HTTP POST with Basic Auth in Google Docs Spreadsheet API?

July 26, 2011 10:46 AM

Can I do an HTTP POST with Basic Authentication in the Google Docs Spreadsheet API?

I'm just beginning to learn the Google Docs Spreadsheet API, and I'm trying to reproduce some functionality that I've basically only been able to do in Excel with VBA AJAX hackery.
Ironically, googling has failed me in finding an answer. (Googling might come up with the same question I've posted to stackoverflow today, though)

I know that the Google Docs API provides the importData(URL) function, as well as a few related ones.

However, I have 2 additional requirements here:
First, I need to be able to pass Basic Authentication information (username,password) to the target URL, programmatically.
(I might be able to use the "http://user:pass@server/..." syntax here, but that's a last resort)

Second, I need to be able to send POST data to the URL, instead of GET data.

How can I accomplish these things? If it involves something more complex than importData, I'm all for it. I just need to get the data from server A to document B.

posted by jozxyqk to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Are you trying to do this with a formula in a cell to reference outside information?
posted by empath at 11:28 AM on July 26, 2011

Response by poster: It's not something that needs to refresh in realtime, if that's what you mean.
It will be triggered from a dialog box that asks a few questions to construct the POST args.
posted by jozxyqk at 11:33 AM on July 26, 2011