I'm writing something in powershell to watch file 'A' for changes and open file 'B' when it does. The only problem is the excel file (B) has vba code to run on open that has to copy over the data on file 'A.' From my research it seems like I have to open file 'A' to do this since it has to be a .xlsx and opening it starts a continuous loop.
I've tried the sleep command, but it seems like it's still watching the file during or before the sleep, and then just opens the file again once it has waited the amount of time I tell it.
How do I make the watcher stop watching for just a minute or so?
Here is the code I'm working with currently:
Function Register-Watcher {
param ($folder)
$filter = "*.xlsx"
$folder = "\\powershell\watcher\test\folder"
$watcher = New-Object IO.FileSystemWatcher $folder, $filter -Property #{
IncludeSubdirectories = $false
EnableRaisingEvents = $true
}
$changeAction = [scriptblock]::Create('
$path = $Event.SourceEventArgs.FullPath
$name = $Event.SourceEventArgs.Name
$changeType = $Event.SourceEventArgs.ChangeType
$timeStamp = $Event.TimeGenerated
Write-Host "The file $name was $changeType at $timeStamp"
$Excel = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$Excel.Workbooks.Open("\\powershell\watcher\test\folder\fileB.xlsm")
sleep 60
')
Register-ObjectEvent $Watcher "Changed" -Action $changeAction
}
Register-Watcher "\\powershell\watcher\test\folder\fileA.xlsx"
$Change
You can stop it from raiseing events using
$watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = $false
You can read more about it here from Microsoft
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.io.filesystemwatcher.enableraisingevents?view=netframework-4.7.2#System_IO_FileSystemWatcher_EnableRaisingEvents
Related
I have a software that just allows me to download my data in xls files but I want to use it as an xlsx file.
Currently I have an excel macro when I click on a button it converts all my xls files in xlsx but I want to automate this task so I don't have to open the excel file and click on the button.
I was thinking of a script that start when I log in windows or something like that, and it converts automatically my xls file when I download it. But I'm not very good with scripts so anyone can help me with that ? It's on windows 7 and 10.
Thank you for your help.
Edit:
Here is my Powershell script, now I have to automate it so that it runs automatically when I download a new .xls file, I know I can use the task scheduler but how can I do that automation on en event like adding a new xls file to a folder ? Or maybe we can do it in powershell ?
My script:
$xlFixedFormat = [Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XlFileFormat]::xlOpenXMLWorkbook
write-host $xlFixedFormat
$excel = New-Object -ComObject excel.application
$excel.visible = $false
$folderpath = "C:\Users\Mgtspare\Downloads\"
$filetype ="*xls"
Get-ChildItem -Path $folderpath -Include $filetype -recurse |
ForEach-Object `
{
$path = ($_.fullname).substring(0, ($_.FullName).lastindexOf("."))
"Converting $path"
$workbook = $excel.workbooks.open($_.fullname)
$path += ".xlsx"
$workbook.saveas($path, $xlFixedFormat)
$workbook.close()
remove-item $_.fullname
}
$excel.Quit()
$excel = $null
[gc]::collect()
[gc]::WaitForPendingFinalizers()
UPDATE:
I changed my script to have a new script faster and I put a watcher so I run the script when a new xls file is downloaded, I will use task manager to run this script when I log in windows so it can watch without doing anything.
Here is my new script:
### SET FOLDER TO WATCH + FILES TO WATCH + SUBFOLDERS YES/NO
$watcher = New-Object System.IO.FileSystemWatcher
$watcher.Path = "C:\Users\Mgtspare\Downloads"
$watcher.Filter = "*.xls"
$watcher.IncludeSubdirectories = $false
$watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = $true
### DEFINE ACTIONS AFTER AN EVENT IS DETECTED
$action = {
$watcher.Path *.xls | rename-item -newname { [io.path]::ChangeExtension($_.name, "xlsx") }
}
### DECIDE WHICH EVENTS SHOULD BE WATCHED
Register-ObjectEvent $watcher "Created" -Action $action
while ($true) {sleep 5}
Issue:
My script run in the ISE but when i want to run it in cmd or with the right click on my script file and run with with powershell I have this issue
You must provide a value expression on the right-hand side of the '*' operator.
The below script automatically runs each morning with Task Manager
### SET FOLDER TO WATCH + FILES TO WATCH + SUBFOLDERS YES/NO
$watcher = New-Object System.IO.FileSystemWatcher
$watcher.Path = "C:\Users\Mgtspare\Downloads"
#$watcher.Filter = "*.*"
$watcher.IncludeSubdirectories = $true
$watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = $true
### DEFINE ACTIONS AFTER AN EVENT IS DETECTED
$action = {
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\Mgtspare\Downloads *.xls | rename-item -newname { [io.path]::ChangeExtension($_.name, "xlsx") }
}
### DECIDE WHICH EVENTS SHOULD BE WATCHED
Register-ObjectEvent $watcher 'Created' -SourceIdentifier 'FileCreated' -Action $action
while ($true) {sleep 1000}
I need to open file B when file A is changed and then let file B open file A without triggering the watcher again. My thoughts are that I can do this with an if statement in '$changeAction' that checks to see if File B is open first.
I imagine this would be something like:
if(file B is open, then do nothing, else open file B)
How do I write this in Powershell?
Function Register-Watcher {
param ($folder)
$filter = "*.xlsx"
$folder = "\\powershell\watcher\test\folder"
$watcher = New-Object IO.FileSystemWatcher $folder, $filter -Property #{
IncludeSubdirectories = $false
EnableRaisingEvents = $true
}
$changeAction = [scriptblock]::Create('
$path = $Event.SourceEventArgs.FullPath
$name = $Event.SourceEventArgs.Name
$changeType = $Event.SourceEventArgs.ChangeType
$timeStamp = $Event.TimeGenerated
Write-Host "The file $name was $changeType at $timeStamp"
$Excel = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$Excel.Workbooks.Open("\\powershell\watcher\test\folder\fileB.xlsm") #this should be the 'else' in the 'if File B is open#
')
Register-ObjectEvent $Watcher "Changed" -Action $changeAction
}
Register-Watcher "\\powershell\watcher\test\folder\fileA.xlsx"
$Change
To do this, you could check if there any Excel process running which has opened a particular file.
Get-CimInstance Win32_Process -Filter "CommandLine like '%filepath.xlsx%'"
Based on the output of the above expression, you can decide wether to open the file or not.
I have an issue opening a spreadsheet via PowerShell, renaming a worksheet, saving and closing Excel. The issue is when run the first time the $WorkBook variable is null. If I run it a second time the script works fine. Also if I add $ExcelDoc.Visible = $true the script works fine. Does anyone have an idea why the script fails on it first run in the form it is below?
$Path = "C:\ScriptRepository\CQC\DataToLoad\"
$FileName = (Get-ChildItem $Path).FullName
$FileName2 = (Get-ChildItem $Path).Name
Start-Sleep 2
$ExcelDoc = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$WorkBook = $ExcelDoc.Workbooks.Open($FileName)
$WorkSheet = $WorkBook.Worksheets.Item(2)
$WorkSheet.Name = "CQCProviders"
$WorkBook.Save()
$WorkBook.Close()
$ExcelDoc.Quit()
While([System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($ExcelDoc)) {}
I am running the script below as a scheduled task with the user logged on the server. It converts an xls file to csv using the Excel.Application COM object. The conversion works, but eventually breaks and I don't know why.
I have the task run the following command which should in theory allow it to run constantly:
powershell.exe -noexit -file "filename.ps1"
Any thoughts on what to try?
$server = "\\server"
$xls = "\path\XLS\"
$csv = "\path\CSV\"
$folder = $server + $xls
$destination = $server + $csv
$filter = "*.xls" # <-- set this according to your requirements
$fsw = New-Object IO.FileSystemWatcher $folder, $filter -Property #{
IncludeSubdirectories = $true # <-- set this according to your requirements
NotifyFilter = [IO.NotifyFilters]"FileName, LastWrite"
}
Register-ObjectEvent $fsw Created -SourceIdentifier FileCreated -Action {
$path = $Event.SourceEventArgs.FullPath
$name = $Event.SourceEventArgs.Name
$changeType = $Event.SourceEventArgs.ChangeType
$timeStamp = $Event.TimeGenerated
$excelFile = $folder + $name
$E = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$E.Visible = $false
$E.DisplayAlerts = $false
$wb = $E.Workbooks.Open($excelFile)
foreach ($ws in $wb.Worksheets) {
$n = "output_" + $name -replace ".XLS"
$ws.SaveAs($destination + $n + ".csv", 6)
}
$E.Quit()
}
I was doing something similar with word. I couldnt use Quit alone. I think using Quit hides Excel. Try releasing the com object by using:
$E.Quit()
[System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($E)
Remove-Variable E
i dont know if you are opening the Excel application but if you are you can maybe use
$wb.close($false)
Let me know if it works...
Ref: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff730962.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
I have this PowerShell code that loops through Excel files in a specified directory; references a list of known passwords to find the correct one; and then opens, decrypts, and saves that file to a new directory.
But it's not executing as quickly as I'd like (it's part of a larger ETL process and it's a bottleneck). At this point I can remove the passwords faster manually as the script takes ~40 minutes to decrypt 40 workbooks while referencing a list of ~50 passwords.
Is there a cmdlet or function (or something) that's missing which would speed this up, an overlooked flaw in the processing, or is PowerShell, perhaps, just not the right tool for this job?
Original Code (updated code can be found below):
$ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue"
CLS
# Paths
$encrypted_path = "C:\PoShTest\Encrypted\"
$decrypted_Path = "C:\PoShTest\Decrypted\"
$original_Path = "C:\PoShTest\Originals\"
$password_Path = "C:\PoShTest\Passwords\Passwords.txt"
# Load Password Cache
$arrPasswords = Get-Content -Path $password_Path
# Load File List
$arrFiles = Get-ChildItem $encrypted_path
# Create counter to display progress
[int] $count = ($arrfiles.count -1)
# Loop through each file
$arrFiles| % {
$file = get-item -path $_.fullname
# Display current file
write-host "Processing" $file.name -f "DarkYellow"
write-host "Items remaining: " $count `n
# Excel xlsx
if ($file.Extension -eq ".xlsx") {
# Loop through password cache
$arrPasswords | % {
$passwd = $_
# New Excel Object
$ExcelObj = $null
$ExcelObj = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$ExcelObj.Visible = $false
# Attempt to open file
$Workbook = $ExcelObj.Workbooks.Open($file.fullname,1,$false,5,$passwd)
$Workbook.Activate()
# if password is correct - Save new file without password to $decrypted_Path
if ($Workbook.Worksheets.count -ne 0) {
$Workbook.Password=$null
$savePath = $decrypted_Path+$file.Name
write-host "Decrypted: " $file.Name -f "DarkGreen"
$Workbook.SaveAs($savePath)
# Close document and Application
$ExcelObj.Workbooks.close()
$ExcelObj.Application.Quit()
# Move original file to $original_Path
move-item $file.fullname -Destination $original_Path -Force
}
else {
# Close document and Application
write-host "PASSWORD NOT FOUND: " $file.name -f "Magenta"
$ExcelObj.Close()
$ExcelObj.Application.Quit()
}
}
}
$count--
# Next File
}
Write-host "`n Processing Complete" -f "Green"
Updated code:
# Get Current EXCEL Process ID's so they are not affected but the scripts cleanup
# SilentlyContinue in case there are no active Excels
$currentExcelProcessIDs = (Get-Process excel -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).Id
$a = Get-Date
$ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue"
CLS
# Paths
$encrypted_path = "C:\PoShTest\Encrypted"
$decrypted_Path = "C:\PoShTest\Decrypted\"
$processed_Path = "C:\PoShTest\Processed\"
$password_Path = "C:\PoShTest\Passwords\Passwords.txt"
# Load Password Cache
$arrPasswords = Get-Content -Path $password_Path
# Load File List
$arrFiles = Get-ChildItem $encrypted_path
# Create counter to display progress
[int] $count = ($arrfiles.count -1)
# New Excel Object
$ExcelObj = $null
$ExcelObj = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$ExcelObj.Visible = $false
# Loop through each file
$arrFiles| % {
$file = get-item -path $_.fullname
# Display current file
write-host "`n Processing" $file.name -f "DarkYellow"
write-host "`n Items remaining: " $count `n
# Excel xlsx
if ($file.Extension -like "*.xls*") {
# Loop through password cache
$arrPasswords | % {
$passwd = $_
# Attempt to open file
$Workbook = $ExcelObj.Workbooks.Open($file.fullname,1,$false,5,$passwd)
$Workbook.Activate()
# if password is correct, remove $passwd from array and save new file without password to $decrypted_Path
if ($Workbook.Worksheets.count -ne 0)
{
$Workbook.Password=$null
$savePath = $decrypted_Path+$file.Name
write-host "Decrypted: " $file.Name -f "DarkGreen"
$Workbook.SaveAs($savePath)
# Added to keep Excel process memory utilization in check
$ExcelObj.Workbooks.close()
# Move original file to $processed_Path
move-item $file.fullname -Destination $processed_Path -Force
}
else {
# Close Document
$ExcelObj.Workbooks.Close()
}
}
}
$count--
# Next File
}
# Close Document and Application
$ExcelObj.Workbooks.close()
$ExcelObj.Application.Quit()
Write-host "`nProcessing Complete!" -f "Green"
Write-host "`nFiles w/o a matching password can be found in the Encrypted folder."
Write-host "`nTime Started : " $a.ToShortTimeString()
Write-host "Time Completed : " $(Get-Date).ToShortTimeString()
Write-host "`nTotal Duration : "
NEW-TIMESPAN –Start $a –End $(Get-Date)
# Remove any stale Excel processes created by this script's execution
Get-Process excel -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object{$currentExcelProcessIDs -notcontains $_.id} | Stop-Process
If nothing else I do see one glaring performance issue that should be easy to address. You are opening a new excel instance for testing each individual password for each document. 40 workbooks with 50 passwords mean you have opened 2000 Excel instances one at a time.
You should be able to keep using the same one without a functionality hit. Get this code out of your inner most loop
# New Excel Object
$ExcelObj = $null
$ExcelObj = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$ExcelObj.Visible = $false
as well as the snippet that would close the process. It would need to be out of the loop as well.
$ExcelObj.Close()
$ExcelObj.Application.Quit()
If that does not help enough you would have to consider doing some sort of parallel processing with jobs etc. I have a basic solution in a CodeReview.SE answer of mine doing something similar.
Basically what it does is run several excels at once where each one works on a chunk of documents which runs faster than one Excel doing them all. Just like I do in the linked answer I caution the automation of Excel COM with PowerShell. COM objects don't always get released properly and locks can be left on files or processes.
You are looping for all 50 passwords regardless of success or not. That means you could find the right password on the first go but you are still going to try the other 49! Set a flag in the loop to break that inner loop when that happens.
As far as the password logic goes you say that
At this point I can remove the passwords faster manually since the script takes ~40 minutes
Why can you do it faster? What do you know that the script does not. I don't see you being able to out perform the script but doing exactly what it does.
With what I see another suggestion would be to keep/track successful passwords and associated file name. So that way when it gets processed again you would know the first password to try.
This solution uses the modules ImportExcel for easier working with Excel files, and PoshRSJob for multithreaded processing.
If you do not have these, install them by running:
Install-Module ImportExcel -scope CurrentUser
Install-Module PoshRSJob -scope CurrentUser
I've raised an issue on the ImportExcel module GitHub page where I've proposed a solution to open encrypted Excel files. The author may propose a better solution (and consider the impact across other functions in the module, but this works for me). For now, you'll need to make a modification to the Import-Excel function yourself:
Open: C:\Username\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\ImportExcel\2.4.0\ImportExcel.psm1 and scroll to the Import-Excel function. Replace:
[switch]$DataOnly
With
[switch]$DataOnly,
[String]$Password
Then replace the following line:
$xl = New-Object -TypeName OfficeOpenXml.ExcelPackage -ArgumentList $stream
With the code suggested here. This will let you call the Import-Excel function with a -Password parameter.
Next we need our function to repeatedly try and open a singular Excel file using a known set of passwords. Open a PowerShell window and paste in the following function (note: this function has a default output path defined, and also outputs passwords in the verbose stream - make sure no-one is looking over your shoulder or just remove that if you'd prefer):
function Remove-ExcelEncryption
{
[CmdletBinding()]
Param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[String]
$File,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[String]
$OutputPath = 'C:\PoShTest\Decrypted',
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[Array]
$PasswordArray
)
$filename = Split-Path -Path $file -Leaf
foreach($Password in $PasswordArray)
{
Write-Verbose "Attempting to open $file with password: $Password"
try
{
$ExcelData = Import-Excel -path $file -Password $Password -ErrorAction Stop
Write-Verbose "Successfully opened file."
}
catch
{
Write-Verbose "Failed with error $($Error[0].Exception.Message)"
continue
}
try
{
$null = $ExcelData | Export-Excel -Path $OutputPath\$filename
return "Success"
}
catch
{
Write-Warning "Could not save to $OutputPath\$filename"
}
}
}
Finally, we can run code to do the work:
$Start = get-date
$PasswordArray = #('dj7F9vsm','kDZq737b','wrzCgTWk','DqP2KtZ4')
$files = Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\PoShTest\Encrypted'
$files | Start-RSJob -Name {$_.Name} -ScriptBlock {
Remove-ExcelEncryption -File $_.Fullname -PasswordArray $Using:PasswordArray -Verbose
} -FunctionsToLoad Remove-ExcelEncryption -ModulesToImport Import-Excel | Wait-RSJob | Receive-RSJob
$end = Get-Date
New-TimeSpan -Start $Start -End $end
For me, if the correct password is first in the list it runs in 13 seconds against 128 Excel files. If I call the function in a standard foreach loop, it takes 27 seconds.
To view which files were successfully converted we can inspect the output property on the RSJob objects (this is the output of the Remove-ExcelEncryption function where I've told it to return "Success"):
Get-RSJob | Select-Object -Property Name,Output
Hope that helps.