When a “new” Digital.Grinnell or CollectionBuilder object is cataloged for the first time, we need to give it a universally unique identifier, probably as dc:identifier or in CollectionBuilder terms, an objectid. One way to do that is to introduce a Google Sheets App Script in our metadata worksheet. The following is based on a modified form of the technique that’s documented in How To Create Static Timestamps in Google Sheets.

The aforementioned YouTube video shows us how to add a Google Sheets App Script to a Google Sheet. In our case that App Script, named dg_timestamp, looks like this:

function onEdit(e){
  var range = e.range;
  if (range.getColumn() == 2) {
    var timestampCell = range.offset(0, -1);
    var existingID = timestampCell.getValue();
    if (!existingID | existingID.length === 0) {
      var t = new Date();
      timestampCell.setValue("dg_" + (t.getTime() - t.getMilliseconds()) / 1000);
    }
  }
}

This script assumes that our “timestampCell” will be in column A, the FIRST column, and performing an edit in column B, the SECOND column, will trigger the “timestampCell” to be populated with a static/permanent identifier as described above.

Adding and Managing the dg_timestamp Script

As the video says, you can add or manage an App Script by selecting the Extensions menu in your Google Sheet, and then select App Script from the drop-down menu.

That’s all folks… until next time (or should I say “timestamp”). 😄