如何使用单元格值搜索行索引

Question

I am using google spreadsheet API v4 for java.

My Spreadsheet looks something like this -

    User    Message       Time
--------------------------------

    User1    My Message    10:30
    User2    User2 msg     3:40
    User3    User3 msg     1:30
    User2    User2 msg       
    User4    User4 msg     4:00 

I want to find row index with User 'User2' and Time bank (empty value). After that, I would like to use this row index to add time value in that row. Is it possible to search row by cell values without knowing range or index?

In above example, it should return me only second last row index as it matches to the criteria (User='User2' and Time=''). or even better, is there any find and replace API, which will find row criteria (User='User2' and Time='') and replace Time value from '' to '3:30'?

I went through google docs, but could not find one according to my need. Thanks.

Edit:

I found a formula to find cell address which needs to be updated.

=ADDRESS(MATCH("User2",A1:A4000),3)

For example used in this question, this formula will return '$C$4' address, which is expected. I tested this by evaluating this formula in spreadsheet manually. Is there any way using Google spreadsheet API V4 to evaluate this formula using Java code?

Answer 1

I think you'd want to use a combination of lookup functions: https://support.google.com/docs/topic/3105472?hl=en&ref_topic=3046366

In particular, MATCH lets you get a position offset of the value you want in a range, so you could get the offset of the cells in column1 containing values 'User2', and OFFSET could let you check the value in the cell 2 columns to the right of the found cell, which would give you the value in the Time column to compare with. Since then you'd also have the cell coordiates of the thing checked, you could then assign a new value. These lookup functions allow you to find the range or index that you need for the rest.

This just gives you a handy way to have certain values precomputed for your other functions so that your script can get direct access to values output by the sheets builtin functions. It saves having to have your sheets script sort through a range for a value, but the logic is the same. 1) Get range for Column1 2) Search range of Column1 for value 'User2' 3) If matched, check offset(0,2) to get the cell reference 2 spaces to the right and ask for its cell reference. 4) If that reference is empty, assign it a timestamp.

If you want the code for this, it'll take me a bit longer to put together.