Question

I had several questions regarding the usability of a "G Suite/Google Apps API." I would like to integrate some sort of document/spreadsheet/presentation management directly into an application I am building.

This service would have to have the ability to import and export to DOC/XLS/PPT/PDF etc..., so something like Feng Office (if you have ever heard of it), wouldn t suit this need.

For this purpose, I m looking into such a thing exists. Before I would begin this endeavor, I was wondering:

Do the G Suite/Google Apps productivity tools allow documents/spreadsheets/presentations to be created, read, updated, and deleted all from a third-party application?
Would potential users have to have a Google account in order to use document/spreadsheet/presentation editor?
Could multiple users on my application access files under one Google account, if an account is needed at all?
Last, is it possible to skip a Google account, and let Google docs directly access and save documents on my local server?

Sorry for the crash list of questions, but if there is anyone who could help with these, it would be much appreciated.

spryno724

Answer 1

Yes.
Not necessarily, you can have your backend script sign in as you, or even better, an admin account set-up specifically for your app.
Yes, see #2.
I don t think so.

Answer 2

(Feb 2017) The executive summary is that you can do what you envision, either by using G Suite (formerly Google Apps) APIs or Google Apps Script. TL;DR below in response to your "mini-questions".

Yes; you can do it with...
- Individual app REST APIs, i.e., Sheets API, Slides API, etc., or just the Google Drive API.
  - Keep in mind that the Drive API is used for file-oriented functionality (create, delete, import/export, etc.) while the individual APIs are for document-oriented functionality (editing, formatting, etc.)
  - To learn about using the REST APIs, see the first few videos in this playlist, specifically videos 2, 3, and 4 to start with
- An alternative that s more like using "services" vs. APIs but that can also programmatically CRUD G Suite documents is Google Apps Script, server-side JavaScript apps that are hosted at and run in Google s cloud. If interested, I created an Apps Script intro video for you.
  - FYI, videos 5, 8, 22, and 24 from the playlist above are for Apps Script if you want to pursue that
  - Note that neither Google Docs nor Google Forms currently have REST APIs, but you can programmatically access them from Apps Script.
Yes, users need to have a Google account but they don t have to create a Gmail address. See this page on creating Google accounts without Gmail. (If they do want to create a Gmail address, then they can use this page instead.)
Yes, you would use the Drive API to set the sharing permissions with your users. See this page on Permissions and this one on Sharing for more info.
Not really; you need at least one Google account in order to access Google Drive where the files would be stored. You can, however, manage the files on your own, then import to Drive and export from Drive to allow your users to edit on your servers then push them back to Drive. For more info on import/export formats/MIMEtypes, see my answer to another SO question.

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