Get array values from column

Question

If my function gets the values of one column, say column I, how can I tell it to instead get the values of the column to the right (J) instead of I:K?

function headerSearch(e, activeCell, activeRow, activeCol, data, mode, secMode, terMode) {
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
  var foundValues = [];
  var forConR = data.length;
  var forConC = data[0].length;
  Logger.log("data[0] = " + data[0]);

  for (var i = 1; i < forConR; i++) {
    for (var j = 0; j < forConC; j++) {
      if (activeCell != "" && activeCol == 2 && data[0][j].indexOf(mode) > -1) {
        if (activeCell.getValue() == data[0][j]) {
          foundValues.push(data[i][j]);
        }
      } else if (activeCell != "" && activeCol == 3 && data[0][j].indexOf(mode) > -1 && data[i][j] != "") {
        foundValues.push(data[i][j]);
        Logger.log("foundValues = " + foundValues);
      }
    }
  }
  if (foundValues != "") {
    var validationRule = SpreadsheetApp.newDataValidation().requireValueInList(foundValues).build();
    activeCell.offset(0, 1).setDataValidation(validationRule);
  }
}

EDIT:

I tried adding foundValues.push(data[i][j+1]); which gets me out of the first column (I), but then of course adds the NEXT column (L) that I don't want either. I'm just not sure how to isolate the column index. Once I figure that out, I'm sure it's just a matter of adding +1 or something to OFFSET to the column to the right.

Answer 1

You have two for loops - one of them iterating through all rows, the second through all columns of data

• What you want instead is to retrieve only ONE column of data rather than iterating through ALL of them
• You can do it by simply dropping the second for loop and instead hardcoding the value for j
• If you are itnerested in the second column of your range - the column index should be 1 (since array indices start with 0 )
• Without having a deeper knowledge of the purpose of your if conditions and assuming that you use them only to assess the value in column J, you can modify your code as following:

...
for (var i = 1; i < forConR; i++) {
  var j = 1;
  if (activeCell != "" && activeCol == 2 && data[0][j].indexOf(mode) > -1) {
    if (activeCell.getValue() == data[0][j]) {
      foundValues.push(data[i][j]);
    }
  } else if (activeCell != "" && activeCol == 3 && data[0][j].indexOf(mode) > -1 && data[i][j] != "") {
    foundValues.push(data[i][j]);
    Logger.log("foundValues = " + foundValues);
  } 
}
...

Answer 2

I rearranged my if statements and added one to isolate the "mode" column (B) selected. At that point, I could add j + 1 to get the following column values for the next data validation selection.

function headerSearch(e, activeCell, activeRow, activeCol, data, mode, secMode, terMode) {
  var foundValues = [];
  var forConR = data.length;
  var forConC = data[0].length;
  if (activeCell != "") {
    for (var i = 1; i < forConR; i++) {
      for (var j = 0; j < forConC; j++) {
        if (data[0][j] == mode && data[i][j] != "") {
          var modeCol = j;
        }
        if (activeCol == 2 && data[i][j] != "") {
          if (activeCell.getValue() == data[0][j]) {
            foundValues.push(data[i][j]);
          }
        } else if (activeCol == 3 && data[0][j].indexOf(mode) > -1 && data[i][j] != "" && data[0][modeCol + 1].indexOf(mode) > -1) {
          foundValues.push(data[i][modeCol + 1]);
        } else if (activeCol == 4 && data[0][j].indexOf(mode) > -1 && data[i][j] != "" && data[0][modeCol + 2].indexOf(mode) > -1) {
          foundValues.push(data[i][modeCol + 2]);
        }
      }
    }
  }
  if (foundValues != "") {
    var validationRule = SpreadsheetApp.newDataValidation().requireValueInList(foundValues).build();
    activeCell.offset(0, 1).setDataValidation(validationRule);
  }
}