What keeps the app running — for whoever inherits responsibility for it.
This page is for the person responsible for keeping the app alive. You do not
need it for day-to-day use, and you do not need to be a programmer to read it —
but some of the jobs it describes do need a developer.
The two things the app depends on
The page itself, which is published automatically from the project’s
source code. It is a single file, and nobody has to upload anything by hand:
when the code changes, the published page updates on its own within a minute
or two.
A small Google Apps Script attached to the spreadsheet, which receives
each entry and writes the row. It runs as the Google account that owns the
spreadsheet. If that script is switched off, un-published, or loses its
permission, the page still opens but entries stop saving and users see a red
“Not saved” message.
If both of those stay up, the app needs no routine attention.
What you should have been handed
When you take over the app, make sure you receive:
The web address where the app is published.
Access to the inventory spreadsheet, as an editor.
The sign-in for the Google account that owns the spreadsheet — the script
runs as that account, and re-publishing it needs that sign-in.
Access to the account hosting the published page, needed if it ever has to be
moved.
The project’s source code, which holds the technical documentation.
The address is the only thing protecting it
There is no sign-in. Anyone who has the web address can add entries to the
spreadsheet. Treat the address the way you would treat a password: share it with
the people who need it, and do not post it anywhere public. If it does get out,
the fix is a developer job — the app has to be re-published at a new address.
Things a developer must do
These cannot be done by editing anything on the spreadsheet, and need someone
working with the source code:
Changing which spreadsheet or which tab entries are written to.
Changing the choices in the Qty Type menu.
Any change to what the form looks like or does.
Re-publishing the script after its code changes.
One caution worth passing on: the page and the script have to be updated
together. The page sends entries in a particular shape and the script expects
that shape, so updating one without the other stops entries saving.
What the app does not have
So you do not go looking for them — none of these exist:
No sign-in or user accounts.
No screen for viewing, editing, or deleting entries. Viewing and correcting are
done in the spreadsheet.
No stock levels, totals, or reports. Each entry is a separate row; nothing adds
them up.
No connection to a database. An earlier version of this app saved to one; the
current app writes only to the spreadsheet.