Tag Archives: Google Apps

Introducing the Slides API Codelab

Posted by Grant Timmerman, (@granttimmerman), Developer Platform Engineer, G Suite

Last fall, we launched the Google Slides API. Since then, partners, developers and others have been building apps and tools to programmatically create slides that work across desktop and mobile, like the ever popular md2googleslides.

We recently released the Slides API Codelab, which walks you through an example of using Google’s BigQuery and Slide APIs to analyze 3.5 million repositories and create a “Top 10 OSS licenses” presentation. The codelab is a great exercise for learning the Slides API, especially if you have an interest in big data, automating the creation of presentations or open source.
Preview of our Slides Codelab

Getting started with the Slides API Codelab 

To get started, clone the repo. After running the starter script, you’ll find that creating a presentation is divided up into contained steps. These “TODOs” are shown when running the sample app in the start directory. 
-- Start generating slides. --
TODO: Get Client Secrets
TODO: Authorize
TODO: Get Data from BigQuery
TODO: Create Slides
TODO: Open Slides
-- Finished generating slides. --

To query GitHub, BigQuery has a public dataset all ready just for you! BigQuery allows you to query massive datasets on Google’s infrastructure in seconds. On bigquery.cloud.google.com, you can explore BigQuery’s public datasets or upload your own. In this codelab, we’re interested in open source licenses, so we'll query public repos on GitHub and grab their licenses. 
WITH AllLicenses AS (
  SELECT * FROM `bigquery-public-data.github_repos.licenses`
)
SELECT
  license,
  COUNT(*) AS count,
  ROUND((COUNT(*) / (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM AllLicenses)) * 100, 2) AS percent
FROM `bigquery-public-data.github_repos.licenses`
GROUP BY license
ORDER BY count DESC
LIMIT 10
Our GitHub Open Source Licenses Query
With an infinite number of public and private datasets out there, imagine all the data you can analyze with BigQuery and all the slide decks you can auto-generate with the Google Slides API! The goal of the Slides API Codelab is to get you up-to-speed quickly using both. For issues or questions regarding the Slides API or this codelab, ask us a question on GitHub or Stack Overflow.

We can't wait to see what you build.

What’s new for shortcuts and widgets in Android O

Posted by Gloria Liou, Associate Product Manager Intern


Why use shortcuts and widgets?


One of our favorite features in Android O is the ability to pin shortcuts and widgets for your app onto the launcher through deep linking.


Shortcuts let users quickly start a specific task, while widgets give users instant access to specific actions and information from your app. Users want to get things done, and get things done fast - shortcuts and widgets are a way to help them and to increase user engagement with your content.

To pin a shortcut or widget, users long press your app's icon for options and drag and drop the selected item to a location of their choice.


Dynamic / static shortcuts
Pinned shortcuts






Adding shortcuts and widgets from within your app




 The API has a new flow for adding shortcuts and widgets from within your app. The new method uses a modal dialog, deprecating the old method of using a broadcast, which will not work on O devices.

That's not all. We've made improvements to the user interface and experience. In the old experience, there was no app icon on the shortcut, so users had no idea which app the shortcut was from. Marking shortcuts with the app icon provides better branding while protecting users from potential malware.





Old shortcut
New shortcut



There is also a new option to add a specialized activity to help users create shortcuts. The activity is complete with custom options and confirmation.



With these new additions and improvements, users will be more likely to use your shortcuts and widgets, leading to more meaningful and impactful engagement with your app and happier, more productive users.

To learn more, head over to the shortcuts and widgets page on the Android Developers website.


New security protections to reduce risk from unverified apps

Posted by Naveen Agarwal, Identity team and Wesley Chun (@wescpy), Developer Advocate, G Suite

We’re constantly working to secure our users and their data. Earlier this year, we detailed some of our latest anti-phishing tools and rolled-out developer-focused updates to our app publishing processes, risk assessment systems, and user-facing consent pages. Most recently, we introduced OAuth apps whitelisting in G Suite to enable admins to choose exactly which third-party apps can access user data.

Over the past few months, we’ve required that some new web applications go through a verification process prior to launch based upon a dynamic risk assessment.

Today, we’re expanding upon that foundation, and introducing additional protections: bolder warnings to inform users about newly created web apps and Apps Scripts that are pending verification. Additionally, the changes we're making will improve the developer experience. In the coming months, we will begin expanding the verification process and the new warnings to existing apps as well.

Protecting against unverified apps 

Beginning today, we’re rolling out an “unverified app” screen for newly created web applications and Apps Scripts that require verification. This new screen replaces the “error” page that developers and users of unverified web apps receive today.

The “unverified app” screen precedes the permissions consent screen for the app and lets potential users know that the app has yet to be verified. This will help reduce the risk of user data being phished by bad actors.

The "unverified app" consent flow

This new notice will also help developers test their apps more easily. Since users can choose to acknowledge the ‘unverified app’ alert, developers can now test their applications without having to go through the OAuth client verification process first (see our earlier post for details).

Developers can follow the steps laid out in this help center article to begin the verification process to remove the interstitial and prepare your app for launch.

Extending security protections to Google Apps Script 

We’re also extending these same protections to Apps Script. Beginning this week, new Apps Scripts requesting OAuth access to data from consumers or from users in other domains may also see the "unverified app" screen. For more information about how these changes affect Apps Script developers and users, see the verification documentation page.

Apps Script is proactively protecting users from abusive apps in other ways as well. Users will see new cautionary language reminding them to “consider whether you trust” an application before granting OAuth access, as well as a banner identifying web pages and forms created by other users.
Updated Apps Script pre-OAuth alert with cautionary language
Apps Script user-generated content banner

Extending protections to existing apps 

In the coming months, we will continue to enhance user protections by extending the verification process beyond newly created apps, to existing apps as well. As a part of this expansion, developers of some current apps may be required to go through the verification flow.

To help ensure a smooth transition, we recommend developers verify that their contact information is up-to-date. In the Google Cloud Console, developers should ensure that the appropriate and monitored accounts are granted either the project owner or billing account admin IAM role. For help with granting IAM roles, see this help center article.

In the API manager, developers should ensure that their OAuth consent screen configuration is accurate and up-to-date. For help with configuring the consent screen, see this help center article. 

We’re committed to fostering a healthy ecosystem for both users and developers. These new notices will inform users automatically if they may be at risk, enabling them to make informed decisions to keep their information safe, and will make it easier to test and develop apps for developers.

Identifying app usage in your Google Drive audit logs

Posted by Rio Akasaka, Product Manager, Google Drive and Wesley Chun (@wescpy), Developer Advocate, G Suite

If you’re a G Suite admin (or a developer creating apps for admins), it’s important to understand the various applications your company’s employees are using and how they’re accessing them. Today, we’re making that easier by introducing app identification (i.e. originating_app_id) in the Google Drive audit logs within the Admin SDK Reports API.

Now, your apps will be able to determine whether an activity logged was performed by a user in the Drive Android app, Drive iOS app, Google Chrome, or through a variety of other third-party apps that leverage, modify or create files within Google Drive, like Smartsheet or Asana. This will give you a better sense of the apps being used in your organization, as well as the extent and context of that usage.

Note that App IDs that show up in the logs will be numeric. Should you want to retrieve app names, a separate request using the Google Drive REST API is needed. If you already retrieve information through the Drive activity request, you should start seeing the originating_app_ids show up in your logs. Here are a pair of HTTP requests you can use to query this information:

GET 
https://www.googleapis.com/admin/reports/v1/activity/users/userKey

Or
GET 
https://www.googleapis.com/admin/reports/v1/activity/users/all/applications/drive

To learn more about this new feature, take a look at the documentation, then integrate into your code so you and other G Suite admins can gain a better understanding of app usage in your domain(s). We look forward to seeing what you build!

Google People API now supports updates to Contacts and Contact Groups

Posted by Amos Yuen, Software Engineer, and Wesley Chun (@wescpy), Developer Advocate, G Suite

Starting today, the Google People API will get new endpoints for contacts and contact groups. Last year, we launched the Google People API with read-only endpoints with plans to eventually replace the old Contacts API. We’re one step closer to that goal by adding write endpoints that allow developers to create, delete and update a single contact. In addition, there are new contact group endpoints that allow developers to read and write contact groups.

Applications need to be authorized to access the API so to get started, you will need to create a project on the Google Developers Console with the People API enabled to get access to the service. All of the steps to do so are here. If you’re new to the Google APIs and/or the Developers Console, check out this video, the first in a series of videos to help you get up-to-speed.


Once you’re authorized, you can simply create new contacts like this (using the Google APIs Client Library for Java):
Person contactToCreate = new Person();

List names = new ArrayList<>();
names.add(new Name().setGivenName("John").setFamilyName("Doe"));
contactToCreate.setNames(names);

Person createdContact =
    peopleService.people().createContact(contactToCreate).execute();

The scope your app needs to authorize with is https://www.googleapis.com/auth/contacts. Full documentation on the people.create method is available here. You can update an existing contact like this:

String resourceName = "people/c12345"; // existing contact resource name
Person contactToUpdate = peopleService.people().get(resourceName)
    .setPersonFields("names,emailAddresses")
    .execute();

List emailAddresses = new ArrayList<>();
emailAddresses.add(new EmailAddress().setValue("[email protected]"));
contactToUpdate.setEmailAddresses(emailAddresses);

Person updatedContact = peopleService.people().updateContact(contactToUpdate)
    .setUpdatePersonFields("emailAddresses")
    .execute();

Full documentation on the people.update  method is available here. We look forward to seeing what you can do with these new features allowing you to modify contacts. To learn more about the People API, check out the official documentation here.

Modifying events with the Google Calendar API

Originally posted by Wesley Chun (@wescpy), Developer Advocate, G Suite, on the G Suite Developers Blog.

You might be using the Google Calendar API, or alternatively email markup, to insert events into your users' calendars. Thankfully, these tools allow your apps to do this seamlessly and automatically, which saves your users a lot of time. But what happens if plans change? You need your apps to also be able to modify an event.

While email markup does support this update, it's limited in what it can do, so in today's video, we'll show you how to modify events with the Calendar API. We'll also show you how to create repeating events. Check it out:

Imagine a potential customer being interested in your product, so you set up one or two meetings with them. As their interest grows, they request regularly-scheduled syncs as your product makes their short list—your CRM should be able to make these adjustments in your calendar without much work on your part. Similarly, a "dinner with friends" event can go from a "rain check" to a bi-monthly dining experience with friends you've grown closer to. Both of these events can be updated with a JSON request payload like what you see below to adjust the date and make it repeating: 

    
var TIMEZONE = "America/Los_Angeles";
var EVENT = {
    "start": {"dateTime": "2017-07-01T19:00:00", "timeZone": TIMEZONE},
    "end":   {"dateTime": "2017-07-01T22:00:00", "timeZone": TIMEZONE},
    "recurrence": ["RRULE:FREQ=MONTHLY;INTERVAL=2;UNTIL=20171231"]
};

This event can then be updated with a single call to the Calendar API's events().patch() method, which in Python would look like the following given the request data above, GCAL as the API service endpoint, and a valid EVENT_ID to update: 


    
GCAL.events().patch(calendarId='primary', eventId=EVENT_ID,
    sendNotifications=True, body=EVENT).execute()

If you want to dive deeper into the code sample, check out this blog post. Also, if you missed it, check out this video that shows how you can insert events into Google Calendar as well as the official API documentation. Finally, if you have a Google Apps Script app, you can access Google Calendar programmatically with its Calendar service.

We hope you can use this information to enhance your apps to give your users an even better and timely experience.

Modifying events with the Google Calendar API

Posted by Wesley Chun (@wescpy), Developer Advocate, G Suite

You might be using the Google Calendar API, or alternatively email markup, to insert events into your users’ calendars. Thankfully, these tools allow your apps to do this seamlessly and automatically, which saves your users a lot of time. But what happens if plans change? You need your apps to also be able to modify an event.

While email markup does support this update, it’s limited in what it can do, so in today’s video, we’ll show you how to modify events with the Calendar API. We’ll also show you how to create repeating events. Check it out:

Imagine a potential customer being interested in your product, so you set up one or two meetings with them. As their interest grows, they request regularly-scheduled syncs as your product makes their short list—your CRM should be able to make these adjustments in your calendar without much work on your part. Similarly, a “dinner with friends” event can go from a “rain check” to a bi-monthly dining experience with friends you’ve grown closer to. Both of these events can be updated with a JSON request payload like what you see below to adjust the date and make it repeating:
var TIMEZONE = "America/Los_Angeles";
var EVENT = {
    "start": {"dateTime": "2017-07-01T19:00:00", "timeZone": TIMEZONE},
    "end":   {"dateTime": "2017-07-01T22:00:00", "timeZone": TIMEZONE},
    "recurrence": ["RRULE:FREQ=MONTHLY;INTERVAL=2;UNTIL=20171231"]
};

This event can then be updated with a single call to the Calendar API’s events().patch() method, which in Python would look like the following given the request data above, GCAL as the API service endpoint, and a valid EVENT_ID to update:
GCAL.events().patch(calendarId='primary', eventId=EVENT_ID,
    sendNotifications=True, body=EVENT).execute()

If you missed it, check out this video that shows how you can insert events into Google Calendar as well as the official API documentation. Also, if you have a Google Apps Script app, you can programmatically access Google Calendar with its Calendar service.

We hope you can use this information to enhance your apps to give your users an even better and timely experience.

Introducing Team Drives for developers

Originally posted by Hodie Meyers, Product Manager, Google Drive, and Wesley Chun (@wescpy), Developer Advocate, G Suite on the G Suite Developers Blog

Enterprises are always looking for ways to operate more efficiently, and equipping developers with the right tools can make a difference. We launched Team Drives this year to bring the best of what users love about Drive to enterprise teams. We also updated the Google Drive API, so that developers can leverage Team Drives in the apps they build.

In this latest G Suite Dev Show video, we cover how you can leverage the functionality of Team Drives in your apps. The good news is you don't have to learn a completely new API—Team Drives features are built into the Drive API so you can build on what you already know. Check it out:

By the end of this video, you'll be familiar with four basic operations to help you build Team Drives functionality right into your apps:

  1. How to create Team Drives
  2. How to add members/users to your Team Drives
  3. How to create folders in Team Drives (just like creating a regular Drive folder)
  4. How to upload/import files to Team Drives folders (just like uploading files to regular folders)

Want to explore the code further? Check out the deep dive blog post. In all, the Drive API can help a variety of developers create solutions that work with both Google Drive and Team Drives. Whether you're an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), System Integrator (SI) or work in IT, there are many ways to use the Drive API to enhance productivity, help your company migrate to G Suite, or build tools to automate workflows.

Team Drives features are available in both Drive API v2 and v3, and more details can be found in the Drive API documentation. We look forward to seeing what you build with Team Drives!

From the courtly fashions of Versailles to the unmatched elegance of the Saree: 3000 years of fashion brought to you in a new, immersive way


What we wear tells a lot about our social identity, our customs, our habits and where we come from. It's appropriate to say that we don’t just wear clothes – we wear our culture!

Highlighting this very aspect, we at Google Arts & Culture have launched an exciting new project “We wear culture” that showcases 3000 years of fashion from across 42 countries in partnership with 183 world famous museums, fashion councils and universities. Using state of the art technology, including Virtual Reality, 360º videos and Gigapixel images, the platform enables unique online access to historic and contemporary stories that decode the various aspects of fashion for everyone. The stories, photos, videos and VR experiences will appeal to all those who are curious about its various intersections with music, pop culture, dance, technology,  economics and so much more.

So if you want to know more about the ancient Silk Road, or the courtly fashions of Versailles, to how the Vivienne Westwood Corset came to be reconceived as a symbol for sexual empowerment, or the origin of the British punk or the stories behind the clothes you wear today, it’s all there at g.co/wewearculture. Perhaps you’re looking for more? You can explore even the Iconic pieces that changed the way generations dressed, be it Marilyn Monroe’s famous Ruby Slipper by Salvatore Ferragamo or the Black Dress by Chanel. It’s there for you to explore,  at your fingertips and at your leisure.

           



Vivienne Westwood Corset courtesy Victoria & Albert Museum; Ruby Slipper of Marilyn Monroe courtesy Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

The Richness and diversity of Indian Fashion has always been marked by its distinctive and varied craftsmanship, it’s fabrics, the weaves, the natural dyes and vibrant colours as well as the classic Indian drape - the iconic Indian Saree. It would be apt to say that the most versatile garment in the world, the saree, is referenced the world over and worn by millions of women on a daily basis.

To celebrate the rich history of this iconic nine yards, Border & Fall in The Sari Project  have explored 60 regional draping styles. You can also view in detail the varied weaves from across India, from Gharchola to  Patola to Temple to Ikat sarees or trace the story and importance of Indian textiles from ancient sculptures, to heirloom textiles and how events such as Gandhi’s Khadi Movement influenced the craftsmanship from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS). Available online from the CSMVS collection are the heirloom sarees of the Tagore family and that of Homi J. Bhabha’s family.
Various sari drapes courtesy Border&Fall

Of the people, of the land. There is plenty of regional textile and fashion heritage to be discovered. You can revisit the colonial Indian fashion with Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, and trace the story of the history and impact of cotton in early trade of textiles. Then there are the designs from north-eastern India including the weaves of tribes such as the Nagas, Meitis and the traditional attire from Meghalaya called ‘Dhara’ or ‘Nara’ worn by the Khasi women during special occasions, made up of costly Mulberry and Eri silk yarn.  From down south, view Salar Jung Museum’s exhibits capturing the dress and fashion of royal attires of the Nizams from 19th century Hyderabad (part of Deccan region). Revisit the art of Brocades, Patola and Baluchari with a special exhibit by Museum of Art and Photography.





Navjote ceremony coat of Cursetjee Vakil courtesy CSMVS; Ethnographic documentation of drape styles courtesy CSMVS; Salar Jung III in a sherwani courtesy Salar Jung Museum

The SEWA Hansiba Museum in Randhapur is completely owned and managed by rural women artisans. The museum contains heirlooms by the local communities, such as the Ahir, Rabari and Harijan. The local skilling has helped bond stronger communities, and top fashion designers are now approaching them for fashion sampling. Flamboyant stitches to regional exchanges, the women are building economic security for themselves.


If it is colour that catches your interest, then explore how Indigo cultivation dates back to the Indus Valley civilisation and how this natural dye has been often credited with opening up an extensive range of beautiful blue shades that redefined global fashion even as the knowledge of extracting blue color from green leaves of indigo was closely guarded within the families.  You don’t have to stop at Indigo or India, you can explore the colour palette of global fashion over the years.

With over over 400 online exhibitions and stories sharing a total of 30.000 photos, videos and other documents;  4 virtual reality experiences of iconic fashion pieces; over 700 ultra high-resolution gigapixel images and over 40 venues offer backstage access on Google Street View you could easily get lost in fashion!

We could not have done this it without our partners around the globe. In India we are very proud to partner with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum (BDL), SEWA Hansiba Museum, Salar Jung Museum, Indian Museum Kolkata, Museum of Art & Photography, Craft Revival Trust, Avani Society, Worldview Impact Foundation, Border & Fall to celebrate this rich history of Indian fashion and bring to life the creativity, heritage and craftsmanship -- for anyone around the world to see, learn, experience and cherish. The new online exhibition opens today at g.co/wewearculture online for free and will also be available through the Google Arts & Culture mobile app both on iOS and Android.

Posted by Simon Rein, India Programme Manager, Google Arts & Culture


VIDEO: Part 1—Introducing Team Drives for developers

Posted by Hodie Meyers, Product Manager, Google Drive, and Wesley Chun (@wescpy), Developer Advocate, G Suite

Enterprises are always looking for ways to operate more efficiently, and equipping developers with the right tools can make a difference. We launched Team Drives this year to bring the best of what users love about Drive to enterprise teams. We also updated the Google Drive API, so that developers can leverage Team Drives in the apps they build.

In this latest G Suite Dev Show video, we cover how you can leverage the functionality of Team Drives in your apps. The good news is you don’t have to learn a completely new API—Team Drives features are built into the Drive API so you can build on what you already know. Check it out:

By the end of this video, you‘ll be familiar with four basic operations to help you build Team Drives functionality right in your apps:
  1. How to create Team Drives 
  2. How to add members/users to your Team Drives 
  3. How to create folders in Team Drives (just like creating a regular Drive folder) 
  4. How to upload/import files to Team Drives folders (just like uploading files to regular folders) 
The Drive API can help a variety of developers create solutions that work with both Google Drive and Team Drives. Whether you’re an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), System Integrator (SI) or work in IT, there are many ways to use the Drive API to enhance productivity, help your company migrate to G Suite, or build tools to automate workflows.

Team Drives features are available in both Drive API v2 and v3, and more details can be found in the Drive API documentation. We look forward to seeing what you build with Team Drives!