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WSheet Use

See the older version of this step (before May 2021) below

WSheet Use is the most frequent process step in Djeeni to tell that the process has something to do with a worksheet. It does much more than just 'open' an existing workbook with a specified worksheet in it:

  • Based on settings it can also create a new worksheet in an existing workbook; even further it can create a new workbook with the first worksheet;
  • It can use a template worksheet (unlike MS Excel that can only use a template workbook) to prefill the cells of the worksheet with formulas or data;
  • You can assign a logical Djeeni name to it that makes your process much more readable and understandable;
  • Last but not least you can define a dynamic name to the workbook and worksheet using Djeeni formulas.

The WSheet Use process step has these parameters

  • Worksheet Djeeni name: this name identifies the worksheet in the process
  • Worksheet Excel name: name of the worksheet as displayed in Excel. The speciality of Djeeni that it understands if you only specify here the sheet number of an existing worksheet in the workbook. Quite frequently we work with workbooks with just one or a few worksheets. You can fill this parameter e.g. with 1 and Djeeni will use the first worksheet in the workbook - does not matter how it is called. Very handy if you work in an international environment or use export files from IT systems with dynamic worksheet names.
  • From workbook: The physical location (path) of the workbook to be used:
    • it can be a fixed path like C:\finance\budget\2020\plan.xlsx; but
    • you can specify dynamic path like c:\finance\budget\[=wsSettings!B4]\plan.xlsx to use a value from another (parameter) worksheet; in this case the value of cell B4 from the worksheet identified by the Djeeni name wsSettings; or
    • even combine Excel functions with Djeeni formulas like c:\finance\budget\[+FORMAT(TODAY(),“yyyy”)]\actual.xlsx to access the current year folder on the day the process runs.
  • File type: Djeeni currently supports standard XLSX and CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. We are continuously expanding the covered file types.
  • Using Template: Fill this optional parameter if you want to copy the content of another worksheet to it. It can be used only for Target worksheets (see the next parameter). The template data will overwrite the existing content. If you use it then you should follow the Excel syntax by adding the worksheet Excel name behind the workbook path separated by an exclamation mark. Example: if you want to use the worksheet EmptyBudget from the workbook c:\finance\templates\budget.xlsx then this parameter gets the value c:\finance\templates\budget.xlsx!EmptyBudget.
  • Use worksheet as: You can choose from Source and Target. Source worksheets will be protected by Djeeni and their data will not be accidentally overwritten or otherwise modified. Target worksheets can still be used to read data from them for processing.
  • Target worksheet Exists / Not exists action: It can be specified what should happen if a target worksheet already exists or does not exist yet. Possible settings:
    • If worksheet does exist then use it as is; If worksheet does not exist then stop with error: this option is useful when we want to add data to an existing worksheet
    • If worksheet does exist then use it as is; If worksheet does not exist then create it: this option is useful when we want to create a worksheet and then add data to it (e.g. start a new worksheet every month and then add daily data to it)
    • If worksheet does exist then delete and recreate it; If worksheet does not exist then create it: this option is useful when we want to create the worksheet always from scratch (e.g. if the source is modified after an error is discovered in it then everything should be reprocessed again)
    • If worksheet does exist then stop with Error; If worksheet does not exist then create it: this option avoids accidentally overwriting an existing worksheet (probably an older version that must be kept)
  • Options: Future settings like updating links of the worksheet upon opening it; Adding possible passwords for password protected workbooks.

Examples

Opening an existing worksheet

The worksheet does exist and its workbook has a (possibly dynamic) location therefore the workbook path and the Excel name are known. Also it is known if the worksheet is used only as a data source or will also be modified (target). In case of the Target value is set then the Target action parameter can be set to Exists: use as is / Not Exists: Error.

Adding a new worksheet to an existing workbook

Creating a new workbook with its first worksheet

WSheet Use - version 1

WSheet Use is an acronym for worksheet use - in this process step the user can specify the worksheet and the workbook that will be used in the next steps of the process and define the parameters, such as writing permissions (declaring the worksheet either as a source or a target), updating links and passwords.

Every worksheet that is used during a process (either source or target) should be declared within Djeeni with the following parameters:

  • Worksheet Djeeni name: this name identifies the worksheet during the process
  • Workbook folder: The physical location of the workbook to be used
  • Workbook name (without filetype/extension): the name of the workbook file
  • Workbook filetype/extension: the extension, identifying the version of an excel document (either .xls or .xlsx)
  • Worksheet Excel name: name of the worksheet as displayed in Excel that you would like to use
  • Use worksheet as: here you can either choose Source or Target (default). Source worksheets are not allowed to be modified so Djeeni protects your data sources from accidentally being overwritten. Target worksheets on the other hand can be modified in consecutive process steps
  • Update links in the workbook?: If links in the workbook must be updated before using it: Yes (default) / No
  • If Target then worksheet action: It can be decided what should happen if the worksheet already exists or does not yet exist. Possible settings:
    • If worksheet does exist then use it as is; If worksheet does not exist then stop with error: this option is useful when we want to add data to an existing worksheet
    • If worksheet does exist then use it as is; If worksheet does not exist then create it: this option is useful when we want to create a worksheet and then add data to it (e.g. start a new worksheet every month and then add daily data to it)
    • If worksheet does exist then delete and recreate it; If worksheet does not exist then create it: this option is useful when we want to create the worksheet always from scratch (e.g. if the source is modified after an error is discovered in it then everything should be reprocessed again)
    • If worksheet does exist then stop with Error; If worksheet does not exist then create it: this option avoids accidentally overwriting an existing worksheet
  • Workbook open password (Optional): Password for opening the containing workbook
  • Workbook write-reserved password (Optional): Password for writing the containing workbook