How do I create a Google Slides presentation from a folder of images in a local Google Drive using Google Script?

Question

I would like to create a Google Slides presentation out of a folder of images on my local Google Drive, within Google Script. I want to label each one individually to give them a particular order in the presentation and attach a Boolean value for later use.

I first tried adapting the code from the Example in the Google Developers video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTDz-Zcn7yk.

This works, but he just alludes to being able to show images from a personal Google Drive without an explanation for how.

I then tried combining the Google Developer's code with the one created by Learn Google Spreadsheets video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTOKHjVkXYs.

Here, he's trying to create a spreadsheet with information from a local Google drive folder containing images. This got me closer to an answer, but I run into similar trouble trying to pass the folder's images into an array and passing them through .insertImage();

Here is the code I attempted to create by trying to combine these two. I am assuming I am not retrieving the correct data from my getMyFiles function and copying them to my AfileLabels array. Maybe instead of .getName it should use a .get that can return the imageUrl from my local drive, but I don't know how to do that. I also can't seem to pass that array to my final line: images.forEach(addImageSlide);. I'm also sure there is a much simpler way to create my fileLabel arrays than iteratively making them like I did, but I don't know how to do that.

var NAME = "My Presentation";
var deck = SlidesApp.create(NAME);

function getMyFiles() {
     var myFolders = DriveApp;
     var i = 0;
     var j = 0;
     var AfileLabels = new Array();          
         var AfileLabels = [];
     var BfileLabels = new Array();
         var BfileLabels = [];

     var AfolderIter = myFolders.getFoldersByName("A");
     var Afolder = AfolderIter.next();
     var AfolderIter = Afolder.getFiles();
     while(AfolderIter.hasNext()) {         
        var Afile = AfolderIter.next();       
        var AfileName = Afile.getName();       
        Logger.log(AfileName);
        AfileLabels[i] = AfileName;
        i++;
     }
        var i = 0;
        Logger.log(AfileLabels);

     var BfolderIter = myFolders.getFoldersByName("B");
     var Bfolder = BfolderIter.next(); 
     var BfolderIter = Bfolder.getFiles();
     while(BfolderIter.hasNext()) {
        var Bfile = BfolderIter.next();
        var BfileName = Bfile.getName();
        Logger.log(BfileName);
        BfileLabels[i] = BfileName;
        j++;
     }
        var j = 0;
        Logger.log(BfileLabels);     
}

    function addImageSlide(AfileLabels, index) {
      var slide = presentation.appendSlide(SlidesApp.PredefinedLayout.BLANK);
      var image = slide.insertImage(AfileLabels);
      var imgWidth = image.getWidth();
      var imgHeight = image.getHeight();
      var pageWidth = presentation.getPageWidth();
      var pageHeight = presentation.getPageHeight();
      var newX = pageWidth/2. - imgWidth/2.;
      var newY = pageHeight/2. - imgHeight/2.;
      image.setLeft(newX).setTop(newY);
    }

function main() { 
       var AfileLabels = new Array();     
       var AfileLabels = [];  
       var AfileLabels = getMyFiles();
       Logger.log(AfileLabels);
  var images = ASfileLabels;
  var [title, subtitle] = deck.getSlides()[0].getPageElements();  
  title.asShape().getText().setText(NAME);         
  subtitle.asShape().getText().setText("Subtitle for Presentation"); 
  images.forEach(addImageSlide); 
}

What functions am I using incorrectly? How do I pass my array of images through to images?

Answer 1

There are some things you need to improve

The most important:

• After you retrieve all the files in your folders of interest - you retrieve the file names and try to paste them into the presentation - instead you should retrieve the files by their names (or better by Id) within addImageSlides()
• There are some inconsistencies with names because you patched several functions together, e.g. deck and presentation
• There are some incorrectly defined loops
• Also, you do not need counters within while loops
• Have a look at the working version below
• Keep in mind that this version can be shortened and optimized

var NAME = "My Presentation";
var deck = SlidesApp.create("NAME");
var presentation = deck;  

function getMyFiles() {

  var labels = [];  
  var myFolders = DriveApp;
  var AfolderIter = myFolders.getFoldersByName("A");
  var Afolder = AfolderIter.next();
  var AfolderIter = Afolder.getFiles();
  while(AfolderIter.hasNext()) {         
    var Afile = AfolderIter.next();       
    var AfileId = Afile.getId();       
    labels.push(AfileId);
  }
  var BfolderIter = myFolders.getFoldersByName("B");
  var Bfolder = BfolderIter.next(); 
  var BfolderIter = Bfolder.getFiles();
  while(BfolderIter.hasNext()) {
    var Bfile = BfolderIter.next();
    var BfileId = Bfile.getId();
    labels.push(BfileId);
  } 
  Logger.log(labels);
  return labels;
}

function addImageSlide(fileId) {
  var slide = presentation.appendSlide(SlidesApp.PredefinedLayout.BLANK);
  var image = slide.insertImage(DriveApp.getFileById(fileId));
  var imgWidth = image.getWidth();
  var imgHeight = image.getHeight();
  var pageWidth = presentation.getPageWidth();
  var pageHeight = presentation.getPageHeight();
  var newX = pageWidth/2. - imgWidth/2.;
  var newY = pageHeight/2. - imgHeight/2.;
  image.setLeft(newX).setTop(newY);
}

function main() { 
  var fileIds = getMyFiles();
  Logger.log(fileIds);
  var [title, subtitle] = deck.getSlides()[0].getPageElements();  
  title.asShape().getText().setText(NAME);         
  subtitle.asShape().getText().setText("Subtitle for Presentation"); 
  for(var i = 0; i< fileIds.length; i++){
    addImageSlide(fileIds[i]); 
  }
}