4 ms·

Show HN: SheetSQL – SQL Engine inside Google Sheet

33 points by zhuxuefeng1994 11y ago

frik 11y ago
We need the WebSQL HTML5 standard - a client side relational database, somewhat comparable to the client side NoSQL offering IndexedDB. Chrome, Safari, Opera and their mobile counterparts have a WebSQL implementation. Absent are Firefox and IE/Edge. There is no technical reason not to implement it.
- gfodor 11y ago
  This was presented at I/O this week: https://github.com/google/lovefield https://github.com/google/lovefield
  - frik 11y ago
    Thanks for the info! It seems Google see the need for it - great. Announcement from Nov 2014: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2014/11/lovefield-powerful-javascript-sql-like_17.html http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2014/11/lovefield-powe... Video of a recent presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRiI4p5Uk4E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRiI4p5Uk4E Lovefield actually uses WebSQL in certain cases: WebSQL backstore shall be considered a gap-stopping patch 18 and will be removed as soon as Apple fixes IndexedDB bugs in Safari. -- https://github.com/google/lovefield/blob/master/lib/backstore/web_sql.js https://github.com/google/lovefield/blob/master/lib/backstor... I wonder why the would remove WebSQL support? Isn't it faster to rely on a native C library in the case of Safari (WebSQL uses SQLite) than riding piggyback an SQL layer on top of IndexedDB on top of SQLite as it is the case in Firefox?
hliyan 11y ago
A slightly different approach to row/column access in Google Sheets: https://github.com/hliyan/magpie/blob/master/lib/gasp.gs https://github.com/hliyan/magpie/blob/master/lib/gasp.gs /** * Returns a sheet if only one parameter is specified else a range * * USAGES * $('sheet1') * $('sheet1', 'A1') * $('sheet1', 1, 2) * $('sheet1', 1, 2, 10, 10); * $.sheet = $('sheet'); * $(1, 2) * $(1, 2, 10, 10) */ I wrote this as a hobby project some time ago.
anewhnaccount 11y ago
Is it possible to make this available via Add-Ons or is the only way to copy paste all the files into the script editor? (Really neat idea by the way -- looking forward to hopefully bring some of my SQL skills to bear on my accounts.)
- zhuxuefeng1994 11y ago
  Thanks for suggestion. I have tried to follow the instruction here https://developers.google.com/apps-script/add-ons/publish https://developers.google.com/apps-script/add-ons/publish to publish SheetSQL as an add-on, but I was stuck at step 4, since I did not see "Deploy as Sheets add-on" the option after I performed the previous steps.
  - anewhnaccount 11y ago
    I'm not sure. I've also tried to publish an add-on but couldn't figure out what any of it meant. Google Drive and Docs seems to be forever changing the way things work and then only rolling out the features to certain people (to do with geography a/b testing)? It makes it kind of confusing tbh.
fiatjaf 11y ago
Anyone reading this can be interested in http://thingiequery.com/ http://thingiequery.com/ which is a new and powerful addon that implements SQL inside Excel.
mistermann 11y ago
It's absolutely ridiculous that this type of functionality isn't a native part of Excel, I was doing something recently in Excel that should have been trivially simple but because of the lack of obviously useful functions like a multi-column VLookup or Match function, the hoops you have to jump through are insane and brittle. One thing I hope changes with Microsoft's seemingly new culture is this deliberate crippling of product functionality so as to not cannibalize revenues from other projects. Another good example is MS-Access - such a highly productive environment, but some fundamental shortcomings in the design make it totally unsuitable for projects beyond a certain size.

frik 11y ago

We need the WebSQL HTML5 standard - a client side relational database, somewhat comparable to the client side NoSQL offering IndexedDB. Chrome, Safari, Opera and their mobile counterparts have a WebSQL implementation. Absent are Firefox and IE/Edge. There is no technical reason not to implement it.

gfodor 11y ago
This was presented at I/O this week: https://github.com/google/lovefield https://github.com/google/lovefield
- frik 11y ago
  Thanks for the info! It seems Google see the need for it - great. Announcement from Nov 2014: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2014/11/lovefield-powerful-javascript-sql-like_17.html http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2014/11/lovefield-powe... Video of a recent presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRiI4p5Uk4E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRiI4p5Uk4E Lovefield actually uses WebSQL in certain cases: WebSQL backstore shall be considered a gap-stopping patch 18 and will be removed as soon as Apple fixes IndexedDB bugs in Safari. -- https://github.com/google/lovefield/blob/master/lib/backstore/web_sql.js https://github.com/google/lovefield/blob/master/lib/backstor... I wonder why the would remove WebSQL support? Isn't it faster to rely on a native C library in the case of Safari (WebSQL uses SQLite) than riding piggyback an SQL layer on top of IndexedDB on top of SQLite as it is the case in Firefox?

hliyan 11y ago

A slightly different approach to row/column access in Google Sheets: https://github.com/hliyan/magpie/blob/master/lib/gasp.gs https://github.com/hliyan/magpie/blob/master/lib/gasp.gs /** * Returns a sheet if only one parameter is specified else a range * * USAGES * $('sheet1') * $('sheet1', 'A1') * $('sheet1', 1, 2) * $('sheet1', 1, 2, 10, 10); * $.sheet = $('sheet'); * $(1, 2) * $(1, 2, 10, 10) */ I wrote this as a hobby project some time ago.

anewhnaccount 11y ago

Is it possible to make this available via Add-Ons or is the only way to copy paste all the files into the script editor? (Really neat idea by the way -- looking forward to hopefully bring some of my SQL skills to bear on my accounts.)

zhuxuefeng1994 11y ago
Thanks for suggestion. I have tried to follow the instruction here https://developers.google.com/apps-script/add-ons/publish https://developers.google.com/apps-script/add-ons/publish to publish SheetSQL as an add-on, but I was stuck at step 4, since I did not see "Deploy as Sheets add-on" the option after I performed the previous steps.
- anewhnaccount 11y ago
  I'm not sure. I've also tried to publish an add-on but couldn't figure out what any of it meant. Google Drive and Docs seems to be forever changing the way things work and then only rolling out the features to certain people (to do with geography a/b testing)? It makes it kind of confusing tbh.

fiatjaf 11y ago

Anyone reading this can be interested in http://thingiequery.com/ http://thingiequery.com/ which is a new and powerful addon that implements SQL inside Excel.

mistermann 11y ago

It's absolutely ridiculous that this type of functionality isn't a native part of Excel, I was doing something recently in Excel that should have been trivially simple but because of the lack of obviously useful functions like a multi-column VLookup or Match function, the hoops you have to jump through are insane and brittle. One thing I hope changes with Microsoft's seemingly new culture is this deliberate crippling of product functionality so as to not cannibalize revenues from other projects. Another good example is MS-Access - such a highly productive environment, but some fundamental shortcomings in the design make it totally unsuitable for projects beyond a certain size.