google-apps-scriptgoogle-groups

Export the join date for members in a group

Is it possible to export a member's join date to a google group? When you manually export a .csv from a group it gives information on the join date. However, in google app script, I don't see the option for this in the Groups Service. This is the information that is in the .csv:

enter image description here

Any help or resources would be appreciated!

Solution

  • Short answer:

    No, you cannot do that programmatically.

    Long answer:

    Google Groups functionality is mainly handled by Directory API, in its Groups and Members resources. That's what the Apps Script Groups Service is using behind the scenes, and you could use its methods directly by enabling the Admin SDK Directory Service in your script (the APIs —and, as a result, the advanced services— usually have greater functionalities than the Apps Script built-in classes).

    If you look at the properties of any of these resources (Groups and Members), you won't find anything close to a join date property, so it doesn't seem to be part of the open API, and can only be accessed through the UI.

    The same can be said of Groups Settings API, which can be used to manage group settings: no join date can be found in its resources.

    Because of this, you have no way to programmatically store and retrieve the group member's join dates.

    Workaround (of a sort):

    If you are adding members to a group programmatically, with the API method Members: insert, you could make your application store the date in which each member was added, and retrieve it later. This is not possible, though, if members are added through the UI.

    Filing a Feature Request:

    Since this resource does seem to exist already (it can be accessed through the UI), I'd suggest you to file a feature request in this Issue Tracker component to make this available to the API. If you do that, please make sure that you explain the usefulness of this functionality (explain how this could help you and, potentially, other users).

    Reference: