Automate append row to Numbers spreadsheet

macOS
1

Hello everybody,

I am working on a challenge where I want to automate adding one or more rows to a Numbers spreadsheet based on input from Siri Shortcuts.
This may be possible using CSV files and AppleScript, but I am a new with AppleScript and what research I have so far done suggests a level of complexity that I am not sure I can manage.

Thanks to inspiration from the Automators Podcast I have already created a workflow using a Siri Shortcut which uses Zapier to append a line to a Google Sheet. I use this to track household expenses and get a frequent overview of what budget I have left to spend.

The downside of this setup is that the Zapier free tier only allows up to 100 transactions per month, and it turns out my household has slightly more than 100 transactions per month. Paying 20 euros per month for the next Zapier tier seems excessive for my specific use, so I am researching if I can do this without Zapier.
I would prefer to use Apple Numbers over Google Sheets as a privacy consideration.

Does anybody have a suggestion on how to tackle this challenge?
Would a Siri Shortcut --> CSV --> append row in Numbers spreadsheet combined with AppleScript seem like the best option, or are there better/easier alternatives?

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts on this.

2

Siri Shortcuts is an iOS feature currently and not macOS. AppleScript is on macOS and not iOS. Numbers is on both. You’ve posted this in the Mac category on the forum.

Can you clarify if you are using a particular OS, or if you are wishing to remotely action this on a Mac from Shortcuts on iOS?

3

Sorry for the ambiguity.

My primary question relates to the use of AppleScript for reading data from a CSV file and appending that to an existing table in a Numbers spreadsheet.
From researching this, I believe it can be done but it appears to be quite complex. I am looking for feedback on the feasibility of doing this.

The secondary question is: is there an alternative way of getting the same result?

My current setup is:
Siri Shortcuts --> Zapier --> Google Sheets.

The proposed setup (to which this post relates) would be:
Siri Shortcuts --> CSV file (i.e. in iCloud Drive) --> AppleScript to append the data from the CSV to a table in a Numbers spreadsheet.

Let me know if this clarifies the question sufficiently.

edit: on the Mac side I am using macOS Mojave with Numbers 6.1.

4

Have you taken a look at the example provided in this Apple discussion thread? It sounds like it does exactly the sort of thing you’re asking about.