OpenDocument Spreadsheet - Get cells

Declaration

<AMODS ACTIVITY="get_cell" WORKBOOK="text" OPENPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" SAVETYPE="text (options)" DESTINATION="text" OVERWRITEDESTINATION="YES/NO" ACTION="text (options)" RESULTVARIABLE="text" CELLROW="number" CELLCOLUMN="number" VALUETYPE="text (options)" />

Related Topics    

Description

Retrieves an individual cell and populates a variable with its value or retrieves a range of cells and populates a dataset with their values.

NOTE: Unlike Automate's Excel activities, the OpenDocument Spreadsheet activities do not rely on Microsoft's Excel engine to perform their work, therefore, Microsoft Excel does not need to be installed on the system in order to use these activities. Supported file types include Excel (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsb, *.xlsm ), Open document spreadsheet (*.ods) and CSV (Comma Separated Value) files (*.csv).

Practical Usage

Used to retrieve the contents of one or more cells.

Parameters

Resource

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Resource

---

---

---

---

Indicates where the source document should originate from. This is a design mode parameter used only during task construction and configuration, thus, comprises no markup. The available options are:

  • File (default) - The source document derives from a file located on the system. This option is normally selected if only a single activity is required to complete the operation.

  • Session - The source document is obtained from a pre-configured session created in an earlier step with the use of the 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

OPENDOCSession1

SESSION="mySession"

The name of an existing session to associate this activity with. The default session name is OPENDOCSession1. This parameter is active only if the Resource parameter is set to Session.

Get document by

Text (options)

Yes if Resource is set to File

Open

  1. CONNECTBY="open_workbook"

  2. CONNECTBY="create_workbook"

Specifies whether this activity will be performed on an existing 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 document in which to open. If the Get document by parameter is set to Create, specifies the path and file name in which to save the newly created document.

Password to open (optional)

Text

Yes if Get document by parameter is set to Open

(Empty)

OPENPASSWORD="encrypted"

The password required to open the 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

Yes if Get document by parameter is set to Create

No

 WORKBOOKTEMPLATE="C:\Temp\file.xls"

If enabled, 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. This parameter is active only if the Get document by parameter is set to Create. It is disabled by default.

On completion

Text (options)

No

Save
  1. SAVETYPE="save"
  2. SAVETYPE="save_as"
  3. 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. If this activity is performed on an existing document, changes will be saved to its current location. If performed on a new document, changes will be saved to the location specified under the File name parameter.
  • Save as - Save changes 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.

Overwrite if workbook already exists

Yes/No

Yes if On completion parameter is set to Save as

No

 OVERWRITE="YES"

If selected, the newly created 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 Get document by parameter is set to Create.

CELL

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Get

Text (options)

Yes

Cell by reference

  1. ACTION="rangeByReference

  2. ACTION="cellByPosition

  3. ACTION="rangeByReference

  4. ACTION="rangeByPosition

Specifies the method in which to retrieve the cells. The available options are:

  • Cell by reference(default) - Gets a single cell specified by its cell reference, such as A1 or B3.

  • Cell by position - Gets a single cell specified by its row and column position, such as Row 2, Column F.

  • Range of cells by reference - Gets 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 - Gets a range of cells specified by the row and column positions of the upper left and lower right cells in the range (i.e. 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 Get parameter is set to Cell by reference

(Empty)

CELLREF="B3"

The reference of the cell to retrieve (i.e. A1 or B4). This parameter is active only if the Get parameter is set to Cell by reference.

Row

Number

Yes if Get parameter is set to Cell by position

1

CELLROW="3"

The row number of the cell to retrieve. 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 Get parameter is set to Cell by position.

Column

Number

Yes if Get parameter is set to Cell by position

1

CELLCOLUMN="2"

The column number of the cell to retrieve. 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 Get parameter is set to Cell by position.

Upper left cell

Text

Yes if Get parameter set to Range of cells by reference

(Empty)

UPPERLEFTREF="A1"

The reference of the upper left cell in the range of cells to retrieve (i.e. A1 or B4). 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 Cell by reference.

Populate variable with result

Text

Yes

(Empty)

RESULTVARIABLE="text"

The name of an existing variable with which to populate with the contents of the individual cell. This parameter is active only if the Get parameter is set to Cell by reference or Cell by position.

Lower right cell

Text

Yes if Get parameter set to Range of cells by reference

(Empty)

LOWERRIGHTREF="C5"

Specifies the reference of the lower right cell in the range of cells to retrieve (i.e. A1 or B4). This parameter is active only if the Get parameter is set to Cell by reference or Cell by position.

Upper left cell row

Number

Yes if Get parameter set to Range of cells by position

(Empty)

UPPERLEFTROW="1"

Specifies the row of the upper left cell in the range of cells to retrieve. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.

Upper left cell column

Number

Yes if Get parameter set to Range of cells by position

(Empty)

UPPERLEFTCOLUMN="1"

Specifies the column of the upper left cell in the range of cells to retrieve. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.

Lower right cell row

Number

Yes if Get parameter set to Range of cells by position

(Empty)

LOWERRIGHTROW="14"

The row of the lower right cell in the range of cells to retrieve. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.

Lower right cell column

Number

Yes if Get parameter set to Range of cells by position

(Empty)

LOWERRIGHTCOLUMN="3"

The column of the lower right cell in the range of cells to retrieve. This parameter is active only if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.

Create and populate dataset

Text

Yes

(Empty)

RESULTDATASET="text"

The name of the dataset in which to populate with the contents of the range of cells. This parameter is active only if the Get parameter is set to Cellby reference or Cell by position or Cells by position.

Auto detect

Yes/No

No

No

AUTODETECT="YES"

If selected, Automate will automatically detect the last cell populated with a value. If the Get parameter is set to Range of cells by reference, Automate will determine the cell reference of the bottom right most cell populated with data. If the Get parameter is set to Range of cells by position, Automate will determine the end row/end column specifying the bottom right most cell populated with data. Disabled by default. This parameter is active only if the Get parameter is set to Range of cells by reference or Range of cells by position.

Use active worksheet

---

---

---

---

If enabled, specifies that this action will be performed on the currently active worksheet. This is a design time parameter, therefore, contains no markup or parameters.

Use specific worksheet

Text

No

Sheet1

WORKSHEET="Sheet3"

If enabled, indicates that the data will be retrieved from a specific worksheet instead of the currently active worksheet. Enter the name of the appropriate worksheet in the provided text-box. If left blank or omitted, the current active worksheet will be used.

Use formatted value

Yes/No

No

No

FORMATTEDVALUE="YES"

If selected, formatted values will be retrieved, such as when formulas are used to calculate a specific value. If disabled, the value will be retrieved as literal text.

 

Description

Error Causes

On Error

Example

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.

Description:

Get text contained in Excel cell "A1" and populate the variable "cellData". Excel file "C:\temp\Employees.xls".

<AMODS ACTIVITY="get_cell" WORKBOOK="C:\temp\Employees.xls" OPENPASSWORD="AM4cOu4g5I8lrxN88SeCQDuI0nAL+hGMp78aME" SAVETYPE="save_as" DESTINATION="C:\temp3\newFile.xls" OVERWRITEDESTINATION="YES" RESULTVARIABLE="cellData" CELLREF="A1" />