Rename Excel file, without table, based on a cell.

[OliverAvenue]

I have to download several Excel files each week, rename them by adding the date and location, then upload them to SharePoint (Or Microsoft Teams).

This is easy work, but not a good use of my work time if it can be automated.

The date added can be the date I download them. The location can be added by referring to a cell within the Excel file.

- Specifically, the cell data shows some text which could then be converted to a different line of text for the file name. For instance, converting "_LongName" to "Long".

The snag is that the Excel files do not contain tables, and I can't figure out how to do this without tables. I do not have Power Automate Premium, but I'm hopeful this is still possible. On paper, these are all if/then statements which make for a simple algorithm. I just don't know how to access a specific cell in an Excel file when it doesn't have a table.

[narayan225]

@OliverAvenue 

You can use scripts in the excel file to get the data. However, I am not very proficient in this. You can use the following article as an example:

https://www.powertechtips.com/get-cell-value-power-automate/

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

[AlexEncodian]

@OliverAvenue / @narayan225 

Your back-up to access data within Excel that is not in tables and using a Power Automate action, is Encodian's Get Rows from Excel action. By limiting the rows/columns, you can target a specific cell to extract data from and use this in your flow. 

NB: this action was just approved by Microsoft and is rolling out in different Azure regions. It should be in most regions now but if you don't see it yet, it will be available shortly.

[OliverAvenue]

Thank you. I'm hopeful shortly is EXTREMELY soon.

[OliverAvenue]

Thank you! Hopefully, I'm misunderstanding the instructions, but it looks like I have to create a script in the file first. Do you know if I can automate that process? Opening each file would make more work for me than saving time.

Whether this will work or not, thanks for taking the time to help!

[AlexEncodian]

Its already available in my tenant and I know it has rolled out in a few other regions. Have you checked whether its available for you? If not, it should be any day now (but it is up to Microsoft and out of Encodian's control)

[narayan225]

@OliverAvenue 

Yes, you will need to create scripts to be able to run them.

Here is a video that might help. You can save the script in one file and run across other files:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMg711o7k6w

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

[OliverAvenue]

It wasn't there yesterday, but it's there today! Unfortunately, it doesn't match what's on the Encodian link you shared. It's asking for "Connection Type", and I don't know what that is. Know what I should do next?

 

[OliverAvenue]

Good news! I have this working really well, except for one thing.

When the whole process is over, I go to delete the original file I added to Sharepoint, and Teams says it can't delete the file, because it's currently in use. If I can solve that issue, then I can automate it to delete, and I'll have exactly what I want. I'm attaching screenshots of my flow.

So, now my question is... How do I close the original file so that I can automate it to be deleted?