Update the column without editing the workflow

[eZXY]

Hi, is there anyway we can update the column without editing the workflow but using the external file.

For example,

I have input 1 in excel:

File Name

Star ag Report

Moon gr Report

Sun random letter

River random letter

I use the formula to create a new column contract based on the File Name string. like if File Name contains 'Star' then Star.

File Name	Contract
Star ag Report	Star
Moon gr Report	Moon
Sun random letter	Sun
River random letter	River

Since there will be more and more File Name created and I don't want to open the workflow every time to update the formula, is there any better solution? Like to create an external excel if the File Name contains string in the excel then update to the contract 

If file name contains string	Update the Contract
Star	Star
Moon	Moon
Sun	Sun
River	River

File Name is not standardized and will contain some other string, so join can't be used.

Thanks in advance. 

[DavidSkaife]

Hi @eZXY 

You could use the Find Replace Tool in conjuction with a Lookup table like so:

If you make the Lookup input an external Excel file which you can update as and when required, the settings within the Find Replace tool will automatically pick up the string and add the Contract column. It also will not matter where in the file name the word is. Settings for the tool are below:

Also attached the workflow for you to look at.

[caltang]

You could pair a Directory tool and the formula tool to get your CONTAINS statement to fetch you the match you want, then set the update to the name. 

Since you don’t want to keep updating the workflow, you could make it an analytic app where your directory tool is static, but you can update the formula using a text input tool to replace the statement within the formula tool. 

If your data set is huge, then @DavidSkaife ‘s method is a better pick.

[eZXY]

Thank you. It works well. 

Is it the best solution that if I need to match 2 strings in the filename, I need to add 2 find replace tools? 

Let the first find and replace match the first required string and 2nd match the second required one, then formula?

[caltang]

It will help if you can tag @DavidSkaife - that way he is notified of your response. Otherwise it will not go anywhere.... until he checks of course.