Excel - Select cell(s)

Declaration

<AMEXCEL ACTIVITY="activate_cell" WORKBOOK="text" OPENPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" MODIFYPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" VISIBLE="YES/NO" SAVETYPE="text (options)" DESTINATION="text" OVERWRITEDESTINATION="YES/NO" ACTION="text (options)" CELLROW="text" CELLCOLUMN="text"CELLREF="text" UPPERLEFTREF="text" LOWERRIGHTREF="text" UPPERLEFTROW="text" UPPERLEFTCOLUMN="text" LOWERRIGHTROW="text" LOWERRIGHTCOLUMN="text" />

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Description

Selects a single cell or multiple cells, ranges, rows or columns within the currently active worksheet in an established Excel session.

IMPORTANT: Automate's Excel activities rely on Microsoft's Excel engine to perform their work, therefore, Excel must be installed and licensed on the computer to ensure proper functionality.

Practical Usage

Often used to select cells, ranges, rows, or columns — for example, to perform actions on the selection (that is, format the data or insert values) during subsequent steps. Be aware that this activity works only on the active worksheet. To activate a specific worksheet, use the Excel - Activate worksheet activity.

NOTE: If a worksheet has been protected, you may not be able to select cells or their contents.

Parameters

Resource

Property Type Required Default Markup Description
Resource --- --- --- --- Indicates where the source Excel document should originate from. This parameter does not contain markup and is only displayed in visual mode for task construction and configuration purposes. The available options are:
  • File (default) - The source derives from an Excel file located on the system. This option is normally selected if only a single activity is required to complete the operation.
  • Session - The source Excel document is obtained from a pre-configured session created in an earlier step with the use of the Excel - Open/create workbook activity. This option is normally selected if a combination of related activities are required to complete an operation. Consolidating several activities to a single session can eliminate redundancy. Moreover, a single task supports multi-session executions which can improve efficiency and speed up production.
Session Text Yes, if Resource is set to Session Excelsession1 SESSION="mySession" The name of an existing session to associate this activity with. This parameter is only active if the Resource parameter is set to Session.
Get document by Text (options) Yes, if Resource is set to File Open
  • CONNECTBY="open_workbook"
  • CONNECTBY="create_workbook"
 Specifies whether this activity will be performed on an existing Excel document or on a new one. This parameter is active only if the Resource parameter is set to File. The available options are:
  • Open (default) - This activity will be performed on an existing document that will be opened during runtime.
  • Create - This activity will be performed on a new document to be created during runtime.
File name Text Yes (Empty) WORKBOOK="C:\Temp\fileName.xls" If the Get document by parameter is set to Open, specifies the path and file name of the Excel document in which to open. If the Get document by parameter is set to Create, specifies the path and file name of the Excel document in which to create.
Application is invisible Yes/No No No VISIBLE="NO" If selected, specifies that the Excel window will not be displayed and all processing will occur in the background. This option should be disabled during task construction and debugging but can be selected for production. The workbook is visible by default.
Password to open (optional) Text No (Empty) OPENPASSWORD="encrypted" The password required to open the Excel document if it is password protected. This parameter is active only if the Get document by parameter is set to Open.
Password to modify (optional) Text No (Empty)

MODIFYPASSWORD="encrypted"

The password required to modify the Excel document if it is password protected. This parameter is active only if the Get document by parameter is set to Open.
Create from template Text No No WORKBOOKTEMPLATE="C:\Temp\file.xls" If selected, specifies the path and file name of a template file that already has preferred formatting in which to base the new workbook on. A template can include formatting, styles,  standardized text such as page headers and row and column labels, formulas, macros and custom toolbars. This parameter is only active if the Get document by parameter is set to Create ( disabled by default).
On completion Text (options) No Save
  • SAVETYPE="save"
  • SAVETYPE="save_as"
  • SAVETYPE="do_not_save"
Specifies what to do with the document upon completion of this activity. The available options are:
  • Save - Save changes to the default location.
  • Save as - Save to the specified path and file name.
  • Do not save changes - Changes will not be saved.
File Text Yes, if On completion parameter is set to Save as (Empty) DESTINATION="c:\temp\dest.xls" The path and file name of the file in which changes will be saved. Click the folder icon to open a standard Explorer dialog in order to navigate to the desired file or simply enter the path and file name in the provided text box. This parameter is active only if the On completion parameter is set to Save as.
Overwrite if workbook already exists Yes/No Yes, if On completion parameter is set to Save as No OVERWRITE="YES" If selected, the saved workbook will overwrite any workbook with the same name that exists in the destination. If disabled (default), an existing workbook with the same name will not be overwritten, however, an error will occur during runtime as a result of matching file names. This parameter is active only if the On completion parameter is set to Save as.

Cell

Property Type Required Default Markup Description
Select Text (options) Yes Cell by reference
  • ACTION="rangeByReference"
  • ACTION="cellByPosition"
  • ACTION="rangeByReference"
  • ACTION="rangeByPosition"
 Specifies the method in which to activate the cells. The available options are:
  • Cell by reference (default) - Activates a single cell specified by its cell reference, such as A1 or B3.
  • Cell by position - Activates a single cell specified by its row and column position, such as Row 2, Column F.
  • Range of cells by reference - Activates a range of cells specified by the cell reference for the upper left and lower right cells in the range, such as Upper left cell = A1, Lower right cell = C3.
  • Range of cells by position - Activates a range of cells specified by the row and column positions of the upper left and lower right cells in the range (for example, Upper left cell row = 1, Upper left cell column = 1, Lower right cell row = 14, Lower right cell column = 3).
Cell reference Text Yes, if Select is set to Cell by Reference (Empty) CELLREF="B3" The reference of the cell to activate (for example, A1, B4, etc.). This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Cell by reference.
Row Number Yes, if Select is set to Cell by position 1 CELLROW="3" The row number of the cell to activate. This value will be used along with the value entered in the Column parameter in order to reference a specific cell. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Cell by position.
Column Number Yes, if Select is set to Cell by position 1 CELLCOLUMN="2" The column number of the cell to activate. This value will be used along with the value entered in the Row parameter in order to reference a specific cell. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Cell by position.
Upper left cell Text Yes, if Select is set to Range of cells by reference (Empty) UPPERLEFTREF="A1" The reference of the upper left cell in the range of cells to activate (for example, A1, B4, etc.). This value will be used along with the value entered in the Lower left cell parameter in order to reference a specific cell. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by reference.
Lower right cell Text Yes, if Select is set to Range of cells by reference (Empty) LOWERRIGHTREF="C5" Specifies the reference of the lower right cell in the range of cells to activate. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by reference.
Upper left cell row Number Yes, if Select is set to Range of cells by position (Empty) UPPERLEFTROW="1" Specifies the row of the upper left cell in the range of cells to activate. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.
Upper left cell column

Number

 Yes, if Select is set to Range of cells by position (Empty) UPPERLEFTCOLUMN="1" Specifies the column of the upper left cell in the range of cells to activate. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.
Lower right cell row Number Yes, if Select is set to Range of cells by position (Empty) LOWERRIGHTROW="14" The row of the lower right cell in the range of cells to activate. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.
Lower right cell column Number Yes, if Select is set to Range of cells by position (Empty) LOWERRIGHTCOLUMN="3" The column of the lower right cell in the range of cells to activate. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.

Description

Error Causes

On Error

Examples

NOTE:
  • The sample AML code below can be copied and pasted directly into the Steps Panel of the Task Builder.
  • Parameters containing user credentials, files, file paths, and/or other information specific to the task must be customized before the sample code can run successfully.

Example 1

This sample task activates a single cell by position.

Copy 
<AMEXCEL ACTIVITY="activate_cell" SESSION="ExcelSess10" ACTION="cellbyposition" CELLROW="2" CELLCOLUMN="3" />

Example 2

This sample task activate a range of cells by position.

Copy 
<AMEXCEL ACTIVITY="activate_cell" SESSION="ExcelSess10" ACTION="rangebyposition" UPPERLEFTROW="2" UPPERLEFTCOLUMN="3" LOWERRIGHTROW="5" LOWERRIGHTCOLUMN="5" />