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Apps Script extremely slow or endlessly "Preparing for execution..."

I have written a very simple code on my Google Sheets file. This is the purpose:
Save some cells values from StaticSheet (all the Copyxxx) that need to be copied in DynamicSheet.
Get the value of one specific cell inserted by the user manually.
Enter a While loop useful only to increase an indicator and get the number of the row where I want to copy those values previously saved.
Copy those values on this row but different columns.
The problem is that it seems that most of the time it does not even run the script after I told it to do so.
What is funny is that sometimes it works, super slowly, but it works for like a couple of minutes. And after it stops working again.
Could you please tell me what am I missing here please?
function Copy_Static_on_Dynamic() {
var app = SpreadsheetApp;
var ss = app.openById("xxxxyy--------yyzzzz")
var StaticSheet = ss.getSheetByName("DEAT Price");
var DynamicSheet = ss.getSheetByName("DEAT Price + TEST");
var CopySKU = StaticSheet.getRange(5,1,40);
var CopyPrices = StaticSheet.getRange(5,3,40,4);
var CopyUsage = StaticSheet.getRange(5,8,40);
var Week_1 = StaticSheet.getRange(2,4).getValues();
var i = 1;
Logger.clear();
while(DynamicSheet.getRange(i,3).getValues() != Week_1)
{
Logger.log(i);
i+=1;
}
CopySKU.copyTo(DynamicSheet.getRange(i,4,40));
CopyPrices.copyTo(DynamicSheet.getRange(i,6,40,4));
CopyUsage.copyTo(DynamicSheet.getRange(i,11,40));
}

If you see the "Preparing for Execution" message in the Apps Script editor, you can reload the browser window and run the function again. The program will likely go away.

So I think I have solved it.
As Serge insas was saying I had my script running on the background, I found it out on the "Execution" section, where you can also interrupt them.
After I discover it I kept testing, and I saw that the while loop needed almost 2 seconds to check the condition every time, making the script incredibly long.
So instead of:
while(DynamicSheet.getRange(i,3).getValues() != Week_1)
... I have created a variable declared previously such as:
var WeekLOOP = DynamicSheet.getRange(i,3).getValues();
while(WeekLOOP != Week_1) { --- }
... and now the script needs few milliseconds to run the condition. I don't have enough technical knowledge to say if this was the only issue, but is what apparently solved my problem.
Thanks to all for the support! Will come back if I need any further help :)

As was mentioned by Amit Agarwal, to solve the error message mentioned on the question, refresh the web browser tab.
Regarding the code,
On
var Week_1 = StaticSheet.getRange(2,4).getValues();
and
DynamicSheet.getRange(i,3).getValues()
instead of getValues you should use getValue because your code are referring to single cell cells otherwise you will be getting 2D arrays instead of scalar values.
The use of while should be made very carefully to avoid functions running endlessly. You could add some "safeguard" like the following
var max_iterations = 100 // Edit this
while(DynamicSheet.getRange(i,3).getValue() != Week_1 && i <= max_iterations) {

Can't assign querySelectorAll() to a variable - weird behaviour

I was trying to crawl a very old website for a specific tag, I need to get it by it's for= attribute. So I used this piece of code.
var character = document.querySelectorAll("label[for=char_1]");
For some reason it returns an undefined, but I was using this script for a few days now and it worked like a charm. Here's the fun part. Typing that command in browsers console will result in undefined. But typing this alone:
document.querySelectorAll("label[for=char_1]");
Will return a proper NodeList. Why it won't assign to a variable...?
edit: It seems that deleting var and typing character without it will make it work. It's resolved but I would still love to get an answer to "why is this happening"?
edit2:
for (var i = 0; i < 15; i++) {
var character = document.querySelectorAll("label[for=char_" + i +"]");
console.log(character); // this will return [] from the script.
var color = character[0].children[0].style.color;
}
A simple for loop. All I get is Cannot read property 'children' of undefined. But I can type in the very same command document.querySelectorAll... and it will work in the browser and will return NodeList.
I had it working like this in a very hacky script. It worked.
var character1 = document.querySelectorAll("label[for=char_1]");
var characterColor1 = character1[0].children[0].style.color;
edit3:
var character1 = document.querySelectorAll("label[for=char_1]");
var characterColor1 = character1[0].children[0].style.color;
var character2 = document.querySelectorAll("label[for=char_2]");
var characterColor2 = character2[0].children[0].style.color;
// ...
The above code works without a single problem though. I don't think it's DOM not being ready as this code is also run from Greasemonkey script and it works. The only difference is the for loop.

var x = ""; // returns undefined, because it's a var assignment.
var elements = document.querySelectorAll('div');
That's expected behavior when pasted into the console.
edit: It seems that deleting var and typing character without it will make it work. It's resolved
I'm afraid you're creating a global scope variable now. or perhaps characters is an already defined variable in that scope.

Buhah, as I said in edit 3 "the only difference is the for loop". I was so busy trying to find an answer in the DOM-related things that I made the simplest mistake ever done in programming.
See?
char_1
With...
for(var i = 0...)
0! And I was testing char_1 in the browser instead of char_0. Which - truly - returns [] instead of something useful. Time to go on a holiday break I guess, my brain seems to be there already. :)

InDesign Scripting: Deleting elements from the structure panel

I've imported some XML files inside InDesign (you can see the structure in the picture below) and I've also created a script to get some statistics concerning this hierarchy.
For example, to count the "free" elements:
var items = app.activeDocument.xmlElements.everyItem();
var items1 = items.xmlElements.itemByName("cars");
var cars = items1.xmlElements.everyItem();
var c_free = cars.xmlElements.itemByName("free");
var cars_free = c_free.xmlElements.count().length;
I also have apartments in my structure that's why I'm using itemByName.
The code above returns the correct number of free cars in my structure.
What I'm trying to do - without any luck so far - is to target those free items (inside cars) and either delete all of them or a specific number.
My last attempt was using:
var del1 = myInputGroup2.add ("button", undefined, "Delete All");
del1.onClick = function () {
cars.xmlElements.everyItem().remove();
}
inside a dialog I've created.
Any suggestions will be appreciated cause I'm really stuck here.

I would probably use XPath for this. You can use evaluateXPathExpression to create an array of the elements you want to target. Assuming your root element is cars and it contains elements called cars1, and you want to delete all free elements within a cars1 element, you could do something like:
var myDoc = app.activeDocument;
//xmlElements[0] is your root element, in this case "cars". The xPath expression is evaluated from cars.
//evaluateXPathExpression returns an array of all of the free elements that are children of cars.
var myFrees = myDoc.xmlElements[0].evaluateXPathExpression("cars1/free");
for (var i = myFrees.length - 1; i>=0; i--){
myFrees[i].remove();
}
Tweaking this would require some knowledge of xPath, but it's not terribly hard to learn the basics and it does seem like the simplest approach.

I think your main problem was that XMLElements hasn't a itemByName method. You can only reference XMLElements through their indeces or ids.
Secondly you assume that you got xmlElements from XPath expression but it's likely that you got nothing as your xpath seems uncorrect.
var myFrees = myDoc.xmlElements[0].evaluateXPathExpression("./cars1/free");
var n = myFrees.length;
if ( !n ) {
alert("Aucun élément trouvé");
}
else {
while (n--) myFrees[n].remove();
}
You need to start your expression by setting the origin of your xpath. Here a dot "./" is used to tell you want to look for cars1/free xml elements at the "root" of the xmlelement. Using "//" on the contrary would have returned any cars/free items unregardingly of their locations.

Maintain Array value with a recursive javascript function

I have a program that we use at my work, which outputs its data in to XML files (several of them). I am trying to develop an HTA (yes an HTA, i'm sorry) to read these files and process their data. Unfortunately there are a number of XML files and I only need to read a few specific ones, so I am trying to write a generic "XML to array" function.
I got it to read the XML file and now I want to process the file into a 2d Array. However, since I am using a recursive function I seem to lose data. Here is the function:
NodesToArray = function (xmlDOC){
//Must redeclare "i" with each recursion, or it won't work correctly. ie: for(VAR i = 0...
for(var i = 0; i < xmlDOC.length ; i++){
//Just because it has a child still do the check.
if(xmlDOC[i].childNodes.length > 1){
//Recursively run the function.
var ReturnArray = NodesToArray(xmlDOC[i].childNodes);
//alert(ReturnArray + " " );
if(ReturnArray) return ReturnArray;
}else{
//Check to see if the node has a child node, if not and a child node is called, it will error out and stop
if(xmlDOC[i].hasChildNodes() == true){
return xmlDOC[i].firstChild.nodeValue;
}
}
}
}
Where I return the first child value I put an alert and was able to see all the data I wanted. Of course when I set it up I found it wasn't keeping the data. I've done a ton of reading and have been pounding my head against my desk and still can't come up with anything.
I've googled, searched this site, and consulted many forums, and can't find anything that would work for me. I post here reluctantly as I am at a dead end. Thanks for any help and I will provide any additional information as I can.
Just a note, but I would like to be able to do this without any libraries (specifically jQuery). The HTA doesn't seem to support a lot of newer Javascript. I'm not a professional coder by any means and learn by doing everything from scratch.
Not sure how to set the solution, but I found it
function NodesToArray(xmlDOC, returnArray){
for(var i = 0; i < xmlDOC.length ; i++){
if(xmlDOC[i].childNodes.length > 1){
returnArray[returnArray.length] = NodesToArray(xmlDOC[i].childNodes, []);
}else{
if(xmlDOC[i].hasChildNodes() == true){
returnArray[returnArray.length] = (xmlDOC[i].firstChild.nodeValue);
}
}
}
return returnArray;
}
getArray = NodesToArray(getXML.getElementsByTagName(tagName)[0].childNodes,[]);
Thanks for the help!

The general way of retrieving data recursively in the same container is to write two function:
First one is the one that you call and which returns the array
Second one is called by first function and does the recursion. To be able to put the data in the same array that function has to take it as parameter.
Here is some pseudo code
getData(node) {
_2D_array = new array[][];
getData(node, _2D_array, 0);
return array;
}
getData(node, _2D_array, depth) {
if(node) { // end of recursion ?
_2D_array[depth].add(...); // populate from node
getData(node.next, _2D_array, depth++);
}
}

Your program exits when the first element is processed because the function returns. A function can only return once. You need to move the return statements outside the loop so that the loop completes.

Removing items from data bound array

How do I remove an items from a data bound array? My code follows.
for(var i = 0; i < listBox.selectedIndices.length; i++) {
var toRemove = listFiles.selectedIndices[i];
dataArray.splice(toRemove, 1);
}
Thanks in advance!
Edit Here is my swf. The Add Photos works except when you remove items.
http://www.3rdshooter.com/Content/Flash/PhotoUploader.html
Add 3 photos different.
Remove 2nd photo.
Add a different photo.
SWF adds the 2nd photo to the end.
Any ideas on why it would be doing this?
Edit 2 Here is my code
private function OnSelectFileRefList(e:Event):void
{
Alert.show('addstart:' + arrayQueue.length);
for each (var f:FileReference in fileRefList.fileList)
{
var lid:ListItemData = new ListItemData();
lid.fileRef = f;
arrayQueue[arrayQueue.length]=lid;
}
Alert.show('addcomplete:' + arrayQueue.length);
listFiles.executeBindings();
Alert.show(ListItemData(arrayQueue[arrayQueue.length-1]).fileRef.name);
PushStatus('Added ' + fileRefList.fileList.length.toString() + ' photo(s) to queue!');
fileRefList.fileList.length = 0;
buttonUpload.enabled = (arrayQueue.length > 0);
}
private function OnButtonRemoveClicked(e:Event):void
{
for(var i:Number = 0; i < listFiles.selectedIndices.length; i++) {
var toRemove:Number = listFiles.selectedIndices[i];
//Alert.show(toRemove.toString());
arrayQueue.splice(toRemove, 1);
}
listFiles.executeBindings();
Alert.show('removecomplete:' + arrayQueue.length);
PushStatus('Removed photos from queue.');
buttonRemove.enabled = (listFiles.selectedItems.length > 0);
buttonUpload.enabled = (arrayQueue.length > 0);
}

It would definitely be helpful to know two things:
Which version of ActionScript are you targeting?
Judging from the behavior of your application, the error isn't occurring when the user removes an item from the list of files to upload. Looks more like an issue with your logic when a user adds a new item to the list. Any chance you could post that code as well?
UPDATE:
Instead of: arrayQueue[arrayQueue.length]=lid
Try: arrayQueue.push(lid)
That will add a new item to the end of the array and push the item in to that spot.
UPDATE 2:
Ok, did a little more digging. Turns out that the fileList doesn't get cleared every time the dialog is opened (if you're not creating a new instance of the FileReferenceList each time the user selects new files). You need to call splice() on the fileList after you add each file to your Array.
Try something like this in your AddFile() method...
for(var j:int=0; j < fileRefList.fileList.length; j++)
{
arrayQueue.push(fileRefList.fileList[j]);
fileRefList.fileList.splice(j, 1);
}
That will keep the fileList up to date rather than holding on to previous selections.

I see one issue. The selected indices are no longer valid once you have spliced out the first element from the array. But that should only be a problem when removing multiple items at once.
I think we need to see more code about how you are handling the upload before we can figure out what is going on. It looks to me like you are holding a reference to the removed FileReference or something. The described problem is occurring when you upload a new file, not when you remove the selected one.

Do you mean to use listBox and listFiles to refer to the same thing?
I'm stepping out on a limb here, because I don't have a ton of experience with JavaScript, but I'd do this the same way that I'd do it in C, C++, or Java: By copying the remaining array elements down into their new locations.
Assuming that listFiles.selectedIndices is sorted (and its contents are valid indices for dataArray), the code would be something like the following:
(WARNING: untested code follows.)
// Don't bother copying any elements below the first selected element.
var writeIndex = listFiles.selectedIndices[0];
var readIndex = listFiles.selectedIndices[0] + 1;
var selectionIndex = 1;
while(writeIndex < (dataArray.length - listFiles.selectedIndices.length)) {
if (selectionIndex < listFiles.selectedIndices.length) {
// If the read pointer is currently at a selected element,
// then bump it up until it's past selected range.
while(selectionIndex < listFiles.selectedIndices.length &&
readIndex == listFiles.selectedIndices[selectionIndex]) {
selectionIndex++;
readIndex++;
}
}
dataArray[writeIndex++] = dataArray[readIndex++];
}
// Remove the tail of the dataArray
if (writeIndex < dataArray.length) {
dataArray.splice(writeIndex, dataArray.length - writeIndex);
}
EDIT 2009/04/04: Your Remove algorithm still suffers from the flaw that as you remove items in listFiles.selectedIndices, you break the correspondence between the indices in arrayQueue and those in listFiles.selectedIndices.
To see this, try adding 3 files, then doing "Select All" and then hit Remove. It will start by removing the 1st file in the list (index 0). Now what had been the 2nd and 3rd files in the list are at indices 0 and 1. The next value taken from listFiles.selectedIndices is 1 -- but now, what had been the 3rd file is at index 1. So the former File #3 gets spliced out of the array, leaving the former 2nd file un-removed and at index 0. (Using more files, you'll see that this implementation only removes every other file in the array.)
This is why my JavaScript code (above) uses a readIndex and a writeIndex to copy the entries in the array, skipping the readIndex over the indices that are to be deleted. This algorithm avoids the problem of losing correspondence between the array indices. (It does need to be coded carefully to guard against various edge conditions.) I tried some JavaScript code similar to what I wrote above; it worked for me.
I suspect that the problem in your original test case (removing the 2nd file, then adding another) is analogous. Since you've only shown part of your code, I can't tell whether the array indices and the data in listFiles.selectedIndices, arrayQueue, and fileRefList.fileList are always going to match up appropriately. (But I suspect that the problem is that they don't.)
BTW, even if you fix the problem with using splice() by adjusting the array index values appropriately, it's still an O(N2) algorithm in the general case. The array copy algorithm is O(N).

I'd really need to see the whole class to provide a difinitive answer, but I would write a method to handle removing multiple objects from the dataProvider and perhaps assigning a new array as the dataProvider for the list instead of toying with binding and using the same list for the duration. Like I said, this is probably inefficient, and would require a look at the context of the question, but that is what I would do 9unless you have a big need for binding in this circumstance)
/**
* Returns a new Array with the selected objects removed
*/
private function removeSelected(selectedItems:Array):Array
{
var returnArray:Array = []
for each(var object:Object in this.arrayQueue)
{
if( selectedItems.indexOf(object)==-1 )
returnArray.push( object )
}
return returnArray;
}

You might be interested in this blog entry about the fact that robust iterators are missing in the Java language.
The programming language, you mentioned Javascript, is not the issue, it's the concept of robust iterators that I wanted to point out (the paper actually is about C++ as the programming language).
The [research document]() about providing robust iterators for the ET++ C++ framework may still e helpful in solving your problem. I am sure the document can provide you with the necessary ideas how to approach your problem.