Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google Adds Scripting Capabilities To Google Docs

Posted by Soulskill on from the scripted-dialogue dept.

snydeq writes "Google will add scripting capabilities to Google Docs, allowing organizations to customize their online applications and automate tasks. Google plans to sign up about 1,000 customers over the next few weeks to test the feature, called Google Apps Script. It will be tested initially in Google Spreadsheets and extended to other Google Docs applications over time. The company isn't saying yet when Apps Script — which is based on JavaScript with object-based extensions added by Google — will be widely available. Google Docs users can already apply to try it out."

5 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Who cares about Google Docs anymore? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    ...but because it would be under the control of a single corporation, this could well be argued to be a bad thing, for obvious reasons.

    Actually, Google Wave is an open protocol and and open platform, and multiple Wave servers can communicate with each other, so it wouldn't have to all be under the control of a single corporation. That's one of the things about Google Wave which I find quite exciting.

  2. Takes me back... by Koiu+Lpoi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I seem to remember that programmability was the exact reason so many security experts despised the MS Office Suite. How long until the first Google Docs based malware installation?

  3. Do not want by Dynamoo · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The interwebs is already under assault from script-borne malware in PDFs, Flash, QuickTime and of course Microsoft Office has always been widely exploited in the past. Take, for example, Javascript support in Adobe Acrobat.. who uses it? When we turned support off for 5000 users exactly *zero* people noticed. It seems that these things are only of use to the Bad Guys.

    Imagine the fun they will have with docs scripting combined with the wonderful world of XSS attacks. What could possibly go wrong?

    --
    Never email donotemail@WeAreSpammers.com
    1. Re:Do not want by oneirophrenos · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So Google shouldn't add new functionality to their applications because it might be abused?

      I think the poster was against adding unnecessary functionalities. They shouldn't add new stuff just because it's new, and we shouldn't accept it unless it's relevant and useful.

  4. Re:Who cares about Google Docs anymore? by Philip_the_physicist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Remember, the reason not every tool is a hammer is because not every problem is a nail. Google are doing a good job of remembering the key Unix design philosiphy: "Do one thing, do it right, and make sure you can talk to everything else". Each of their apps is fairly self contained, and yet can be tied together with their APIs. Thus, it seems likely that wave, along with everything else, will be useable as a data source for Docs macros, once the API is complete.