Resources

Turn your data into an applet

By the end of this guide, your team has an applet that shows the week’s sales from a Drive folder, lets them filter it, and keeps a log of notes they add.

Who it’s for

Teams who keep asking for the same numbers in a different cut, or who keep a shared spreadsheet only to log entries. The example follows Priya at Juniper Outdoor Co., whose sales team wants to filter the weekly sales by region and product, and add notes on big orders, without waiting for a new report.

If nobody needs to filter or enter anything, a .xlsx or a recurring report is simpler.

What you’ll set up

Piece	What it is	Example
Task	The request that builds the applet, and later changes it	“Make a new applet that shows our weekly sales”
Applet	The screen the team opens	“Juniper sales board”
Data source	Where the applet’s data comes from	The Juniper Weekly Sales folder, a connected app, or entries people type in
Skill (optional)	Your team’s rules for applets, so every one looks and behaves the same	“How we build team applets”

Steps

Pick where the data comes from

Source	How the applet gets it	Who sees what
Entries people type in	The applet keeps them in its own storage or database.	Shared data is the same for everyone who can open the applet.
A Drive folder, such as a folder of weekly spreadsheets	Someone who manages the applet connects the folder on its Resources page. The applet reads the folder as itself.	Everyone who can open the applet sees what it reads from the folder, even if they can’t open the folder in Drive.
A connected app, such as a CRM	The agent adds the connector when it builds the applet. Each person allows it the first time they open the applet.	The applet uses each viewer’s own account, so each person sees what their account can see.
A spreadsheet, copied in once	Ask the agent to load the rows into the applet’s database while it builds.	Everyone sees the copy. It doesn’t change when the spreadsheet does.

Some applet features, such as a database, connected apps, folder connections and AI, are turned on per installation. If the agent says one isn’t available, ask your admin.

Build the applet

Go to Applets > New applet. A task opens with “Make a new applet that ” already typed. In a workspace home you can also choose Build > App or Build > Dashboard.
Finish the sentence. Say who uses it, where the data comes from, what each screen shows, and what people can enter. For example:

Make a new applet that shows Juniper Outdoor Co.’s weekly sales for the sales team. Read the spreadsheets in the Juniper Weekly Sales folder each time it opens. Show a table of sales by region and product, with filters for region, product and week, and a chart of total sales by week. Let people add a note to any order over $5,000, with their name and the date, and show the notes under the table.
Send it. The agent may ask about details, or ask to use a connector. Answer in the thread. Monitor and steer a task covers this.
When it’s done, open the applet from the task or from Applets, and click Open to run it. If it reads a Drive folder, check the folder is connected, as described in Connect the data.

Connect the data

A Drive folder. You need to manage the applet, and you must be someone who could share the folder anyway.

Open the applet’s Resources page and click Add resource.
In “Connect a folder to” your applet, pick the folder from Workspace or Your files. Only folders can be connected.
Under “What the applet may do”, choose Viewer (“Reads only.”) or Editor (“Reads and writes.”). Ends on is optional, for a connection that should stop on a date. Some organizations don’t allow an end date, and Context tells you when you click Add.
Click Add. The folder appears under Connected. To remove it, click Disconnect.

You can also start from the folder in Drive: open its ⋯ menu > View details, and under Connected applets click Connect an applet. Revoke removes a connection there.

A connected app. The applet’s Connectors page lists the apps it can act through and whether each one is connected for you, such as Not connected or Needs reconnect. The first time someone opens the applet, a card asks for access to their account. They click Allow access, or Cancel to close the applet. Unless the app uses a shared account, each person needs it connected on their own account. Connectors has the rest.

Open the applet and try every filter. Add a test entry, then check it shows up for a colleague.
To change something, click Edit in a task on the Overview and describe the change, such as “Add a filter by sales rep”. Each change publishes a new version, and people with the applet open see an Update button.
Click Share and add people, or set General access so the workspace can open it. Until you do, the Overview reads “Personal applet”. Create an applet has the details.

Make it a skill

If your team builds several applets, put your house rules in a skill and attach it with Attach skills when you ask for a new one. Create a skill has the steps. Sample text:

Code
Name: How we build team applets

What it's for: Use this when building or changing an applet for a Juniper Outdoor Co. team.

Steps:
1. Ask who will use the applet and where its data comes from before you build.
2. Start with one screen: a table with filters, then one chart if it helps.
3. Read source data from the folder you are given. Never copy it into the code.
4. If people can add entries, record who added each one and when.

Rules:
- Money in USD with no decimals. Dates as "Mon 2 Nov".
- Every table can be sorted and filtered, and shows "No results" when a filter matches nothing.
- Never delete or overwrite entries people have added. Ask first before any change to how data is stored.
- When you finish, say whether the applet is personal or shared, and offer to share it.

Tips

Describe screens, not technology. “A table of sales by region with a week filter” is enough.
Start with one screen. Add filters, charts and forms one at a time in the same task.
Connect a folder, not a file. The applet reaches the folder and everything in it, so keep only the data it needs there.
Remember who sees folder data. A connected folder is read for everyone who can open the applet, so share the applet only with people who should see that data.
Keep the source current. A recurring report automation can save each week’s spreadsheet into the folder the applet reads.
Restore a version if a change breaks it. See Create an applet.

Next steps

Create an applet: open, edit, version and share an applet.
Applets: every page of an applet, and the security checks on each publish.
Connectors: connect the apps an applet can read from.
Sharing and access: what each general access setting allows.
Use-case guides: the other worked examples.

Recurring report Best practices