How Do You Generate List On "Sheet A" from Data on "Sheet B" in Google Sheets Using a Script

Question

I have a list of roughly 3,000 First Names, Last Names, and other items on a sheet in Google Sheets. The name of that sheet is "Database." (link below).

I want to create a script that takes 100 random entries from each column in "Database" and populates cells on another sheet called, "Results."

So, basically, Col 1 on "Results" would take 100 random results from Col 1 in "Database." Col 2 in "Results" would take 100 random results from Col 2 in "Database." So on and so forth. Ideally, this can be regenerated by assigning a script to a button on the sheet as opposed to using a formula that will create new results every time an action is performed.

Ultimately, I'll end up having about 10 columns or so, but I'm using test data for now just to get the structure built. Here's a link to the test document I'm using...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qOgZxLtl8ruQHUDMkIjCNdXV3Jy5eOv0dC5DkLEpB8w/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks so much for the help!

Answer 1

You can try this:

Pre-requisite: LodashGS Library should be added in your project

//Load LodashGS:
var _ = LodashGS.load();

function myFunction() {
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
  var resultSheet = ss.getSheetByName("Results");
  var dBSheet = ss.getSheetByName("Database");

  //Loop all columns in Database Sheet
  for (var col = 1; col <= dBSheet.getLastColumn() ; col++){

    //Generate an array of unique numbers from 2 to the last row number of the Database Sheet
    const uniqRandomNumbers  = _.sampleSize(_.range(2,dBSheet.getLastRow() + 1), 100);
    Logger.log(uniqRandomNumbers);

    var rowValues = [];
    //Get the cell value based on the uniqRandomNumbers as row index, create a 2-d array of row values
    uniqRandomNumbers.forEach(row=>{rowValues.push([dBSheet.getRange(row,col).getValue()]);});

    //Write the row values into the Results Sheet with 100 row entries
    resultSheet.getRange(2,col,100).setValues(rowValues);
    Logger.log(rowValues);
  }

}

What it does? (This is done for each column)

1. Generate an array of unique numbers from the range provided in _.range() . We will use this unique array numbers as row indexes.

2. Get the cell value based on the unique array numbers generated in Step1, and create a 2-d array of row values.

3. Write the 2-d array of row values into the Results Sheet using .setValues()

Sample Output:

Additional References:

Creating array of length n with random numbers in JavaScript