Extract date from file name, subtract one business day, and rename with that date

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1

Hello - we have files saved out in a folder that have the current date (format = YYYYMMDD) saved at the end of the file name, however, the files are related to the prior business day. I am hoping to rename the files using the existing filename date T-1 work/business days. I see that in the notebook it has an option to get the modified date (which would be the same as the current date) and then do a ‘date plus number of working days’, I am just not sure how to use this to rename a file. Any ideas?

The image displays a spreadsheet showing different date calculations, formats, and transformations, including a conversion of text to a date in a locale-independent way. (Captioned by AI)
The image displays a spreadsheet showing different date calculations, formats, and transformations, including a conversion of text to a date in a locale-independent way. (Captioned by AI)749×491 10.4 KB

2

I don’t fully follow. Do you want to use/automate the Excel file to make the calculation or do you want to do the calculation with something like an Invoke Code activity directly within UiPath?

3

So you are looking for something like this?

Current name is FileName_YYYYMMDD.xlsx

You want to rename to FileName_YYYYMMDD-1 xlsx?

4

Hey @audra.swope ,

I’m assuming you are trying to rename the file from the given date to the previous day. This can be achieved by the following steps:

  1. After you have identified the Date by which the files have initially been named, you can make use of the .AddDays() method to subtract a day from the current Date.
    So, if the date identified is 2024/08/06, we can subtract a day by using the above method as follows:- Cdate(“2024/08/06”).AddDays(-1). This will give us the date 2024/08/05
    image

  2. Then you can make use of the Rename Activity to rename the file to the required Date we found above.

5

Hi @audra.swope

Try this:

CDATE(YourDate).AddDays(-1).ToString(YYYYMMDD)

For Rename: Use Rename File Activity

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Hope it helps!!
Happy Automation :uipath:

6

Hi @audra.swope i assuming you are trying to get that logic - if yes then try this method…
this is your folder structure…
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and in this you want to minus 1 day

The image shows a UiPath Studio interface with an opened workflow where variables are being assigned, and an expression editor is displayed for writing a line that formats a string combining a filename with a date adjusted by one day. (Captioned by AI)
The image shows a UiPath Studio interface with an opened workflow where variables are being assigned, and an expression editor is displayed for writing a line that formats a string combining a filename with a date adjusted by one day. (Captioned by AI)1317×619 59.4 KB

output data
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image739×253 8.89 KB

Cheers Happy Automation… :grinning:

7

Thank you all for your help with this. I ended up using this flow for my solution:

The image shows an automation workflow that renames files in a specified folder, appending a date to the filenames of files that contain "WTB." (Captioned by AI)
The image shows an automation workflow that renames files in a specified folder, appending a date to the filenames of files that contain "WTB." (Captioned by AI)468×630 17.7 KB

In cell B5 of the notebook scrathpad I used various cells (from date tab) and formulas to get the output that i was looking for.

Thank you!

8

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