Accessing Your Secure Data Report in Google Sheets

At Easol, we take data protection seriously. You, as a creator, are the owner of your customer data - which means we cannot create Google Sheets on your behalf if they contain personal data (PII).

Instead, we’ll securely send you a link to access your data, and this guide shows you how to use it with Google Sheets.

🔐 Keep Your Data Safe

• Never share your link publicly or with untrusted parties.

  The link acts as a key to your data - anyone with the link can access, view, or copy your data without your knowledge or consent. This can lead to unauthorised data exposure.

• Only share your sheet with trusted email addresses.

• If you think your link has been compromised, contact us at support@easol.com so we can reset it.

✅ What You’ll Receive

We will provide you with a link to 1password view your secure link.

How it works:

1. Enter your email address.

   

2. You’ll be sent a one time code via email to verify your email address.

   

3. After entering the code you will be given access to the private secure link for your data.

   

⚠️ Important: The secure link can only be viewed once. Make sure to copy and save it somewhere secure (e.g. password manager or encrypted notes app).

🧾 How to View the Data in Google Sheets

Once you have the secure link, follow these steps:

1. Open a new or existing Google Sheet.

2. In cell A1, paste the following formula:

   =IMPORTDATA("YOUR_LINK")
   

   Replace YOUR_LINK with your actual secure link (the one you copied from onetimepassword.com).

   
   
   
   

3. A yellow banner may appear asking for permission to connect to an external service.

   • Click “Allow access”.

   

4. Your data will load automatically into the sheet.

🔁 How to Refresh Your Sheet with New Data

If your report is updated regularly, there are two ways to refresh it:

Option 1: Manual Refresh

1. Copy the formula from A1.
2. Delete the contents of cell A1 and paste the same formula again.
3. This triggers a fresh pull of the latest data.

Option 2: Auto Refresh with Google Apps Script

1. In your Google Sheet, go to Extensions > Apps Script.

   

2. Clear the preloaded code in the editor and replace it with the below:

   function myFunction() {
     SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getRange("'Sheet1'!A1").setValue('=IMPORTDATA("YOUR_LINK&1=' + Utilities.getUuid() + '")');
   }
   

   Replace "YOUR_LINK" with your secure link.

   

3. You can rename your project by clicking on Untitled project

   

4. Click Save.

   

5. Click the ▶️ Run button to execute the script.

   

6. If prompted, review and allow permissions.

   

🔄 Set It to Auto-Refresh

To automate this refresh:

1. In the script editor, go to Triggers:

   • Click the clock icon.

   

2. Click + Add Trigger in the bottom right hand corner

   

3. Add a new trigger:

   • Choose function to run: myFunction

   • Select event source: Time-driven

   • Select type of time-based trigger: Choose how often you’d like the report to refresh (e.g. every day).

     Based on your selection, you may be asked to configure additional settings:

     • Select day of the week (e.g. Monday)
     • Select time of day (e.g. Midnight to 1am)
     • Select hour interval (e.g. Every hour)
     • Select minute interval (e.g. Every 10 minutes)

   • Failure notification settings: Choose how often you'd like to be notified if the report fails to update. In most cases, these errors are temporary and the report will run successfully on the next scheduled attempt. (e.g. "Notify me weekly")

4. Save the trigger.

Your Google Sheet will now update itself on the schedule you choose!

⚠️ Please note: Your sheet will only show new data if the original report has been updated. Increasing the refresh frequency won’t make a difference if the data itself is only refreshed by Easol (e.g. once per week). If you're unsure how often your report updates, feel free to contact support@easol.com.

⚙️Troubleshooting: “Resource at URL contents exceeded maximum value”

If your Google Sheet shows the error “Resource at URL contents exceeded maximum value”, it usually means the IMPORTDATA() formula has hit a Google Sheets limit when trying to pull a large CSV.

You can work around this by using Apps Script to fetch the CSV directly and write the values into your sheet.

Fix it with Apps Script

1. In your Google Sheet, go to Extensions → Apps Script.

2. Clear any prefilled code, then paste the following:

function myFunction() {
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName('Sheet1'); // ← change if your tab has a different name
  const url = 'YOUR_LINK'; // ← replace with your secure CSV link
  const csv = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url);
  const data = Utilities.parseCsv(csv);
  sheet.getRange(1, 1, data.length, data[0].length).setValues(data);
}

3. Replace:

   • 'Sheet1' with the exact name of your worksheet tab.

   • 'YOUR_LINK' with your secure report link.

4. Click Save, then Run ▶️ myFunction.

   • The first run may prompt you to Review permissions - approve to continue.

If you have any issues or questions, just reach out to support@easol.com and we’ll be happy to help.