What is the fastest way to update a google spreadsheet with a lot of data through the spreadsheet api?

Question

I am using the Google Spreadsheet API to update a spreadsheet with a lot of data (hundreds of rows and around twenty columns).

I have tested making a batch call to u

Answer 1

Speedup: posted by David Tolioupov - it works. Some extra info that helped.

Example of how to use the CellFeed, see CellDemo.java http://gdata-java-client.googlecode.com/svn-history/r51/trunk/java/sample/spreadsheet/cell/CellDemo.java

The example has details, enough detail that it helped me optimize my code.

As stated by David Tolioupov, create the CellEntry this way:

CellEntry batchEntry = new CellEntry(cellAddr.row, cellAddr.col, cellAddr.idString);
batchEntry.setId(String.format("%s/%s", cellFeedUrl.toString(), cellAddr.idString)); 

From the example:

/**
 * Returns a CellEntry with batch id and operation type that will tell the
 * server to update the specified cell with the given value. The entry is
 * fetched from the server in order to get the current edit link (for
 * optimistic concurrency).
 * 
 * @param row the row number of the cell to operate on
 * @param col the column number of the cell to operate on
 * @param value the value to set in case of an update the cell to operate on
 * 
 * @throws ServiceException when the request causes an error in the Google
 *         Spreadsheets service.
 * @throws IOException when an error occurs in communication with the Google
 *         Spreadsheets service.
 */
private CellEntry createUpdateOperation(int row, int col, String value)
    throws ServiceException, IOException {
  String batchId = "R" + row + "C" + col;
  URL entryUrl = new URL(cellFeedUrl.toString() + "/" + batchId);
  CellEntry entry = service.getEntry(entryUrl, CellEntry.class);
  entry.changeInputValueLocal(value);
  BatchUtils.setBatchId(entry, batchId);
  BatchUtils.setBatchOperationType(entry, BatchOperationType.UPDATE);

  return entry;
}

All that is required is the cellFeedUrl, then create the request and send it.