Introduction to Data Handling and Data Driven: Level up Your Skills with These Key Exercises

Introduction

In today's digital world, automation plays an essential role in improving operational efficiency, reducing human error, and saving time across various industries. From financial institutions automating data entry tasks to healthcare organizations streamlining patient records management, automation helps businesses save time and resources while enhancing accuracy. Virtual automation, especially in the form of data handling and manipulation, can greatly reduce manual efforts in processing large datasets, comparing records, and extracting valuable insights.

In this guide, we will explore exercises focused on key aspects of data manipulation and handling, such as comparing data from two spreadsheets, reading specific user data, automating schedules, converting values, and generating random information. These exercises will help you strengthen your automation skills while solving real-world data-related tasks.

Exercise 1: Comparing the First Name Values in Two Different Excel Files Row by Row

Purpose:

Data consistency is crucial in all industries. By comparing values across different datasets, you ensure that the data is accurate and aligned. In this exercise, you will compare the First Name values from two different Excel files to check for discrepancies, ensuring that the data across both files matches as expected.

Your Aim:

This exercise will teach you how to compare values row by row in Excel, identify discrepancies between two sets of data, and log the results in a structured way. This is particularly useful when validating user data or checking for errors in system-generated lists.

Steps to Compare Data in Two Excel Files:

Step 1: Create two Excel spreadsheets with a "First Name" column, each containing five random First Names.

Step 2: Open both spreadsheets and compare the names in corresponding rows.

Step 3: Mark whether each pair of names match or not and record the comparison results in a new column, “Comparison Result.”

Step 4: Review the results to identify and analyze the discrepancies.

Expected Outcome:

You will be proficient in comparing values across two Excel sheets, which is essential for data validation, error detection, and ensuring consistency in datasets.

Exercise 2: Reading Names of Three Random Users from a Spreadsheet

Purpose:

Reading specific data points from larger datasets is a common task in data handling. This exercise focuses on automating the process of extracting names from a column containing multiple entries. By doing so, you can quickly gather data without manually scrolling through the spreadsheet.

Your Aim:

You will learn how to use an automation tool to randomly select and fetch data from a dataset. This exercise enhances your ability to extract information on the fly, which is crucial when working with large datasets or needing sample data for analysis.

Steps to Fetch Random Usernames:

Step 1: Create a spreadsheet with a column labeled "First Name" and populate it with 20 random names.

Step 2: Use an automation tool to read data from the "First Name" column.

Step 3: Randomly select three rows (e.g., Row 5, Row 12, and Row 17) to fetch the names.

Step 4: Output or log the fetched names for further use.

Expected Outcome:

You will be able to automatically retrieve random data points from a large dataset, enhancing your efficiency when you need to sample data or fetch specific information from larger files.

Exercise 3: Running a Leapwork Schedule via HTTP Request Block

Purpose:

Automation can streamline complex tasks, such as scheduling and executing automated workflows. This exercise demonstrates how to use HTTP requests to trigger a Leapwork schedule, enabling you to run automated processes remotely. This skill is useful for triggering background processes or integrating your automation workflows with other systems.

Your Aim:

By completing this exercise, you will gain experience in running automation schedules via HTTP requests, allowing you to trigger processes remotely and integrate with external systems efficiently. This skill is helpful for managing scheduled tasks that need to run without manual intervention.

Steps to Run Leapwork Schedule via HTTP Request:

Step 1: Set up an HTTP Request block in your automation tool.

Step 2: Make a GET request to the Leapwork Controller’s API to retrieve all saved schedules. The URL should typically look something like this: http://<controller_address>/api/schedules

Step 3: Identify the schedule to run based on its name and extract the corresponding schedule ID.

Step 4: Make a POST request to trigger the execution of the schedule using the extracted schedule ID.

Step 5: Verify the schedule's status in Leapwork Studio.

Expected Outcome:

After completing this exercise, you will be equipped to automate the execution of workflows remotely via HTTP requests, integrating Leapwork into larger automated systems and processes.

Exercise 4: Converting Strings from Roman Numerals to Integer

Purpose:

Data conversion is often required when dealing with different formats, such as converting strings into numerical values. In this exercise, you will convert Roman numerals to integers. Understanding this conversion will help you handle and manipulate data in different numeral systems efficiently.

Your Aim:

This exercise will teach you how to convert Roman numeral strings into their integer equivalents. This skill can be applied when handling data inputs that come in Roman numeral format, ensuring that the data is ready for further processing or calculation.

Steps to Convert Roman Numerals to Integer:

Step 1: Input a Roman numeral string, such as "V" or "IX."

Step 2: Convert the string to its integer equivalent (e.g., "V" becomes 5, "IX" becomes 9).

Step 3: Output or log the converted integer.

Expected Outcome:

Upon completion, you will be able to automate the conversion of Roman numerals into integers, making it easier to handle and manipulate non-standard numeric data.

Exercise 5: Generating Random Date of Birth

Purpose:

Generating random data is useful for creating test cases or populating databases. This exercise demonstrates how to automatically generate random dates of birth based on a given date format. It's particularly useful when you need to simulate user data for testing purposes or create sample records in applications.

Your Aim:

By completing this exercise, you will learn how to generate random dates of birth in various formats, ensuring that you can automate the creation of realistic sample data. This skill can be applied to scenarios where you need to populate databases with mock user information or perform stress testing on systems that manage user data.

Steps to Generate Random Date of Birth:

Step 1: Choose a date format (mm/dd/yyyy, dd/mm/yyyy, or yyyy/mm/dd).

Step 2: Generate a random date of birth that fits the selected format.

Step 3: Validate that the generated date is in the correct format and is a valid calendar date.

Expected Outcome:

After completing this exercise, you will be able to generate random, valid dates of birth in any of the supported formats, helping you automate the creation of realistic test data or sample records.

By completing these five exercises, you’ve developed essential skills in data handling and manipulation, from comparing data between two spreadsheets to converting string formats and generating random data. These skills are foundational in automating data processes, making your workflows more efficient, accurate, and scalable.

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