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Remove duplicates across multiple sheets

I want to remove duplicates across 2 different sheets.
I have my active sheet, and I want to remove duplicates that already exist in my sheet "Blacklist". I want to run this process for both Column A and Column B (or simply for any values across the entire sheets). When a duplicate is found, I want to leave the row in tact but replace the value with '' (e.g. an empty cell).
I have a working version I mangled together, but only for the active sheet.
N.B. it's the findDuplicate function that I use, the removeDuplicate function I left there not to mess anything up :)
// this is a Google Apps Script project
function onOpen() {
var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
var menuItems = [
{ name: 'Find duplicates...', functionName: 'findDuplicate' },
{ name: 'Remove duplicates...', functionName: 'removeDuplicate' }
];
spreadsheet.addMenu('Duplicates', menuItems);
}
function removeDuplicate() {
var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
var range = sheet.getActiveRange();
var data = range.getValues();
var rowNum = range.getRow();
var columnNum = range.getColumn();
var columnLength = data[0].length;
var uniqueData = [];
var duplicateData = [];
// iterate through each 'row' of the selected range
// x is
// y is
var x = 0;
var y = data.length;
// when row is
while (x < y) {
var row = data[x];
var duplicate = false;
// iterate through the uniqueData array to see if 'row' already exists
for (var j = 0; j < uniqueData.length; j++) {
if (row.join() == uniqueData[j].join()) {
// if there is a duplicate, delete the 'row' from the sheet and add it to the duplicateData array
duplicate = true;
var duplicateRange = sheet.getRange(
rowNum + x,
columnNum,
1,
columnLength
);
duplicateRange.deleteCells(SpreadsheetApp.Dimension.ROWS);
duplicateData.push(row);
// rows shift up by one when duplicate is deleted
// in effect, it skips a line
// so we need to decrement x to stay in the same line
x--;
y--;
range = sheet.getActiveRange();
data = range.getValues();
// return;
}
}
// if there are no duplicates, add 'row' to the uniqueData array
if (!duplicate) {
uniqueData.push(row);
}
x++;
}
}
function findDuplicate() {
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
var range = sheet.getActiveRange();
var data = range.getValues();
var rowNum = range.getRow();
var columnNum = range.getColumn();
var columnLength = data[0].length;
var uniqueData = [];
// iterate through each 'row' of the selected range
for (var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
var row = data[i];
var duplicate = false;
// iterate through the uniqueData array to see if 'row' already exists
for (var j = 0; j < uniqueData.length; j++) {
if (row.join() == uniqueData[j].join()) {
// if there is a duplicate, highlight the 'row' from the sheet
duplicate = true;
var duplicateRange = sheet.getRange(
rowNum + i,
columnNum,
1,
columnLength
);
duplicateRange.setValue('');
}
}
// if there are no duplicates, add 'row' to the uniqueData array
if (!duplicate) {
uniqueData.push(row);
}
}
}
Thanks so much for your help! I've been at this for a few hours and figured I should just ask the experts for advice :)

The first lines of both your removeDuplicate and findDuplicate function seems indeed to indicate that you refer to the active spreadsheet / sheet / range
var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
var range = sheet.getActiveRange();
var data = range.getValues();
If you want to be able to use the same function for a given spreadsheet / sheet / range which is not the active one, you will need to use other functions than the getActiveXXX().
For example, to get the sheet named "Blacklist", you should use
sheet = spreadsheet.getSheetByName("Blacklist")
(see also https://developers.google.com/apps-script/reference/spreadsheet/spreadsheet#getsheetbynamename)
If you want to access a specific range which differs from the active range, you should use the getRange method (see also https://developers.google.com/apps-script/reference/spreadsheet/spreadsheet#getrangea1notation)
Note that getRange method can be used in different ways, e.g.
getRange("A1:D4"), getRange(1, 1, 3, 3) (the parameters being respectively startRow, startColumn, numRows,numColumns)
Additionally, if you don't want to hardcode the last line of your 2 columns, you will most probably need this function to find the last line in the code :
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/reference/spreadsheet/spreadsheet#getlastrow
(there is also an example there showing how to use getRange() in combination with getLastRow()).
I hope this will help you going further.
Please note that I didn't check the rest of your code and just assumed that your deduplication logic works fine as you mentioned it in your commment.
Good luck !

Ignore empty rows from a loop in Google Apps Script

I'm new to Google Apps Script and I'm trying to ignore the empty rows from a for loop, but I'm still getting the empty rows in my log. Here are my codes,
function getNonEmptyRows() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheet1 = ss.getSheetByName("Bldng4");
var lr = sheet1.getLastRow() - 17;
for (var i = 1; i < lr; i++) {
var singleRow = sheet1.getRange(i, 1, 1, sheet1.getLastColumn()).getValues();
if (singleRow.length > 0) {
Logger.log(singleRow);
}
}
}
How can I get the only non empty rows from the loop? Need this help badly. Thanks.

var range_data =
sheet1.getRange("A2:A") //Column Range
.getValues() //Get array from range values
.filter(array=>array != '') //Filter non-empty values

I was looking for a solution to a similar problem and here is what I did:
first, I found this tutorial on how to create google apps script to eliminate duplicate rows.
next, i modified it like this to eliminate empty rows:
function removeEmptyRows() {
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName("settings");
var data = sheet.getRange("A2:D").getValues();
var newData = new Array();
for(i in data){
var row = data[i];
var empty = false;
for(i in data){
if(row.toString() == ",,,"){
empty = true;
}
}
if(!empty){
newData.push(row);
}
sheet.getRange(2, 6, newData.length, newData[0].length).setValues(newData);
};
As you can see, it takes A2:D range, removes empty rows and then pastes filtered data without empty rows into range F2:I.
You can try to use this script, but you may need to adjust it to "width" of your array. To do so change the number of commas in the following string:
if(row.toString() == ",,,"){
edit:
I modified script a bit to automatically adjust to width of your array:
function removeEmptyRows() {
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName("settings");
var range = sheet.getRange("A2:C");
var data = range.getValues();
var dataWidth = range.getWidth();
var newData = new Array();
if (dataWidth<=1) {
var stringToCompare = '';
}else{
var stringToCompare = ',';
for (var i=0;i<dataWidth-2;i++) stringToCompare+=","
};
for(i in data){
var row = data[i];
var empty = false;
for(i in data){
if(row.toString() == stringToCompare){
empty = true;
}
}
if(!empty){
newData.push(row);
}
}
sheet.getRange(2, 6, newData.length, newData[0].length).setValues(newData);
};

The getValues() method you are using always return a 2 dimensions array, whatever the contents of the cells might be. There are several ways to get the cells content, one of them is to stringify the range content (convert matrix to single string) , remove the commas (and eventually "invisible" spaces) and check the length of the resulting string.
replacement code could go like this :
var singleRow = sheet1.getRange(i, 1, 1, sheet1.getLastColumn()).getValues().toString().replace(',','').replace(' ','');
That said, this code is very inefficient because it uses SpreadSheetApp service in each loop iteration which is particularly slow.
You'll find better approches in the documentation about best practices.

Not getting the expected return value of function in javascript

i am a javascript newbie. I have a 9*9 grid for my sudoku game. The html is such that each box of the grid is an inputelement with id like r1c4 where 1 is the row number and 4 is column number. I have half filled grid.I needed to store all the numbers in the grid in a two dimensional array.I have created the following function fo:
function getValues(){
var grid = new Array();
var colData = new Array();
var targetId;
for(var i=1;i<=9;i++)
{
for(var j=1;j<=9;j++)
{
targetId = 'r' + i + 'c' + j;
colData[j-1] = document.querySelector('#'+targetId).value;
}
grid[i-1] = colData;
console.log(grid[i-1]); // here logged correctly
}
return grid; // here returned wrong
}
The problem i am facing is that the returned array consists of only the last element repeated 9 times. I am logging the stored value every time by using console.log(grid[i-1]); and it is giving correct results.I am not getting it.
Regards.

grid[i-1] = colData;
You are not copying colData to grid[i-1], but simply making grid[i-1] a reference to colData. So, all the elements in your array are just references to the same object, colData.
To fix this problem, you need to create a new Array on every iteration. So, I would have done it like this
function getValues() {
var grid = [], colData, targetId;
for (var i = 1; i <= 9; i++) {
colData = []; // new Array on every iteration
for (var j = 1; j <= 9; j++) {
targetId = 'r' + i + 'c' + j;
colData.push(document.querySelector('#' + targetId).value);
}
grid.push(colData);
}
return grid;
}

You need to create a new colData per iteration rather than using the same one each time.
for(var i=1;i<=9;i++)
{
var colData = new Array();
...

Try either moving colData = new Array() (or better, colData = [];) inside the i for loop.
OR use grid[i-1] = colData.slice(0);.
Either way, you need to create a new array for each row, not just re-use the old one.

You're using the same Array object for every single column, and just overwriting the values. You're pushing 9 references to that same array into your grid.
You need to move var colData = new Array(); inside the loop so you're making a new Array for each column.

Google Apps Script: how to get the number of columns in a sheet? (alternative way)

I want to use the number of columns in a sheet in a for loop. I could use a function like this, to stop when the loop finds the first empty column:
function getRowAsArray(sheet, row) {
var dataRange = sheet.getRange(row, 1, 1, 99);
var data = dataRange.getValues();
var columns = [];
for (i in data) {
var row = data[i];
Logger.log("Got row", row);
for(var l=0; l<99; l++) {
var col = row[l];
// First empty column interrupts
if(!col) {
break;
}
columns.push(col);
}
}
return columns;
}
But I'd like an alternative function which use the number of columns in the sheet. How can I do that?

Please have a look at the documentation:
getLastColumn() and to get the maximum count including empty ones, getMaxColumns().

JavaScript delete merged table cell

I have been working on a scheduling website for the past few weeks. I am showing the schedules as PHP generated html-tables. I use merged cells for showing events. I have come to a problem when trying to delete events using JS. Since those are merged cells, using rowspan, I have to go through the table and re-adding empty cells whenever there is a need when I delete one. My solution is working fine for when my table contains one merged cell among nothing but empty cells, but with a more complex table, it fails. I can't really grasp what's wrong with it, except that it doesn't correctly find the cellIndex anymore. Does anyone have a clue? Here is what I'm talking about:
http://aturpin.mangerinc.com/table.html
(Click on an event to remove it, or attempt to anyhow)

This sample may help you find your solution. It seems to demonstrate your problem as well as have some sample code to generate a matrix to help you solve it.
EDIT: I liked the puzzle and decided to play with it for a bit, here is a "functioning" example of implementing that sample (although sometimes the table doesn't seem to redraw correctly. This should probably help you get further along the way.
function getTableState(t) {
var matrix = [];
var lookup = {};
var trs = t.getElementsByTagName('TR');
var c;
for (var i=0; trs[i]; i++) {
lookup[i] = [];
for (var j=0; c = trs[i].cells[j]; j++) {
var rowIndex = c.parentNode.rowIndex;
var rowSpan = c.rowSpan || 1;
var colSpan = c.colSpan || 1;
var firstAvailCol;
// initalized the matrix in this row if needed.
if(typeof(matrix[rowIndex])=="undefined") { matrix[rowIndex] = []; }
// Find first available column in the first row
for (var k=0; k<matrix[rowIndex].length+1; k++) {
if (typeof(matrix[rowIndex][k])=="undefined") {
firstAvailCol = k;
break;
}
}
lookup[rowIndex][c.cellIndex] = firstAvailCol;
for (var k=rowIndex; k<rowIndex+rowSpan; k++) {
if(typeof(matrix[k])=="undefined") { matrix[k] = []; }
var matrixrow = matrix[k];
for (var l=firstAvailCol; l<firstAvailCol+colSpan; l++) {
matrixrow[l] = {cell: c, rowIndex: rowIndex};
}
}
}
}
// lets build a little object that has some useful funcitons for this table state.
return {
cellMatrix: matrix,
lookupTable: lookup,
// returns the "Real" column number from a passed in cell
getRealColFromElement: function (cell)
{
var row = cell.parentNode.rowIndex;
var col = cell.cellIndex;
return this.lookupTable[row][col];
},
// returns the "point" to insert at for a square in the perceived row/column
getPointForRowAndColumn: function (row,col)
{
var matrixRow = this.cellMatrix[row];
var ret = 0;
// lets look at the matrix again - this time any row that shouldn't be in this row doesn't count.
for (var i=0; i<col; i++)
{
if (matrixRow[i].rowIndex == row) ret++;
}
return ret;
}
};
}
function scheduleClick(e)
{
if (e.target.className != 'event')
return;
//Get useful info before deletion
var numRows = e.target.rowSpan;
var cellIndex = e.target.cellIndex;
var rowIndex = e.target.parentNode.rowIndex;
var table = e.target.parentNode.parentNode;
var tableState = getTableState(table);
var colIndex = tableState.getRealColFromElement(e.target);
//Deletion
e.target.parentNode.deleteCell(cellIndex);
//Insert empty cells in each row
for(var i = 0; i < numRows; i++)
{
var row = table.rows[rowIndex + i];
row.insertCell(tableState.getPointForRowAndColumn(rowIndex+i, colIndex));
}
}