Close Excel on another pc on Network

[Yupei]

Hi,

Is it possible for me to close an excel page on a computer in the network via a scheduled workflow?

Reason is: every day at 4 I need to update an excel sheet with new sample IDs for the new samples coming in, but I cannot write to an excel sheet if it's already open.

Thanks.

[BenMoss]

This doesn't sound like the best usecase for Alteryx, it may be possible using some external scripts which you can then trigger with Alteryx, but the file may be open for a reason by another user and therefor forcing a close may cause all manor of concerns and I'm not sure an IT dept would want you doing this!

[Yupei]

How would I do it using external scripts?

Would it just be some type of taskkill via a cmd .bat?

The file is used to make some calculations to numbers before they are entered into a database. It is only used by technicians in the testing lab. And as with everything, things have to made fool-proof and with the least number of steps from a user.

Telling them to close the excel, then to run the workflow on the server is too many steps. As of now, the file is just kept open all the time.

[clant · Accepted solution]

If I was you i would do this in access. The best way is to create a table in one access, then link this table to another access file and create a form. The users then just need access runtime and your good to go.

cheers

chris

[Yupei]

Apologies for my questions, not too familiar with access.

Would an access form allow all of the values of one column to be filled first, then the next? Or does all the data per row need to be at the same time?

Techs first enter the dry weight for all the tubes in the batch they are running, then they enter the all the sample weights, then they enter all the wet weights after testing.

Additionally I am working on linking the balance up to the computer so they don't have to manually type in the values, they can be transmitted from the balance.

Does an access form allow you to move down one row after an enter keystroke like Excel? (there would be a third party program in the back that handles the input signal from the balance, and automatically add an enter keystroke after each input)

[clant]

Hello Yupei,

This should be possible if you setup the form as a datasheet. I had looked at it before and it worked but never put it into production myself.

cheers

chris