How To Use The TRIM Function In Google Sheets To Clean Your Data

The TRIM function in Google Sheets removes unwanted spaces around text.

Trim Function Example In Google Sheets

TRIM removes the leading, trailing, and repeated spaces in the text values in column A.

The formula is:

=TRIM(A2)

πŸ”— Get this example and others in the template at the bottom of this article.

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Create Barcodes In Google Sheets In 2 Easy Steps
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Barcodes are visual representations of numbers and strings.

Typically they represent numbers that link back to records in a database storing valuable information about a product.

They’re easy for machines to scan and are ubiquitous in stores and warehouses around the world.

Learn how to create barcodes in Google Sheets in this post, with a simple 2-step process.
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Exploring Population Growth And Chaos Theory With The Logistic Map, In Google Sheets

In this post, I want to show you something amazing: how a simple equation the logistic map can lead to incredible outcomes, and even to chaos.

And we’ll explore this with Google Sheets so you can follow along (please download the template at end of the post).

But first, we begin our story in a field far, far away, where two bunnies are getting down to, erm, business, shall we say, as they start a fluffle* of rabbits…

* collective noun for wild rabbits

Two rabbits in a field

Provided the growth rate is greater than one, the population grows until it becomes constrained by limited resources (for example, food). Then it settles into a stable population, neither increasing nor decreasing year on year.

But as the growth rate increases weird things start happening.

The rabbit population grows faster but it doesn’t settle down to a single equilibrium (stable population) anymore. No. In fact, the population oscillates between two equilibrium values. One year high, one year low, then back to the high value again, then low, and so on, to infinity.

Keep increasing the growth rate, however, and suddenly the population oscillates between four equilibriums. Then eight. Then sixteen.

And if it increases past the specific growth rate of 3.57, well all bets are off the table!

The population becomes chaotic and never settles into any equilibrium at all. It bounces around randomly, some years high, others low, others in the middle, with no pattern.

Except that’s not the end of the story.

Incredibly, within this region of chaotic behavior lie “islands of stability”. Short windows at specific growth rates where order re-establishes itself.

Out of the chaos, a periodic pattern emerges! 🀯

The Logistic Map

Here is the logistic map with a changing growth rate to illustrate how the population changes:

Logistic Map Iterations in Grid

Contents:

  1. The Logistic Map Equation
  2. Comparing Populations At Different Growth Rates
  3. The Bifurcation Diagram
  4. How To Create The Logistic Map In Google Sheets
  5. How To Create An Interactive Population Model With Grid
  6. How To Create The Bifurcation Diagram
  7. Displaying The Logistic Map Equation In Google Sheets
  8. Logistic Map Template In Google Sheets
  9. Further Reading

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API Authentication Apps Script Reference

This post is a summary of common authentication protocols for API authentication with Apps Script.

I got fed up digging around in my Drive folder for old scripts to refresh my memory on the syntax, so I created this reference.

It’s not a comprehensive post on how to connect to APIs, instead, it’s a short summary of common protocols for easy reference.(If you’re new to APIs, start with my Apps Script API tutorial for beginners.)

This post looks at four different API authentication methods:

  1. No API authentication
  2. Requires API key in query string
  3. Requires API key in header
  4. OAuth2: Secure API authentication

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How To Use The Choose Function In Google Sheets

The CHOOSE Function in Google Sheets lets you choose between different options.

It’s a lookup function, akin to a limited VLOOKUP rather than an alternative to the IF function.

It takes an index number and returns a value at that numbered position from the list of possible options.

Here’s a simple example:

=CHOOSE(1,"A","B")

which will output:

CHOOSE Function in Google Sheets

The first argument is the index number: 1.

Subsequent arguments are possible choices. The CHOOSE function returns the value at index position 1 in this case, i.e. “A”.

If I changed the index number to 2, the CHOOSE function would output “B”.

πŸ”— Get this example and others in the template at the bottom of this article.

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