Google Sheets
Google Sheets is a Web-based application that allows users to create, update and modify spreadsheets and share the data live online.
Features
| Feature Name | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Capture Deletes | check | All tables and fields |
| Custom Data | check | All tables and fields |
| Data Blocking | ||
| Column Hashing | ||
| Re-sync | check | Connector level. This connector supports only one table |
| History | ||
| API Configurable | ||
| Priority-first sync |
Setup guide
Follow our step-by-step Google Sheets setup guide to connect Google Sheets with your destination using Fivetran connectors.
Sync overview
After being authenticated, Fivetran connects to your Google Sheet, pulls the data from the designated named range, then creates a matching table in your destination and loads its corresponding initial data. Fivetran then continues to check and sync changes to the named range on the update frequency that you specify in the Fivetran UI.
The Google Sheets connector is great for manually updating tables in your destination. Its easy to share with your entire team so that you can have lots of contributors.
Schema information
The schema maps directly from the named range in your sheet. Each Google Sheets connector maps one named range to a table in the schema that you designate. Each column of the named range will map to a column in its target table.
We ignore the _fivetran_synced column because we use that name for the system column that keeps track of when each row was last successfully synced.
Naming
If you change the name of your named range the connector will break and you will need to edit the setup form with the new named range.
Note: The name of the workbook or the sheets do not affect your target tables.
Type transformations and mapping
On the initial load, Fivetran parses all the data in each column and automatically assigns the appropriate type for the column.
When the connector updates, Fivetran will rescan all of the data in the sheet, and update the column types if value is found with a wider type. If a widening change is made, Fivetran will NOT make any narrowing changes. For example, if you have a column of integers it will be cast as a integer in the destination. If you accidentally add a string to the column and the integration is updated, Fivetran will widen the entire column in your target table to now be TEXT.
This widening behavior can be disruptive to your analytics if mistakes are made (which is easy to do in spreadsheets). A strategy to prevent this is to create a VIEW of your table in your destination where you cast every column to TEXT, then you create a second VIEW on top of the first VIEW, where you cast each column to the final type that you want it to be. In this case, an incorrect value will be nullified.
Changes to your sheet
If you change the name of the sheet or tab, it will not affect the named range.
Initial sync
Syncs all data in the chosen named range.
Updating data
Fivetran will check for updates to the spreadsheet on the interval that you select in the Fivetran UI.
Deleted data
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When a row is deleted from the source it will be deleted from the destination.
-
When a row is blank in the source a null is inserted in the destination.
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When a column is removed from the named range: a) the column will stop syncing and, b) the column will not be dropped in the destination.
Excluding data
Columns with a title that is left empty or contains only spaces (the first cell of the column) are ignored. This can be used to ignore particular columns on purpose.