Can we export output of Expression Rule to Excel?

Question

Hello Everyone, 
 
 I have a situation where I need to export data from an expression rule to excel. 
 Previously I was using Export Data Store Entity to Excel smart service, but now as per the requirement I need to manipulate the data I get from database in an expression rule and then export it. 
 
 Kindly let me know your comments.

Thanks, 
 Sai Kiran Pannala.

Mike Schmitt · Accepted Answer

You just need to store the result of your data manipulation back into a CDT. If the manipulated data is too far removed from the original data to go back into a temporary copy of the same CDT type, then my fallback suggestion has always been to make a dummy CDT in your system that just has 10 or 20 text fields; then you can typecast your result to that and pass it into the Export CDT node. 
 But now that we can have PVs of type "map", it *may* be sufficient to just store the expression rule output as a "map" type variable and pass that into the node - I haven't tried this so it might not work, but it also might work fine. EDIT: just tried this and it seems to not work due to type mismatching. Bummer.

Mike Schmitt · Answer

Export CDT to Excel from the Excel Tools plugin, though deprecated, still works with current Appian versions, as of the last time I checked.

Sanchit Gupta (Xebia) · Answer

There is no need to insert the manipulated data back into DB. As Mike also mentioned, Export CDT to Excel only needs data in the form of a CDT, just store the data in a temporary CDT and pass it to smart service.