe = Number(userProperties.getProperty('contarighe'));
  // put some limit on the number of loops
  // could be based on a calculation or user input
  // using a static number in this example
  var limit = 2301;
  
  // if loop counter < limit number, run the repeatable action
  if (loopCounter < limit) {
    
    // see what the counter value is at the start of the loop
    Logger.log(loopCounter);
    
    // do stuff
   for (var i=0; i<pezzialgiorno; i++)
   {
     pubblica(contarighe);
     contarighe++;
   }
     // increment the properties service counter for the loop
    loopCounter +=1;
    userProperties.setProperty('loopCounter', loopCounter);
    userProperties.setProperty('contarighe', contarighe);
    
    // see what the counter value is at the end of the loop
    Logger.log(loopCounter);
    Logger.log(contarighe);
  }
  
  // if the loop counter is no longer smaller than the limit number
  // run this finishing code instead of the repeatable action block
  else {
    
    // Log message to confirm loop is finished
    sheet.getRange(sheet.getLastRow()+1,1).setValue("Finished");
    Logger.log("Finished");
    
     // delete trigger because we've reached the end of the loop
    // this will end the program
    deleteTrigger();  
  }
}

where i put the XXXXXXXXXXX there is the course ID. the script is attached to a spreadsheet with 3 columns that have title, author and youtube link and the assignment is one of these videos put there as a link attached to the material. the script should publish every day at 9:00 a.m. 3 of the youtube videos in 3 different materials running down the list in the spreadsheet

when i try to execute the function called pubblicavideo it says

GoogleJsonResponseException: Chiamata API a classroom.courses.courseWork.create non riuscita con errore: Invalid value at 'course_work.description' (TYPE_STRING), 883 (riga 69, file "Codice")

i think the translation in english goes something like

GoogleJsonResponseException: API call to classroom.courses.courseWork.create didn't work with error: Invalid value at 'course_work.description' (TYPE_STRING), 883 (row 69, file "Code")

this very script worked perfectly until the 13th of august. i don't know if there were any changes in google classroom scripts.

anyone of you knows how to make it work again?

Answer 1

Answer:

The issue seems to be that at some point, the type of the value obtained from autorini.getCell(k, 1).getValue() is not a string which is causing the error.

Steps to Solve:

In pubblicavideo(), the function pubblica() is called inside a loop with the variable contarighe passed. The value of this gets put into k for each run of pubblica.

These are the lines that are problematic:

var autorini = foglio.getRange("A709:A3014");
var cello = autorini.getCell(k, 1);
var autore = cello.getValue();

You will need to check the value of autore before you make the request to Classroom.Courses.CourseWork.create().

As per the documentation on the CourseWork Resource, the value of description should be of type String.

When creating the coursework object:

var courseWork = {
    'title': titolo,
    'description': autore,
    'materials': [
      {'link': { "url": link}}    
    ],
    'workType': 'ASSIGNMENT',
    'state': 'PUBLISHED',
  }

The value of autore must reflect this. Make sure that at whatever point in the loop your code is halting, your sheet value is both of type String, and being retrieved correctly.

References:

• REST Resource: courses.courseWork | Classroom API | Google Developers