Google Apps Script, get rid of copy/download option

3
votes

I am wondering if there's a way to use Google Apps Script to share a Google Doc or Google Sheet, but programmatically disable the copy/download feature for viewers/commentors on the document? When share a Google Doc or Sheet normally, you can go to the settings icon and deselect those options:

enter image description here

But can I do that through Google Apps Script?

As a follow-up to that, is there any way to disable these options for editors too? I'd love to be able to share a document with someone, make them an editor, but prevent them from sharing it with anyone else. Thank you.

1
google-apps-scriptgoogle-drive-apifile-sharing
Related: stackoverflow.com/a/61098656 – TheMaster
@TheMaster The method of setShareableByEditors is for "Editors can change permissions and share" in your comment. Do you know the method for controlling "Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy" in Drive service? – Tanaike
@Tanaike No. That's why I added "Related" and not a duplicate or something. I searched apps script documentation and couldn't find any. – TheMaster
@TheMaster Thank you. When there is such method, I thought that the script will become simpler. In the current stage, it seems that Drive API v2 also cannot control it. So I proposed to use Drive API v3. By this, the fetch is required to be used. – Tanaike

1 Answers

3
votes

In this case, how about using Drive API? I think that you can set them using Drive API. In this answer, the method of "Files: update" of Drive API v3 is used.

Sample script:

Before you use this script, please enable Drive API at Advanced Google services.

function myFunction() {
  const fileId = "###";  // Please set the file ID.

  const url = "https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/" + fileId;
  const res = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, {
    method: "patch",
    headers: {authorization: "Bearer " + ScriptApp.getOAuthToken()},
    contentType: "application/json",
    payload: JSON.stringify({viewersCanCopyContent: false, writersCanShare: false}),
  });
  console.log(res.getContentText())
  
  // DriveApp.createFile(blob)  // This comment line is used for automatically detecting the scope of "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive"
}

Note:

  • writersCanShare is for "Editors can change permissions and share"

  • viewersCanCopyContent is for "Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy"

    • When I saw the official document, viewersCanCopyContent says Warning: This item is deprecated. Deprecated - use copyRequiresWriterPermission instead.. But when copyRequiresWriterPermission is used, this check couldn't controle. So, in this answer, I used viewersCanCopyContent.
    • For the future update, {viewersCanCopyContent: false, copyRequiresWriterPermission: false, writersCanShare: false} might be suitable instead of {viewersCanCopyContent: false, writersCanShare: false}.

  • Above sample, both checks are unchecked.

    • When copyRequiresWriterPermission can be used, I think that Drive API v2 might be able to use it as follows. But when I tested it now, it seems that "Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy" cannot be controled.

        Drive.Files.patch({copyRequiresWriterPermission:false,writersCanShare:false}, fileId);

  • For example, when viewersCanCopyContent: true, writersCanShare: true are used, both checks are checked.

References: