Excel - Get cell(s)

Declaration

<AMEXCEL ACTIVITY="get_cell" CONNECTBY="text (options)" WORKBOOK="text" OPENPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" MODIFYPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" VISIBLE="YES/NO" WORKBOOKTEMPLATE="text" OVERWRITE="YES/NO" SAVETYPE="text (options)" DESTINATION="text" OVERWRITEDESTINATION="YES/NO" ACTION="text (options)"  RESULTDATASET="text" STARTCELLREF="text/number" STARTCELLROW="number" STARTCELLCOLUMN="number" ENDCELLROW="number" ENDCELLCOLUMN="number" LASTCELL="YES/NO" FIRSTROWCOLUMN="YES/NO" WORKSHEET="text" RESULTVARIABLE="text" CELLROW="number" CELLCOLUMN="number" />

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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.

IMPORTANT: Automate Desktop'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

Used to retrieve the contents of one or more cells in a Microsoft Excel document that was previously created using the Excel - Open/Create workbook activity.

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
Get Text (options) Yes Cell by reference
  • ACTION="rangeByReference"
  • ACTION="cellByPosition"
  • ACTION="rangeByReference"
  • 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 (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 Get is set to Cell by reference (Empty) CELLREF="B3" The reference of the cell to retrieve (for example, A1 or B4). This parameter is only active if the Get parameter is set to Cell by reference.
Row Number Yes, if Get 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 only active if the Get parameter is set to Cell by position.
Column Number Yes, if Get 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 only active if the Get parameter is set to Cell by position.
Upper left cell Text Yes, if Get set to Range of cells by reference (Empty) UPPERLEFTREF="A1" The reference of the upper left cell in the range of cells to retrieve (for example, 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 only active 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 in which to populate with the contents of the individual cell. This parameter is only active if the Get parameter is set to Cell by reference or Cell by position.
Lower right cell Text Yes, if Get 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 (for example, A1 or B4). This parameter is only active if the Get parameter is set to Cell by reference or Cell by position.
Upper left cell row Number Yes, if Get 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 only active if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.
Upper left cell column Number Yes, if Get 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 only active if the Select parameter is set to Range of cells by position.
Lower right cell row Number Yes, if Get 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 only active 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 only active 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 only active if the Get parameter is set to Cell by reference or Cell by position.
Auto detect Yes/No No No AUTODETECT="YES" If selected, Automate Desktop will automatically detect the last cell populated with a value. If the Get parameter is set to Range of cells by reference, Automate Desktop determines 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 Desktop determines the end row/end column specifying the bottom right most cell populated with data. Disabled by default. This parameter is only active 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 parameter does not contain markup and is only displayed in visual mode for task construction and configuration purposes.
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:
  • Copy and paste the sample AML code below directly into the Task Builder Steps Panel.
  • To successfully run the sample code, update parameters containing user credentials, files, file paths, or other information specific to the task to match your environment.

Description

This sample task opens an existing Excel document, retrieves the data contained in row 1/column1 of the active worksheet and populates a variable with the results. A message box is then used to display the value. In order for this task to work, make sure to edit the properties of the 'Open Workbook' action (step 2) to point to a valid Excel file that contains data in row 1 / column 1.

Copy 
<AMVARIABLE NAME="myVar" VALUE="" />
<AMEXCEL SESSION="ExcelSession1" WORKBOOK="C:\temp\myFile..xlsx" />
<AMEXCEL ACTIVITY="get_cell" SESSION="ExcelSession1" ACTION="cellbyposition" RESULTVARIABLE="myVar" CELLROW="1" CELLCOLUMN="1" />
<AMSHOWDIALOG WINDOWTITLE="CELL VALUE">The value of Row 1 / Column 1 is %myVar%.</AMSHOWDIALOG>