feat: Excel Attachment Parse to JSON #147

[vhudlikar]

feat: Excel Attachment Parse to JSON #147

This Flow Designer Action accepts the sys_id of an attachment file and converts its multi-sheet data into a structured JSON string. This enables easy record creation, transformation, and integration downstream in any Flow.

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Action Inputs

Name	Type	Mandatory	Description
Attachment SysID	String	Yes	The sys_id of the sys_attachment record containing the Excel file to be parsed.

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Logic

The core logic is contained within a single Script Step named Parse Attachment Content. The script prioritizes robustness by first inspecting the file's extension and MIME type.

1. Validation & Retrieval: It uses a GlideRecord lookup on sys_attachment to validate the sys_id and retrieve the file name and content type.
2. Parser Selection:
   • For True xlsx Files: The script utilizes the native, server-side sn_impex.GlideExcelParser API. It obtains the file stream via GlideSysAttachment.getContentStream().
   • For csv Files: The script detects the text-based nature and uses GlideSysAttachment.getContent() to retrieve the raw string, followed by custom JavaScript parsing (splitting lines and commas) to extract the data.
3. Multi-Sheet Iteration: If an xlsx file is detected, the parser loops through all sheets identified by parser.getSheetNames(). For each sheet, it extracts the column headers (which become JSON keys) and iterates through the data rows.
4. Output Structuring: The result is compiled into an array where each entry is an object representing a sheet: {{ "SheetName": "...", "Records": [ ... ] }}.
5. Final Conversion: The final JavaScript array is converted to a string using JSON.stringify() to satisfy the Flow Designer output requirement (jsondatastring).

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Action Outputs

Name	Type	Variable	Description
JSON Data	String	jsonDataString	The structured JSON array string containing all sheets and their records.
Message	String	resultMessage	Success or detailed error message indicating the outcome and record count.

Example JSON Data Output Structure (for multi-sheet files):

[
  { 
    "SheetName": "Sheet 1 Name", 
    "Records": [
      { "Header1": "Value1", "Header2": "Value2" }
    ]
  },
  { 
    "SheetName": "Sheet 2 Name", 
    "Records": [ ... ] 
  }
]

Test Cases

The following test cases validate functionality using the provided DemoExcel.xlsx file (which is attached).

Positive Test Case

Input Data	Test Goal	Expected Output
sys_id of DemoExcel.xlsx (contains 2 sheets/files)	Verify multi-sheet parsing and data consolidation.	resultMessage: {Success: 5 records parsed across 2 sheets from file: DemoExcel.xlsx} Expected JSON Data:

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Negative Test Cases

Input Data	Test Goal	Expected resultMessage
Invalid sys_id	Test handling of a non-existent attachment record.	{Error: Attachment not found for sys_id: [invalid sys_id]}
Unsupported File Type	Test handing of a non-Excel/non-CSV file (e.g., uploading a .pdf file).	{Error: Unsupported file format. File Name: [pdf file name]}
Empty File	Test handling of an attached .csv file that is 0 bytes or contains only headers.	{Error: CSV file is empty or contains only a header line.}

[github-actions]

✅ Valid PR for ActionPack

Thank you for your contribution. This PR complies with the CONTRIBUTING.md.
A maintainer will review this shortly. In the meantime, Happy Hacking!

[vhudlikar]

DemoExcel.xlsx

[github-actions]

✅ Valid PR for ActionPack

Thank you for your contribution. This PR complies with the CONTRIBUTING.md.
A maintainer will review this shortly. In the meantime, Happy Hacking!

[ravichandra1998g]

Hello @vhudlikar
Thank you very much for submitting!

Thank you for providing demo sheet and clear explanation.