You are entirely right. The 'API' is just a thin wrapper around an XML/ATOM protocol called "the GData protocol", and does not abstract much.
In principle, that's OK. The GData protocol provided a bunch of facilities which are quite specific to having a 'service in the cloud', and it would have been somewhat missing the point to provide an API which presumed that the sheet was an in-memory model. Once you got your head around it, there were even some admirable points about it. It would have been possible to construct a higher-level API which exploited all of its features, while also being useful to the developer, but as you have noticed, this hasn't been a priority. (When scripting with Google Apps Script, the code feels much more 'rows, columns and cells', because that code runs closer to the in-memory model, and is a better comparison with the scripting api from MS Office). Unfortunately, Google is walking away from the GData protocol across their product range, in a (probably vain) attempt to make it more like a traditional RPC mechanism which can be described by an Interface Definition Language (xref: https://developers.google.com/discovery/). Also, nobody with any vision for Spreadsheets (or recently, even anybody, as far as we can tell) is currently assigned to taking the Spreadsheets product forward. Google muttered something about "the next version of the API" at the same time the Discovery project was getting off the ground (this was given as justification for closing a whole lot of issues filed against the API as 'obsolete'). However, they refused to provide any timelines or even briefly discuss the design goals of the new API. (Certainly, they were closed to any INPUT on such from users). A year on, it's pretty clear why they didn't feel right about providing timelines. Run, don't walk, away from this "product" unless you really, really have to use it. sincerely, David. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google Spreadsheets API" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
