Google Apps Script Trigger Addon

Question

The new Google Spreadsheets have add-ons like Google Analytics. They can generate an report using the GA API. Now I need to programmatically trigger this add-on function. However the add-on is not a script with functions, but a black box it seems. There are scheduleable triggers to run my own defined functions, but I see no way to talk to the add-on and start the "get data" function it provides to the user (within the Spreadsheet UI). Is there any way to run the add-on on a scheduled basis?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, I don't think so.

If methods in an add-on could be called programmatically, that add-on would be published as a Library. I did some digging and found the key of the Google Analytics add-on ("M6DHyOggPdtxTHKxmzonxqGg3No8Xsi1r"), tried to add it, and got the error:

A workaround might be to programmatically emulate a click on the appropriate menu item, but I don't believe that is currently supported by Apps Scripts.