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need help automating copy/pasting and saving a renamed file

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Posted on by averma

Hi Guys

First time here. I am trying to automate a repetitive task to Copy all the rows for a selected value in drop down in a column and Paste it on another worksheet in a separate workbook and then save this new workbook by renaming it by copy pasting a value from a specific cell.

Basically I have a huge master data for a facilities management company with information on each site that they manage. Each site has its unique ID. I usually select the unique ID for a site at a time and then copy the relevant data and then paste it onto a new worksheet on a new workbook. and then I rename the file using Save as option in excel by copying the name of the site from a particular cell in the worksheet and pasting it in the dialogue box which prompts me to save. Could you please help, I hope what I've written makes sense. Thanks

This is how far I've come so far.

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Power Automate Desktop

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DanielOlsson 111 on at

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I think for each line of the exceldata[0] where 0 is the line, you should add a variable example row. exceldata[row]
Then you can add a variable before the for each loop. row =0 then at end of each loop increase row by 1. that make you loop each row of data into the currentitem variable. Then select the data you want, use the excel write command to write to the other file. using write to, next free row by looping in after each write, a check next free row in the destination. something like that could work?

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averma 43 on at

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Hi Daniel

Thanks for your response. This is what I understood.

Its come up with error when I assign the row number and I've even used the Header name of the column that didn't work i.e. %ExcelData['Building Code Automate']%
P.S. Please note the use of NewVar to define the end row on 'Copy cells from Excel worksheet' option
This is the sheet I am working with

I want to copy all the rows where column B is 0006 which goes upto row 35 and then row number 36 is a different site with a different code.
Then since I am using the same Analysis template for all the sites. I want to use 'Save as' on the Analysis template Excel workbook and rename it with the site name which is in cell F2. That way I can keep the original template.

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DanielOlsson 111 on at

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No your loop is wrong, The set var should be inside the loop as per each round. Excel data contain your data so you don't have to read it. Click on it the * after you run the thing once with the code open and you can see it. you then need to loop the writes into the excel only.

For each line in excel data, write to excel. Each row in excel data has a number starting with 0. hence you could set the variable to that data and use the variable in the write. Below is another way to do the loop,
first of the [0][0] rows the other is column. The danger with this loop type of loop is that it can go longer then you have data and crash out.

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MichaelAnnis 5,727 Moderator on at

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If all of this is happening in Excel. I highly recommend using Excel VBA, it is much faster and has way more capabilities to work with Excel. Then your PAD is simply:
1) Launch Excel [MacroWorkbook].xlsx
2) Run Excel Macro

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Community Power Pla... Microsoft Employee on at

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Hi @averma
Filtering by loop is a valid method but it can be time consuming with larger data tables/lists since PAD runtime is not great (see, for instance, this thread). Don't know if that's your case.
@MichaelAnnis is right about VBA being more efficient for 'excel only' scenarios.
But if you need low-code and stick with PAD, an alternative approach is navigate through Excel commands using shortcuts.
This flow was tested and worked as intended:
1) 'Launch Excel' and open your master data workbook (%ExcelInstance1%)
2) 'Focus windows', Windows class = XLMAIN (in order to 'Send keys' actions work properly, the correct window must be focused)
3) 'Activate cell in Excel worksheet', row = 1 and column = number of column you want to filter
3) 'Send keys' {LShiftKey}({LControlKey}({L})). This sends Ctrl+Alt+L to Excel, which is the shortcut to apply filters (not necessary if you already have filter applied to data range)
4) 'Send keys' {Alt}({Down}). This sends Alt+Down to display filter drop down menu
5) 'Display input dialog' to capture ID you want to filter. It generates %UserInput% as variable
6) 'Send keys' {Tab}{Tab}{Tab}{Tab}{Tab}{Tab}{Tab}{Tab}%UserInput%{Return}. This fills the desired ID in Search field and filters the range
7) 'Send keys' {Control}({A}), to select all the filtered range (Ctrl+A shortcut)
😎'Send keys' {Control}({C}), to copy the selected range (Ctrl+C shortcut)
9) 'Read from Excel worksheet', row = 2, column = number of column that has the name you want to your 2nd Excel workbook. Rename output variable to %FileName%
10) 'Launch Excel' with a blank workbook (%ExcelInstance2%)
11) 'Paste cells to Excel worksheet' in ExcelInstance2, row = 1 and column = 1
12) 'Display select folder dialog' to select where to save the new workbook. This generates %SelectedFolder% as output variable
13) 'Save Excel' ExcelInstance2, save as document path = %SelectedFolder%\%FileName%

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yoko2020 495 on at

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@averma

Try filtering using sql query.

SELECT * FROM [South west tracker$]
where [Building Code Automate] = '0006'

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averma 43 on at

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Hi Danielle

Thanks for you assistance yesterday. Your nudges really helped. I am new to power automate so took me a while to grasp its nuances. This is the final code that is working perfectly fine. Its not that intuitive but once I understood the features, a few trials and it was good to go!

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averma 43 on at

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Thanks MichaelAnnis
I agree. I have been using VBA in the past but wanted to test the full functionality of the PAD. With a few trials and extra hours, I was able to use the system this time. But I agree the scope is limited as it currently stands.

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averma 43 on at

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Thanks yasunm02, As you rightly picked up, I wanted to use PAD to test its functionality. I have been able to crack but thanks to pointing out to your methods of using Excel shortcuts in the flow. It certainly is useful in tricky situations.

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averma 43 on at

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Thanks yoko2020, wasn't aware that we can include sql query with PAD. I'll definitely check it out. I am used to using sql independently as well but it would be worth to check out how I can use PAD to work more efficiently.

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