Google Sheets - Add to Certain Value Based on Background Color

Question

I've tried making a Google Apps Script, but I was having trouble trying to understand how to set it up. From this it seems like I can create a function that I can call inside the spreadsheet itself like the SUM function provided by Google Sheets. I've taken a look at the getBackground() function, but it seems like it needs some global variables included instead of just functions.

Here's my current spreadsheet:

I want to input a function where it takes in the ranges A2:A1000 and based on the background color of the cell, determine whether it goes into "Work" or "Life" and then adds it onto the cells E4 (Total Work) or F4 (Total Life) accordingly. The cells in column A will always be numbers.

Here's what I've tried, I think I may be off the path completely based off of my single cell approach:

function workTime(input) {
  if (input.getBackground() == "#d9ead3") {
    input.setFontColor(4285f4)
  } else {
    input.setFontColor(null)
  }
}
//I get errors on line 3 for some reason though...

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TL;DR Based on the background colors of the cells, how do I create a function that calculates the sum of the numbers in those specific colors and displays them in different cells under the "Total Work Time" and "Total Life Time" accordingly?

Answer 1

The "custom formula" approach is very limited

The only input you'll get into the custom formulae are the values , not the cell object. The function that is running the formula will never know about its location or formatting. It receives a value or an array of values, and returns a value or am array of values.

Apps Script version

function workTime2() {
  let file = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
  let sheet = file.getSheetByName("Sheet1");
  let range = sheet.getRange('A1:A16');
  let targetColor = "#00ffff"
  let values = range.getValues(); // [[1],[2],[3]...]
  let colors = range.getBackgrounds(); // [[#ffffff],[#00ffff],[#ffffff]...]

  let sum = 0
  for (let i = 1; i != values.length; i++){ // starting at 1 to skip first row
    let value = values[i][0]
    let color = colors[i][0]
    if (color == targetColor) {
      sum += value
    }
  }

  let resultCell = sheet.getRange('B2');
  resultCell.setValue(sum);
}

This script will sum the values in A1:A16 if they are turquoise. Putting the sum in B2.

This is a way to get a sum based of a cell value. This should give you a good starting point to customize to your liking.

Reference

• getRange(a1Notation)
• getValues()
• getBackgrounds()
• setValue(value)