Use the Find action to find a particular string in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or a CSV file.

Procedure

  1. Double-click or drag the Find action from the Excel node in the Actions palette.
  2. Click the From drop-down menu and select one of the following options to specify the start of the cell range for search:
    • Beginning: Is the default option and starts the search from the beginning of the spreadsheet.
    • End: Starts the search from the end of the spreadsheet.
    • Active cell: Starts the search from the active cell in the spreadsheet.
    • Specific cell: Enables you to specify the address of the cell from where you want to start the search.
  3. Click the Till drop-down menu to select one of the following options as the end point of the cell range for search.
    • Beginning: Is the default option.
    • End
    • Active cell
    • Specific cell
  4. In the Find field, enter the string that you are searching for in the Excel sheet.
  5. Use the Search options field to select one of the following options:
    • By rows: Is the default option and enables you to search the spreadsheet by rows.
    • By columns: Enables you to search by columns.
  6. Select the Match case check box if you want to search all the cells that contain the string that matches the uppercase and lowercase characters of the string you specified in the Find field.
  7. Select the Match entire cell contents check box if you want to find only those cells that contain the entire string you have specified in the Find field.
  8. In the Replace with field, enter the string that you want to replace the existing string the Excel sheet with.
    You can also click the Insert a value icon to selecting an existing variable for replacement.
  9. Use the Session name field to select one of the following tabs:
    • Session name: Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action.
    • Variable: Enter the Excel advanced session variable that you have created from the Set session variable action or from parent automation.
  10. Click the Assign the output to variable drop-down menu to select an existing variable to store the address (like A1, B2, C3, etc.) of a cell in an Excel sheet.
    For example, if you search for a value in an Excel spreadsheet, you can assign the resulting cell's address ( for example, B7) to a variable called $cellAddress$. This allows you to take further actions on that specific cell in subsequent steps.
    If you have not created a variable, click the Create variable icon to create it.
  11. Click Save.
    Note: An empty list is displayed if the specified value is not found.