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Excel Watcher

Monitor Excel file changes and content changes

Excel Watcher

AI-generated

Summary

Monitor either a folder for Excel file additions or modifications, or monitor a specific Excel file's sheet for row-level data changes such as additions, updates, and deletions.

Inputs

  • Monitoring Mode (required) — Choose between 'Watch Files' to monitor Excel files in a folder or 'Watch Content' to monitor data changes within a specific Excel file.
  • Folder Path (required) — When in 'Watch Files' mode, specify the folder path to monitor for Excel files (supports UNC paths).
  • File Pattern — When in 'Watch Files' mode, provide comma-separated file name patterns to match (only .xlsx supported).
  • Trigger Events (required) — When in 'Watch Files' mode, specify which events to trigger on: file added and/or file changed.
  • Ignore Temp Files — When in 'Watch Files' mode, optionally filter out Excel temporary lock files (starting with ~$).
  • Stability Time (seconds) — When in 'Watch Files' mode, set the delay after file stops changing before triggering to avoid partial reads.
  • File Path (required) — When in 'Watch Content' mode, specify the path of the Excel file to monitor; a snapshot file is used to track content changes.
  • Sheet Name — When in 'Watch Content' mode, specify the sheet to monitor; if empty, the first sheet is used.
  • Primary Key Column (required) — When in 'Watch Content' mode, specify the column letter used as the primary key to identify rows.
  • Check Interval (seconds) — When in 'Watch Content' mode, specify how frequently to check the Excel file for content changes.
  • Detect Changes (required) — When in 'Watch Content' mode, choose which row-level changes to detect: additions, updates, and/or deletions.
  • Header Row Number — When in 'Watch Content' mode, specify the row number containing column headers (defaults to 1).
  • Advanced Settings — Additional options including polling on network drives, recursive folder watching, file lock checks, and comparison settings such as ignoring empty rows, case sensitivity, and trimming whitespace.

Output shape

a list of JSON objects describing detected changes or file events

In 'Watch Files' mode, emits an object for each matched file addition or modification event with file metadata and event type. In 'Watch Content' mode, periodically compares the current content against a snapshot and emits each changed row with a '_rowStatus' field indicating 'add', 'update', or 'delete'. First run in content mode establishes baseline without emitting events. Snapshot file can be deleted to reset baseline. Supports automatic waiting for file availability and file locking avoidance.

Examples

Example 1: Watch a folder for new or modified Excel files

Set Monitoring Mode to 'Watch Files', specify the Folder Path, file patterns, and choose which events to trigger on (additions and/or changes). The node triggers once matching Excel files are added or modified.

Example 2: Monitor an Excel file for data row changes

Set Monitoring Mode to 'Watch Content', provide the file path and optional sheet name, specify the primary key column to identify rows uniquely, set the check interval, and select which row changes to detect (add, update, delete). The node emits detailed changes per row on each interval.

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