Google Apps Script – Using Yield

Key in working with Google Apps Script is to handle things in batches. API calls are time consuming and need to be kept at a bare minimum.

Try applying the following:

1. You're trying to retrieve appr. 3000 values by using getValue(). Better is to use the getValues() and add that to an array (all data that is !!). This minimizes API calls by 2999 times; var allData = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getDataRange().getValues().
2. The same is applicable for the setValue(). Here, you can also use setValues() to batch that process and thus minimizing the API calls.

Furthermore, most of the script is basically the same. Why not squeeze that in a standardized piece of code?

References:

• https://developers.google.com/apps-script/overview
• https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/sheets

Better is to prepare a result for a range in stead of dealing with individual cell. When you open the file, it needs to process all the cells individually. This, in the end, evoked the error. Therefore I created the below code.

Code

function catExp_1(range) {
  var output = [], arr = JSON.parse(createArr());
  for(var j=0, jLen=range.length; j<jLen; j++) {
    var result = "Not Sure";
    for(var i=0, iLen=arr.length; i<iLen; i++) {      
      for(var k=0, kLen=arr[i][1].length; k<kLen; k++) {        
        if(range[j][0].indexOf(arr[i][1][k]) != -1) {
          result = arr[i][0];
        }
      }      
    }
    output.push([result]);
  }
  return output;
}

function createArr() {
  // check for availability
  var cache = CacheService.getPublicCache();
  var cached = cache.get("accounts");
  if (cached != null) {  
    return cached;
  }

  // create array
  var arr = [    
    [["5070 - Bank Charges"],["PURCHASE INTEREST", "xxxx"]],
    [["5530 - Postage Expense"],["CPC SCP","xxxx"]],
    [["9999 - xxxxxxx"],["xxxxxxxx"]]
  ];

  // add to cache
  var jsonData = JSON.stringify(arr);
  cache.put("accounts", jsonData, 21000);
  return jsonData;
}

Explained

The first script will create an output array and collect the lookup data. This is either stored in the cache or prepared on the fly (and stored in the cache for the next time). The iteration start with a category Not Sure. If an match is found, then the corresponding value will be push into the output array. Else the Not Sure will be added.

Usage

=catExp_1(B2:B133)

Note

You might want to consider adding the categories, rather than looking them up. This eliminates any delay from the script. You can easily create a menu item that does this.