OpenDocument Spreadsheet - Encrypt

Declaration

<AMODS ACTIVITY="encrypt" WORKBOOK="text" 
OPENPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" SAVETYPE="text (options)" 
DESTINATION="text" OVERWRITEDESTINATION="YES/NO" 
OLDOFFICE="YES/NO" ENCRYPTIONTYPE="text (options)" 
KEYLENGTH="Number" ENCRYPTIONPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" />

Description: Encrypts and password protects an Excel workbook to protect its data from being read or manipulated. This activity can be executed individually or with a group of other OpenDocument Spreadsheet activities linked to an established session.  

IMPORTANT: 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 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 automate the process of encrypting an Excel document. Note that this activity can only be performed on

Resource Parameters

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Resource

---

---

---

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Indicates where the source workbook 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 filename of the document in which to open. If the Get document by parameter is set to Create, specifies the path and filename 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 filename 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 filename.

  • 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 filename of the file in which changes will be saved. Click the folder icon to open a standard Explorer dialog to navigate to the desired file or simply enter the path and filename 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 set to YES, the saved workbook will overwrite any workbook with the same name that exists in the destination. If set to NO (default), an existing workbook with the same name will not be overwritten, however, an error will occur during runtime as a result of matching filenames. This parameter is active only if the On completion parameter is set to Save as.

Security Parameters

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Password

Text

Yes

(Empty)

ENCRYPTIONPASSWORD="text"

Specifies the password to enter to decrypt the encrypted Excel document.

Microsoft Excel 2007 or older

Yes/No

No

No

OLDOFFICE="YES"

If set to YES, specifies that the Excel document's encryption algorithm should be compatible with the type of encryptions used in Microsoft Excel 2007 or older. If set to NO, encryption will be automatically set to Microsoft Strong Cryptographic Provider, the strongest provided encryption which uses a minimum key length of 128 bits.

Encryption type

Text (options)

Yes

(Empty)

  1. ENCRYPTIONTYPE="enhanced_cryptographic"

  2. ENCRYPTIONTYPE="xor"

The encryption type to use. This parameter is active only if the Microsoft Excel 2007 or older parameter is set to YES. The available options are:

  • Strong Cryptographic Provider - Strong encryption which requires a minimum key length of 128 bits.

  • Enhanced Cryptographic Provider V1 - Medium encryption.

  • XOR - The weakest encryption; compatible with Office 97/2000.

Key length

Number

Yes

(Empty)

KEYLENGTH="12"

The total number of characters that the encryption key should contain. This parameter is active only if the Microsoft Excel 2007 or older parameter is set to YES.

Description tab - A custom description can be provided on the Description tab to convey additional information or share special notes about a task step.

Error Causes tab - Specify how this step should behave upon the occurrence of an error. (Refer to Task Builder > Error Causes Tab for details.)

On Error tab - Specify what AWE should do if this step encounters an error as defined on the Error Causes tab. (Refer to Task Builder > On Error Tab for details.)

Example

The sample AML code below can be copied and pasted directly into the Steps panel of the Task Builder.

Description: This is a simple batch encryption task. It loops through a directory, detects all the .xls files and encrypts/password protects each one of them.

<AMVARIABLE NAME="theFile" />
<AMLOOP ACTIVITY="folder" FOLDER="C:\temp\*.xls" 
RESULTVARIABLE="theFile">
<AMODS ACTIVITY="encrypt" 
WORKBOOK="%theFile%" 
ENCRYPTIONPASSWORD="AM4hIYooNK35+qtO3vOgJxAyuC7mxQRewUTaME" />
</AMLOOP>