Excel For Business



If the business owner is keeping a complete track of the sales, then they will also get an idea about how long it takes for them to reach break even or additional profit levels. Small business establishments and organizations use MS Excel spreadsheet for storing contact information of their clients and customers. What is MS Excel used for in the workplace? Some of the most common business uses are business analysis, managing human resources, performance reporting, and operations management. We know this for a fact after analysing job data (using MS Excel by the way). Keep reading to find out the top 10 business uses of Excel.

  • Yes, Excel is a spreadsheet program, but it’s also serves as a multifunctional tool. You can use it for a number of business-related tasks like tracking and planning or simple analysis and reporting. And the best part is that, in some cases, you don’t even have to start from scratch. MS Excel has a number of templates to get you started.
  • Feb 03, 2011 This is a guest article by Matt, who works as a Business Analyst with allrecipes.com. He shares with us how he is using Excel to become a rockstar business analyst. In his own words, 'At Allrecipes.com we use excel for a variety of purposes. Analyzing site trends, forecasting traffic, charts, dashboards, and slide shows; you name it, we use excel for it. That's why Chandoo's tips have been so.
-->

Excel Online (Business) connector lets you work with Excel files in document libraries supported by Microsoft Graph (OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Sites, and Office 365 Groups).

This connector is available in the following products and regions:

ServiceClassRegions
Logic AppsStandardAll Logic Apps regions except the following:
- Azure China regions
Power AutomateStandardAll Power Automate regions except the following:
- US Government (GCC High)
- China Cloud operated by 21Vianet
Power Apps-Not available
Contact
NameMicrosoft
URLMicrosoft LogicApps Support
Microsoft Power Automate Support
Connector Metadata
PublisherMicrosoft
Websitehttps://products.office.com/excel

Known Issues and Limitations

  • The maximum size of an Excel file that is supported by the Excel Online (Business) connector is 25 MB.
  • The data may not be up to date (there may be some delay) when filtering or sorting is used in the List rows present in a table action.
  • The List rows present in a table action supports basic filtering and sorting:
    • Supports the following filter functions: eq, ne, contains, startswith, endswith.
    • Only 1 filter function can be applied on a column.
    • Only 1 column can be used for sorting.
  • An Excel file may be locked for an update or delete up to 6 minutes since the last use of the connector.
  • A single Excel file should be used by a single connection to prevent writing data from multiple connections and possible data inconsistency.
  • Simultaneous file modifications made by other connectors or manual edits are not supported.
  • The connector supports files only in Microsoft Excel Open XML Spreadsheet format (*.xlsx).
  • The File property expected by the connector's actions should be filled using one of the following options:
    • Pick a file from the file picker.
    • Use an output from the OneDrive for Business connector's triggers/actions (file's Id or File identifier property depending on which one is present for the particular OneDrive for Business's action or trigger).
    • Use an output from the SharePoint connector's triggers/actions (file's Id or Identifier property depending on which one is present for the particular Sharepoint's action or trigger).
  • The connector retrieves rows for 500 columns maximum in the List rows present in a table action. Rows for first 500 columns are returned by default. You can provide comma-separated list of specific columns to retrieve in Select Query parameter.
  • The connector doesn't support using OData parameters for tables that contain hidden columns.
  • The connector timeout caused by re-calculations can occur, either there are complicated formulas or there are too many rows in the worksheet. In both cases, data can be inserted multiple times because of retry policy.
  • The connector will return the Bad Gateway error if the spreadsheet is in a read-only mode. In order to disable read-only mode, please learn more here.
  • Filter Query / Order By / Select Query operation parameters support only alphanumeric column names.
  • Pivot tables are not supported due to Graph API limitations.
  • The connector always returns all document libraries available under the Document Library drop-down control. For most users, only one document library will be returned, but if there are multiple available, all of them will be listed. For more information about document library (e.g. Drive resources) and expected behavior for users, Groups, and Sites, please view this page.
  • If a user makes too many requests within a short period of time, it is possible to get a 429 response. The throttling limit is unique to each request and it varies based on the request count, memory used, and other important factors.
  • In operations such as Delete a row, the key column field is case-sensitive.
  • In case of multiple matches in operations such as Update a row, Delete a row operations, only the first row will be updated/deleted.

Column names handling

Please note that column names in the action's response results may be transformed in order to be compatible with OData format:

CharacterEncoded value
._x002e_
@_x0040_
:_x003a_
#_x0023_

E.g. Column [one]#1 -> Column [one]_x0023_1

General Limits

NameValue
Maximum number of identity column variants that can be used to Get/Insert/Update/Delete a row from a single excel table. Current value is set to 2, which means that up to two column name variants should be in use across workflows for one particular table.2

Concepts and examples

  • Key column: column in a table that will be use to search a value (key value)
  • Key value: value in the key column that will be used to identify a specific row.

Take the following table as an example. To perform a row operation in the second row of the table, the key column should be Column 1 and key value should be 200.

Column 1Column 2Column 3
100A-2A-3
200B-2B-3
300C-2C-3

Throttling Limits

NameCallsRenewal Period
API calls per connection310 seconds

Actions

Add a key column to a table

Add a key column to an Excel table. The new column will be appended to the right.

Add a row into a table

Add a new row into the Excel table.

Add a row into a table [DEPRECATED]

This action has been deprecated. Please use Add a row into a table instead.

Add a new row into the Excel table.

Create table

Create a new table in the Excel workbook.

Create worksheet

Create a new worksheet in the Excel workbook.

Delete a row

Delete a row using a key column.

Get a row

Get a row using a key column.

Get tables

Get a list of tables in the Excel workbook.

Get worksheets

Get a list of worksheets in the Excel workbook.

List rows present in a table

List rows present in a table.

Run script (Preview)

Runs a script against an Excel workbook.

Update a row

Update a row using a key column. The input value will overwrite the specified cells and columns left blank will not be updated. In order to append (instead of overwrite) a value, use the 'Get a row' action to retrieve the content first.

Add a key column to a table

Add a key column to an Excel table. The new column will be appended to the right.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (the colons are required).

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Table
table True string

Select a table from the drop-down.

idColumn string

Provide the key column name.

Add a row into a table

Add a new row into the Excel table.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (colons are required).

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Table
table True string

Select a table from the drop-down.

item True dynamic

Row to add into the specified Excel table.

DateTime Format
dateTimeFormat string

DateTime Format.

Returns

Add a row into a table [DEPRECATED]

This action has been deprecated. Please use Add a row into a table instead.

Add a new row into the Excel table.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (colons are required).

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Table
table True string

Select a table from the drop-down.

item True dynamic

Row to insert into the specified Excel table.

Returns

Create table

Create a new table in the Excel workbook.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (the colons are required).

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Table name
TableName string

Enter the Excel table name.

Range True string

Enter the table address using A1 notation.

Columns names
ColumnsNames string

Enter the columns names separated by ';' or ','.

Returns

Table metadata

Create worksheet

Create a new worksheet in the Excel workbook.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (colons are required).

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Name
name string

Worksheet name.

Returns

Delete a row

Delete a row using a key column.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (the colons are required)

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Table
table True string

Select a table from the drop-down.

idColumn True string

Select a column from the drop-down.

Key Value
id True string

Enter the key value.

Get a row

Get a row using a key column.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (the colons are required)

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Table
table True string

Select a table from the drop-down.

idColumn True string

Select a column from the drop-down.

Key Value
id True string

Enter the key value.

dateTimeFormat string

DateTime Format.

Returns

The outputs of this operation are dynamic.

Get tables

Get a list of tables in the Excel workbook.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (colons are required).

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Returns

NamePathTypeDescription
value
value array of object
value.id string

Table Id.

Name
value.name string

Table name.

value.showBandedColumns boolean

Show banded columns.

Highlight first column
value.highlightFirstColumn boolean

Highlight first column.

value.highlightLastColumn boolean

Highlight last column.

Show banded rows
value.showBandedRows boolean

Show banded rows.

value.showFilterButton boolean

Show filter button.

Show headers
value.showHeaders boolean

Show headers.

value.showTotals boolean

Show totals.

Style
value.style string

Table style.

Get worksheets

Get a list of worksheets in the Excel workbook.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (colons are required).

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Returns

NamePathTypeDescription
value
value array of WorksheetMetadata

List rows present in a table

List rows present in a table.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (the colons are required)

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Table
table True string

Select a table from the drop-down.

$filter string

An ODATA filter query to restrict the entries returned.

Order By
$orderby string

An ODATA orderBy query for specifying the order of entries.

$top integer

Total number of entries to retrieve (default = all).

Skip Count
$skip integer

The number of entries to skip (default = 0).

$select string

Comma-separated list of columns to retrieve (first 500 by default).

DateTime Format
dateTimeFormat string

DateTime Format.

Returns

Run script (Preview)

Runs a script against an Excel workbook.

Parameters

Why Use Excel For Business

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (colons are required).

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Script
scriptId True string

Select the script you want to run from the drop-down.

ScriptParameters True dynamic

Provide the script's parameters.

Returns

Excel For Business Accounting

The outputs of this operation are dynamic.

Update a row

Excel For Business Expenses

Update a row using a key column. The input value will overwrite the specified cells and columns left blank will not be updated. In order to append (instead of overwrite) a value, use the 'Get a row' action to retrieve the content first.

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
source True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following:- 'me'- 'SharePoint Site URL'- 'users/someone's UPN'- 'groups/group Id'- 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (the colons are required)

Document Library
drive True string

Select a document library from the drop-down.

file True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse.

Table
table True string

Select a table from the drop-down.

idColumn True string

Select a column from the drop-down.

Key Value
id True string

Enter the key value.

item True dynamic

Provide the item properties.

DateTime Format
dateTimeFormat string

DateTime Format.

Returns

Triggers

For a selected row

Triggers a flow for a selected row in an Excel table. (Available only for Power Automate.)

For a selected row

Triggers a flow for a selected row in an Excel table. (Available only for Power Automate.)

Parameters

NameKeyRequiredTypeDescription
Location True string

Select from the drop-down or specify one of the following: 'me', 'SharePointSiteURL', 'users/someone's UPN', 'groups/group id', 'sites/SharePoint Site URL:/teams/team name:' (colons are required)

DocumentLibrary
DocumentLibrary True string

Select a document library from the drop-down

File True string

Select an Excel file through File Browse

Table
Table True string

Select a table from the drop-down

Returns

Definitions

TableMetadata

Table metadata

NamePathTypeDescription
name string

Table name

title
title string

Table title

x-ms-permission string

Table permission

x-ms-capabilities
x-ms-capabilities TableCapabilitiesMetadata

Metadata for a table (capabilities)

schema Object
referencedEntities
referencedEntities Object
webUrl string

Url link

TableCapabilitiesMetadata

Metadata for a table (capabilities)

NamePathTypeDescription
sortRestrictions TableSortRestrictionsMetadata

Metadata for a table (sort restrictions)

filterRestrictions
filterRestrictions TableFilterRestrictionsMetadata

Metadata for a table (filter restrictions)

selectRestrictions TableSelectRestrictionsMetadata

Metadata for a table (select restrictions)

isOnlyServerPagable
isOnlyServerPagable boolean

Server paging restrictions

filterFunctionSupport array of string

List of supported filter capabilities

serverPagingOptions
serverPagingOptions array of string

List of supported server-driven paging capabilities

Object

TableSortRestrictionsMetadata

Metadata for a table (sort restrictions)

Excel For Business
NamePathTypeDescription
sortable boolean

Indicates whether this table has sortable columns

unsortableProperties
unsortableProperties array of string

List of unsortable properties

ascendingOnlyProperties array of string

List of properties which support ascending order only

TableFilterRestrictionsMetadata

Metadata for a table (filter restrictions)

NamePathTypeDescription
filterable boolean

Indicates whether this table has filterable columns

nonFilterableProperties
nonFilterableProperties array of string

List of non filterable properties

requiredProperties array of string

List of required properties

TableSelectRestrictionsMetadata

Metadata for a table (select restrictions)

NamePathTypeDescription
selectable boolean

Indicates whether this table has selectable columns

WorksheetMetadata

NamePathTypeDescription
id string

Worksheet Id.

Name
name string

Worksheet name.

position integer

Worksheet position.

Visibility
visibility string

Worksheet visibility.