user references google

General

CardMaker supports reference data pulled from Google. You should be roughly familiar with References Basic and References Defines before continuing.

Spreadsheet Setup

This section assumes you do not have an existing Google Spreadsheet. If you already do just skip the first step.

1. Create your Spreadsheet in Google. I'm not going to detail this process as I might be out of date...

2. Each sheet in your Google Spreadsheet can act like a single reference in the application. If you plan to use project-wide defines you should create a sheet and name it defines (case sensitive!). You can also setup defines per reference by creating a sheet named the same with _defines as the suffix (example sheets: items and items_defines).

3. Setup your data! Remember the first column of a reference is the card count column and defines always use the first two columns for the define name and value.

4. You should use your default browser to log into Google. If you do not CardMaker will attempt to prompt you for authorization in the default browser, potentially forcing you to log in again.

CardMaker Project Setup

1. Launch CardMaker and create/load a project. For the examples below assume the project file name is My New Game.cmp

2. (optional) Global (Project-wide) defines can be be connected to the project a number of different ways.

   1. Use a local defines file.
      1. Right-click Layouts and select Project Settings...
      2. Verify the Default Define Reference Type is set to CSV and the override field is blank/empty.
      3. Create a defines CSV file and save it with the file name [project name without extension]_defines.csv -- Example: My New Game_defines.csv
   2. Use a Google Spreadsheet named [project name without extension] with a sheet called defines
      1. Right-click Layouts and select Project Settings...
      2. Verify the Default Define Reference Type is set to Google and the override field is blank/empty.
      3. Create a new Google Spreadsheet named [project name without extension] with a sheet named defines -- Example: My New Game
   3. Use a Google Spreadsheet named whatever you want with a sheet called defines
      1. Right-click Layouts and select Project Settings...
      2. Verify the Default Define Reference Type is set to Google
      3. Use the ... button next to the override field and select the Google Spreadsheet containing the defines sheet.

3. Save your project. If you haven't already, please do so. The application wants you to have a project file!

4. On any layout you want to reference a Google sheet just right-click and select Add Google Spreadsheet Reference... The application will attempt to guide you through the authentication process. You will be prompted to browse to an authorization page. After the authorization is accepted you will need to manually copy the key from the web page into the application. The key is valid for an hour. This limitation and the copy/paste key are all due to the implementation of Google authentication.