Activities for integrating cases with Excel documents

To integrate case data with external resources, call the pxParseExcelFile and pxGenerateExcelFile activities that Pega Platform provides. By calling these activities, you can import and export case data by using Excel files. For example, if a customer in a bank loan dispute provides income information in an Excel file, you can use the pxParseExcelFile activity to read the file and integrate the data into the case processing.
The pxParseExcelFile and pxGenerateExcelFile activities are both final activities and APIs.

The pxParseExcelFile activity

The following table lists the features that Pega Platform supports when parsing Excel files with the pxParseExcelFile activity:
Feature Name Supported in Pega Platform 8.1 Supported in Pega Platform 8.2 and later Description
Supported file format .xlsx Yes Yes N/A
Row-level parsing   Yes Yes The application parses an uploaded file row by row and replaces every cell value with a corresponding value from the clipboard.
Sheet-specific parsing   Yes Yes The application parses specific sheets within an Excel file after you parse the required sheet names as a comma-separated parameter. Otherwise, the application parses all of the sheets.
Supported Excel cell types String Yes Yes N/A
Numeric Yes Yes N/A
Boolean Yes Yes N/A
Formula No Yes N/A
Date No Yes N/A
Supported clipboard data types String Yes Yes N/A
Integer Yes Yes N/A
Double Yes Yes N/A
Date Yes Yes N/A
Boolean Yes Yes N/A
Properties from any clipboard page, such as a report definition or data page Page Yes Yes Pega Platform supports only single-level page lists, for example in the following format: {.pxResuls().value input} , {.description input}
PageList Yes Yes
Styles Font, cell, color Yes Yes The application ignores any cell styles while parsing data to the clipboard.

The following table lists the parameters that Pega Platform supports when parsing Excel files with the pxParseExcelFile activity:

Parameter Supported in Pega Platform 8.1 Supported in Pega Platform 8.2 and later Description
FSFileName Yes Yes The name of the file to parse.
TemplateRFB Yes Yes Template details in the Fileformat!Filename!xlsx format.
sheetsToParse Yes Yes Sheet names stored as comma-separated values. If the parameter is empty, the application skips validation and parses all of the sheets.
sheetWiseData Yes Yes When checked, the application organizes parsed data sheetwise by using the pySheets(sheet name) page group.
hasHeader Yes Yes The application returns a list of template sheets with a header that has two rows – a header and a property information row, and a list of templates that have headers but no property information row.
bDeleteFile Yes Yes When the value is true, the application deletes the file after parsing.
outputPageName Yes Yes When you define this parameter, the application saves all the error, warning, and information messages on this page. When you leave the parameter blank, the application saves the messages on the primary page.

The pxGenerateExcelFile activity

The following table lists features that Pega Platform supports when generating Excel files with the pxGenerateExcelFile activity:
Feature Name Supported in Pega Platform 8.1 Supported in Pega Platform 8.2 and later Description
Supported file format .xlsx Yes Yes N/A
Column-level generation   Yes Yes The application generates a file column by column, supporting both homogenous and non-homogenous types of data, for example, columns with an unequal numbers of rows.
Supported template type Rule File Binary (RFB) Yes Yes Template sheets with a header need to have two rows – a header and a property information row. Template sheets without a header row still need to have a property information row.
Supported Excel cell types String Yes Yes  
Numeric Yes Yes  
Boolean Yes Yes  
Formula No Yes  
Date No Yes  
Hyperlink No Yes Sample cell value: {.pxResults().linkToSheet HYPERLINK} where linkToSheet is in the following format: Label|SHEET|SheetName!CellPosition
Supported clipboard data pages Text Yes Yes  
Decimal Yes Yes  
Double Yes Yes  
Integer Yes Yes  
Date Yes Yes  
TimeOfDay Yes Yes  
DateTime Yes Yes  
TrueFalse Yes Yes  
Properties from any clipboard page Page Yes Yes Pega Platform supports only single-level page lists, for example in the following format: {.pxResuls().value input} , {.description input}
PageList Yes Yes
Styles Font, cell, color Yes Yes The application clones styles from a template and applies them to respective column cells in the generated files.
The following table lists parameters that Pega Platform supports when generating Excel files with the pxGenerateExcelFile activity:
Parameter Supported in Pega Platform 8.1 Supported in Pega Platform 8.2 and later Description
FSFileName Yes Yes The name of the file to download.
TemplateRFB Yes Yes Template details in the Fileformat!Filename!xlsx format.
DownloadFile Yes Yes If the value is true, the application downloads the generated file.
DeleteFileAfterDownload Yes Yes If the value is true, the server deletes the generated file after the application downloads the file.