Excel Session

The Excel Session is an element that encompasses all Excel operations. Excel operations include the reading, modification, and creation of entire files and file elements in the Excel format.

To use Excel operations it is not necessary to have Microsoft Excel installed on the computer.

In the Excel Session you define which Excel files should be opened, where these are located at what time, and how they should be used.

By placing other Action Steps within the Excel Session it is possible to process the information from the Excel files further.

The Excel files are opened when the Excel Session starts to be executed and are duly closed again at the end of the session.

An Excel Session may contain a maximum of one further Excel Session. To optimize computer performance, please never place an Excel Session inside a loop. If you wish to execute a loop across all the elements in a row or column in the Excel file, please place the relevant loop within the Excel Session.

Properties

Destination Excel Operation Settings

The Destination Excel Operation Settings are only relevant if you have selected the mode Read from source and write to different file.

Create destination file (Bool, default: False) Determines whether the destination file should be created if it doesn’t exist already.
Destination file name (string, no default) Name of the destination file, i.e. the file that will be written.
Different destination directory path for workflow run If the option Use different destination directory path for workflow run is activated, the alternative destination directory specified here is used at runtime.
Different destination file name for workflow run If the option Use different destination file name for workflow run is activated, the alternative file name is used at runtime.
Directory Path (string, default: %STWS_BASEPATH%)Path to the directory where the destination file is located

Only a single file name is used for the destination file, regardless of whether a different directory path is used at the time of execution compared to the time of design.

Sheet name to be added (string, no default) Name of the sheet that is to be added to the destination file
Use different destination directory path for workflow run If this option is activated, an alternative path is used at runtime.
Use different destination file name for workflow run If this option is activated, an alternative file name is used at runtime.

Excel Operation Settings

Operation mode (drop-down selection, default: Read only) Type of Excel Operation. There are three different modes available:
- Read only The source file is read only and cannot be modified
- Read and write to the same file The source file is read and can be modified
- Read from source and write to different file The source file is read but cannot be modified. Furthermore, a destination file is opened and this is where changes are made.

Source Excel Operation Settings

Different source directory path for workflow run (string, no default) If Use separate source directory path for Execution is selected, the path specified here will be used as the path to the directory in which the source file is located.
Different source file name for workflow run If the option Use different source file name for workflow run is activated, the alternative file name is used at runtime.
Directory Path (string, default: %STWS_BASEPATH%)Path to the directory where the source file is located
Source file name (string, no default) Name of the source file. This is the file that is read – and written to in the mode Read and write to the same file
Use different source directory path for workflow run (Bool, default: False) Determines whether a different source directory should be used when executing the Workflow compared to that at the time of creation.
Use different source file name for workflow run (Bool., default: False) Determines whether an alternative file name should be used when running the workflow instead of the draft name.

Inbound Variables

DirectoryPathSource
FileNameSource
Separate source
DirectoryPathDestination
FileNameDestination
CreateDstIfNotExists
SheetToBeCreated

Outbound Variables

This Action Step has no outbound variables.

Wizard

In the Operation Mode section, first choose whether you want to only read the Excel file, read and modify it or read it and write to a different Excel file. If the Read Only mode is selected, the source file is read only and cannot be modified.

The source file is the file that should be read. You can write the path to the directory where the source file is located directly in the input field, insert Environment and Script Variables, make a selection using a file explorer or connect with a Pin Variable. You also have the option of using a different file at the time of execution to at the time of creation.

Please note that in this case the file name must be identical. You must always specify the file extension as well as the file name.

You can use a second file as the destination file. In this case the source file is read only and cannot be modified. The destination file is for storing information. If the destination file does not exist yet, it will be created if you have selected the checkbox Create destination file if it doesn’t exist.

You can use a dynamic Excel file at runtime for the Excel operations. The Different file name field can be used to specify a separate file for the execution time directly or map it using a pin variable.