Excel basic package

The Excel basic package contains actions that enable you to automate many of the repetitive tasks in XLSX workbooks. You use these actions when Microsoft Excel is not available on the device that you want to use to automate Microsoft Excel-related tasks.

Note: The XLS and CSV formats are not supported and you cannot set a value in the XFD column of a spreadsheet.

Important: If you use different versions of the Excel basic package in a parent bot and a child bot, the capability to share a session across bots is currently not supported. To share a session across parent and child bots, ensure that you use the same version of the package in both the parent and child bots.

Choosing the Excel package in Automation 360

Automation 360 includes packages to support three types of Microsoft Excel usage. For optimal results, use the package that corresponds to the type of Excel that is available on the device you are running bots on.

No Excel installed: If you do not have Microsoft Excel installed on the device on which you are running bots to automate Excel-related processes, use the Excel basic package.
Desktop Excel installed: If you have a desktop version of Microsoft Excel installed on your computer, use the Excel advanced package in your bots.
Online Office 365 Excel only: If you are using Microsoft Excel 365 on a web browser, use the Office 365 Excel package for automating tasks related to Excel.

Recommendation: For any bot automation use case that cannot be fulfilled by the Excel basic package, we recommend that you use the Excel advanced package. When you use that Excel basic package, you might experience limitations because of the Apache POI API that the package uses. Because of this, the Excel basic package has limited capability when compared to the Excel advanced package that uses the MS API.

To learn more, search for the Automating Excel Workbooks course in Automation Anywhere University: RPA Training and Certification (A-People login required).

Before you start

Perform the following actions within the Excel basic package as part of using the set of available actions:

Open the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that you want to read data from using the Open action.
Note: The Excel basic package supports files that are a maximum size of 30 MB.
You must associate the details of the file you want to use with a session name, and use the session name in the other actions in the Excel basic package, so that you do not have to provide the details of the file in those actions again.
Use the different actions available in the Excel basic package to automate the Microsoft Excel-related tasks.
After you have automated all the Microsoft Excel-related tasks, close the spreadsheet using the Close action.

Actions in the Excel basic package

The Excel basic package includes the following actions:


Action	Description
Switch to sheet	Switches to another sheet in a Microsoft Excel file. Select the Sheet by Index (numerical value) or Sheet by Name option to specify how to activate the sheet. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action.
Close	Closes the current workbook and provides an option to Save changes when closing the file.Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action. Note: This action terminates the process for the session.
Delete cell	Deletes the Active cell or a Specific cell from the current worksheet. Select the Shift cells left or Shift cells up option to specify whether to shift the cell one position to the left or up after the cell is deleted. Select the Entire row or Entire column option to specify whether to delete the entire row or column of the cell. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action.
Find	See Using Find action of Excel advanced package.
Get cell address	Retrieves the location of the active cell and stores it to a string variable. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action. In the Save the active cell address in local variable field, create or insert an existing string variable.
Get column name	Retrieves the letter value of the column of the active or specific cell and stores it to a string variable. Select the Active cell or Specific cell option to specify whether to retrieve the column name from the active cell or a specific cell. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action. In the Save the column name into local variable field, create or insert an existing string variable.
Get multiple cells	Retrieves the values from cells in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and stores them in a table variable. This action retrieves cell values as string data types. It supports Excel cell formats, including Number, Percentage, Currency, Scientific, and Date. For example, a value from a cell of Currency formatting retains the currency symbol when passed to a table or record variable. Note: You must convert the values to perform non-string operations. Select the Multiple cells or All cells option to specify whether to retrieve the values from a range of cells or all the cells. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action.
Get row number	Retrieves the row number of the active or specific cell and stores it to a string variable. Select the Active cell or Specific cell option to specify whether to retrieve the row number from the active cell or a specific cell. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action. In the Save the row number into local variable field, create or insert an existing string variable.
Get single cell	Retrieves the values from a single cell in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and stores them in a string variable. This action retrieves cell values as string data types. It supports Excel cell formats, including Number, Percentage, Currency, Scientific, and Date. For example, a value from a cell of Currency formatting retains the currency symbol when passed to a table or record variable. Note: You must convert the values to perform non-string operations. Select the Active cell or Specific cell option to specify whether to retrieve the values from the active cell or a specific cell. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action. In the Store cell contents to field, create or insert an existing string variable. You can use the output value to Example of using a conditional statement.
Go to cell	Selects a specific cell in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Select the Active cell or Specific cell option to specify which cell to select. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action.
Open	Reads data from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Note: This action does not open a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. It only enables a task to read data from the spreadsheet.
Replace	See Using the Replace action.
Save workbook	Saves a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to a specified location. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action. Note: When you open an excel file from the Control Room and make changes in the file, the updated file does not save in the Control Room This action is supported only for Excel files opened from the desktop.
Set cell	Sets the value you have specified in a cell in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Select the Active cell or Specific cell option to specify whether to set the value in the active cell or a specific cell.
Set session variable	Assigns the session name to a variable. Use this action in a parent bot, and then insert the variable containing the session name in Excel-related actions in the child bot to associate the actions with the file opened in that session. When you run the bot, it passes the session variable to the child bot, which enables the child bot to process the data in the file opened in the parent bot. Note: The parent and child bots must use actions from the same Excel package version to pass the session variable. Example of sharing an Excel session between bots
Switch to sheet	Activates a specific worksheet. Select to activate the worksheet by the Index value or worksheet Name. The index is the numeric value assigned to the worksheet. Enter the name of the session used to open the workbook with the Open action.