OpenDocument Spreadsheet - Get cell reference/position

Declaration

<AMODS ACTIVITY="get_cell_reference" 
WORKBOOK="text" OPENPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" 
CELLROW="number" CELLCOLUMN="number" 
CELLREFVARIABLE="text" />

Description: Retrieves the cell position or cell reference of an individual cell and populates one or more variables with results.

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 retrieve the location of a specific cell.

Resource Parameters

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	CONNECTBY="open_workbook" 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	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. 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.
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 newly created 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 Get document by parameter is set to Create.

Cell Parameters

Property	Type	Required	Default	Markup	Description
Get cell by	---	---	---	---	Specifies the method in which to retrieve the cell's location. This is a visual parameter only used during design-time, therefore contains no markups. The available options are: Reference(default) - Gets a cell's location specified by its reference, such as A1 or B3. Position - Gets a cell's location specified by its row and column position, such as Row 2, Column F.
Cell reference	Text	Yes if Get cell by parameter is set to Reference	(Empty)	CELLREF="B3"	The reference of the cell to retrieve (e.g., A1 or B4). This parameter is active only if the Get cell by parameter is set to Reference.
Populate variable with row	Text	Yes if Get cell by parameter is set to Reference	(Empty)	CELLROWVARIABLE="text"	The name of an existing variable in which to populate with the row number of the cell. This parameter is active only if the Get cell by parameter is set to Reference.
Populate variable with column	Text	Yes if Get cell by parameter is set to Reference	(Empty)	CELLCOLUMNVARIABLE="text"	The name of an existing variable in which to populate with the column number of the cell. This parameter is active only if the Get cell by parameter is set to Reference.
Populate variable with cell reference	Text	Yes if Get cell by parameter is set to Position	(Empty)	CELLREFVARIABLE="var1"	The name of an existing variable in which to populate the cell reference. This parameter is active only if the Get cell by parameter is set to Position.
Row	Number	Yes if Get cell by parameter is set to 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 to reference a specific cell. This parameter is active only if the Get cell by parameter is set to Position.
Column	Number	Yes if Get cell by parameter is set to 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 to reference a specific cell. This parameter is active only if the Get cell by parameter is set to Position.

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: 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" />

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v10 | 202212080228 | December 2022