Distribution Options in the Single Page Scheduling Tool

In this section:

The Distribution section of the Scheduling Tool provides the options available for distributing the scheduled report. You can distribute a report using one of the following methods:

This section describes the options available for each distribution method.


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Distributing Scheduled Output Using E-mail in the Single Page Scheduling Tool

How to:

Reference:

When you distribute a report through e-mail, you can include the report in the body of the e‑mail (known as an inline e-mail message) or send it as an attachment. Distributing a report as an inline e-mail message is particularly useful when you distribute the report to mobile devices, fax machines, or through e-mail systems that do not support attachments. You can also distribute a report to a Fax machine, as explained later in this section.

Note:

The following image shows the e-mail distribution options in the Distribution Options section of the Scheduling Tool.

Scheduling tool bar interface image



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Procedure: How to Distribute Scheduled Output Using E-mail
  1. From the Distribute report by drop-down list, select Email.
  2. From the drop-down list under Distribute report by, select the form of the e-mail address and type, or select the accompanying value in the text box next to the selection. The options are:
    • Single Address. The report will be sent to a single e-mail address. Type the e-mail address in the accompanying text box. ReportCaster cannot validate the e-mail address. An incorrect or unresolved address may not be noted in the log file. This depends upon the ability of the SMTP mail server to validate the e-mail address. The SMTP mail server returns undeliverable e-mail messages to the reply address you specify for the schedule.

      Tip:

      • You can specify multiple e-mail addresses within a Single Address. Separate each e-mail address with a comma or a semicolon. The e-mail addresses will appear in the To line of a single e-mail when you distribute the scheduled output. Each individual e-mail address can be a maximum of 130 characters according to the SMTP specification. The total maximum length of this field is 800 characters.
      • Additionally, you can use group mail lists (defined on your mail server) with the Single Address option. Group mail lists enable you to distribute a report or notification to multiple recipients without having to maintain multiple e-mail addresses in the ReportCaster Repository. The format of the group mail list depends upon the mail server being used. For example, if you are using a Microsoft Exchange Server and your group mail list is defined as #group1, you would enter group1@listdomain in the Single Address field. If the group mail list contains a space within its name, it must be enclosed within quotation marks. For more information, see your mail server administrator.
    • Distribution List. The report will be sent to all e-mail addresses on the selected distribution list. Select a distribution list from the drop-down list, which is activated when you select the Distribution List option.
  3. In the From field, type any value (for example, the name of the person creating the schedule). ReportCaster does not require this field, but your e-mail system may require it.
  4. In the Reply Address, type a valid e-mail address. If recipients reply to the e-mail, their messages are sent to this address. If your e-mail system is unable to deliver the content, the undeliverable output message is also returned to this address. ReportCaster requires this field.
  5. In the Subject field, type the text you want to appear in the e‑mail subject line. ReportCaster does not require this information, but your e-mail system may need it. The value you entered in the schedule Description field becomes the default Subject value.

    When creating a schedule, you can place multiple parameters and burst values from the scheduled procedure in an e-mail subject line. This enables the subject to be dynamically created in order to personalize e-mails to recipients. Parameters referenced in the subject line must be stored with the schedule information in the ReportCaster tables.

    You must specify parameters in the format '&parmname' (where parmname is the name of the parameter). You must specify burst values using the syntax '%BURST'.

    Note:

    • The parameter name cannot be the name of an existing report procedure. You can specify an unlimited number of parameters.
    • If you have multiple burst values in a Distribution List, only the first value sent to the ReportCaster Distribution Server is included in the subject.

    For an example of specifying parameters and burst values in an e-mail subject line, see E-Mail Distribution Examples.

  6. Specify whether or not you want the report to be sent as an e-mail attachment or within the body of the e-mail (inline) by selecting or clearing the Send Report as an Attachment option. (The availability of the inline option depends on your ReportCaster configuration.)

    If you select the Send Report as an Attachment option, you can also:

    1. Type a message to appear in the e-mail body.
    2. Zip the attachment by selecting the Add the Reports to Zip File option. Provide a name for the file in the Zip File Name field.


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Reference: E-Mail Distribution Examples

This section provides an example of using burst values and multiple parameters when sending the report in an e-mail, and distributing a report to a Fax machine using e-mail.



Example: Specifying Parameters and Burst Values in an E-mail Subject Field

The following schedule specifies burst values and multiple parameters in the e-mail subject line.

schedule with email subject line

The following image shows an example of a resulting e-mail subject line.

results of email subject line image



Example: Distributing a Report to a Fax Machine Using E-mail

To distribute an inline e-mail message to a fax machine, you must register your e-mail address with a third-party e-mail distribution provider. The features offered by providers, (such as supported area codes and file formats), in addition to requirements on the structure of e-mail parameter values, may vary. It is important that you select a provider whose features are compatible with ReportCaster.

Note: You cannot distribute an e-mail attachment to a Fax machine.

The following example shows how to distribute a report directly to a fax machine. The e-mail address, john_doe@xyz.com, was registered with the e-mail distribution provider called emfax.com. During the processing of the request, ReportCaster generates the scheduled report output and then distributes it using the e-mail address of emfax.com. The reply address specified in ReportCaster is the registered e-mail address that is validated by emfax.com. If the e-mail address is valid, emfax.com distributes the report to the fax number 12129999999. The validation of the registered e-mail address is performed by emfax.com, not by ReportCaster.

Note: The syntax used in this illustration is specific to this example. The required syntax for your provider may be different.

The following image shows the Distribute section of the Scheduling Tool, which contains the name of the report to be distributed, fields, drop-down lists, and option buttons that enable you to specify the destination(s) for the scheduled report, and an e-mail address to which report recipients can reply.

distributing Scheduling tool

  1. From the Distribute report by drop-down list, select Email.
  2. From the mail drop-down list, select Single Address.

    In the accompanying text box, type the e-mail address to be used by the e-mail provider according to their requirements. In this example, it is phone-number@emfax.com or 12129999999@emfax.com (where emfax.com is the name of your e-mail provider).

    Note: You can also select a Distribution List. However, be sure to use the syntax required by your provider.

  3. In the From field, type any value (for example, the name of the person creating the schedule). ReportCaster does not require this field, but your e-mail system or the e-mail provider may require it.
  4. In the Reply Address field, type your registered e-mail address. If your e-mail system is unable to deliver the content, the undeliverable output message is returned to this address. ReportCaster requires this field.
  5. In the Subject field, type the text you want to appear in the message subject line. ReportCaster does not require this information, but your e-mail system or e-mail provider may require it.
  6. Continue selecting the remaining schedule options, then click Save to save the schedule.

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Distributing Scheduled Output to a Printer in the Single Page Scheduling Tool

How to:

The report formats that support printing are DOC, PDF (when ReportCaster is configured to enable PDF printing and the printer has the appropriate driver), PS, and WP. The following image shows the printer distribution options in the Distribution Options section of the Scheduling Tool.

distributing Scheduling tool



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Procedure: How to Distribute Scheduled Output to a Printer
  1. From the Distribute report by drop-down list, select Printer.
  2. From the drop-down list that appears under the Distribute report by option, select the form of the e-mail address and type or select the accompanying value in the text box next to the selection. The options are:
    • Single Printer. Specify the printer using the following format.
      queue@printserver

      where:

      queue

      Is the name of the printer queue.

      printserver

      Is the host name or IP address of the printer.

      ReportCaster can differentiate between the printer queue and the printer host name/IP address due to the presence of the '@' separator. Although ReportCaster supports specifying only the host name or IP address of the printer, Information Builders recommends specifying both the printer queue and host name/IP address when distributing ReportCaster output to a printer. The maximum length of this field is 800 characters.

    • Distribution List.

      The field next to Distribution List provides a drop-down list of all printer Distribution Lists that you own and all public printer Distribution Lists.

    Note: If the printer you specify is not recognized, the following message is recorded in the log file when the ReportCaster Distribution Server tries to distribute the report:

    Cannot connect to specified printer

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Distributing Scheduled Output to MR in the Single Page Scheduling Tool

How to:

If you are a ReportCaster administrator, you can schedule Standard Reports and My Reports for distribution to Managed Reporting. If you are an Analytical User, you can only schedule My Reports for distribution to Managed Reporting. The following image shows the Managed Reporting distribution options in the Distribution Options section of the Scheduling Tool.

distributing Scheduling tool

Tip: Information Builders recommends distributing scheduled output to the Report Library rather than to Managed Reporting. The Report Library includes secure access to library content, the ability to save multiple versions of the same output, and the ability to set an expiration date or keep a specified number of versions.

When you select the Managed Reporting distribution method, the report output is distributed to Managed Reporting as a Standard Report or a My Report. The report is available to other users who have access to the Domain.

ReportCaster performs the following tasks when you create a schedule to distribute output to the Managed Reporting Repository:

  1. The WebFOCUS Reporting Server communicates to Managed Reporting using the HTTP protocol. The WebFOCUS Reporting Server sends a request to Managed Reporting to create a Standard Reports or My Reports group folder containing the report output.
  2. The output is stored differently depending on where the report was scheduled:
    • If you scheduled the report in Standard Reports, ReportCaster creates a folder in Standard Reports within the same Domain. The report output is stored in the Domain /app directory.
    • If you created the report in My Reports, ReportCaster creates a folder in My Reports within the same Domain. The report output is stored in your directory in the Managed Reporting Repository. Since ReportCaster does not distinguish subfolders, it distributes the reports to the highest level folder regardless of the folder hierarchy within Managed Reporting.

    Note: Multiple Managed Reporting reports are stored in the same folder if they both run at the same time. Information Builders recommends assigning each Managed Reporting report a different start time.



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Procedure: How to Distribute Scheduled Output to Managed Reporting
  1. From the Distribute report by drop-down list, select Managed Reporting.
  2. In the Folder Name field, type a name for the folder on Managed Reporting to which you will distribute the output.

    This description must not exceed 90 characters.


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Distributing a Report to the Report Library in the Single Page Scheduling Tool

How to:

Reference:

When distributing a report to the Report Library, you can send an e-mail informing users of its availability and provide the URL to the content in the library.

The Report Library provides secure access to library content and it enables you to save multiple versions of the same report output, set an expiration date, and keep a specified number of versions. When creating a schedule for a distribution to the library, you have the option to designate a category in the library where you want the report to reside. The Report Library is only available to ReportCaster users who have been granted library privileges.

Note: When a report is distributed to the Report Library, the Log Report will include the report ID and the report version number. This enables you to confirm which reports and report version were distributed to the Library.

The following image shows the Report Library distribution options in the Distribution Options section of the Scheduling Tool.

distributing Scheduling tool



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Procedure: How to Distribute a Report to the Report Library
  1. From the Distribute report by drop-down list, select Library.
  2. Optionally, specify a Library category where the report will distribute.

    Note: When you distribute a Standard Report or My Report to the Library, by default, the report is placed in a category named with the Managed Reporting domain name of the report.

    Select the Category in Library option. The Category Library field and icon (to the right of the field) are activated. Click the Library category icon. The Library Categories dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

    Library category diagram

    Select a category from the Category List or create a new category by typing a name in the New Category Name field.

    Click OK. The Category in Library field displays your selection. If at this point you want to change the new category name that you just created, open the Library Categories dialog box, enter the new name, and click OK. The updated category name now appears in the Category in Library field.

  3. From the Access Type drop-down list, select one of the following options:
    • Owner. Only the Owner of the schedule has access to the report in the library. This is the default value.
    • Public. All users with access to the Report Library can view the report in the library.
    • Access List. Only the users or groups defined in the Access List, and the owner of the schedule, can view the report.

    Note: ReportCaster administrators can limit the Access Options that appear in the Access Type list.

  4. If you select Access List as the Access Type, the Access List field is activated. In the Access List field, type an Access List name or select one from the drop-down list.
  5. If you are distributing a burst report (as designated in the Burst this Report option located in the Report Options section of the Scheduling Tool) and you selected Access List as the Access Type, then you can select the Limit Distribution to values in Access List option.

    This option stipulates that only the burst values specified in the selected Access List will be distributed to the Report Library. For more information, see Considerations When Limiting Distribution to Values in an Access List.

  6. From the Expiration drop-down list, select one of the following options:
    • version(s). The Report Library stores the output for the top number of versions specified. For example, if you specify 3 versions and the current version is 7, then versions 7, 6, and 5 are stored in the library. However, if you delete version 6, then only versions 7 and 5 are stored in the library. If you then distribute version 8 to the library, only version 8 and 7 are stored in the library since version 6 was deleted and version 5 is not among the top 3 versions.

      Use the up and down arrows to select the number of versions.

    • Never Expire. The report remains in the Report Library until it is manually deleted by the owner or ReportCaster administrator.
    • day(s). The Report Library stores the report for the number of day(s) specified. Use the up and down arrows to select the number of days.

    • week(s). The Report Library stores the report for the number of week(s) specified. Use the up and down arrows to select the number of weeks.

    • month(s). The Report Library stores the report for the number of month(s) specified. Use the up and down arrows to select the number of months.

    • year(s). The Report Library stores the report for the number of year(s) specified. Use the up and down arrows to select the number of years.

    Note: ReportCaster automatically purges expired reports one hour after the scheduled Log Purge Time. The default Log Purge Time is 1:00 A.M., therefore, the default library purge time is 2:00 A.M. each day.

  7. Optionally, check the Compress Stored Report option to conserve repository space.

    Note: If you distribute a compressed report to the library, consider that this may impact end user response time in viewing the report. A compressed report must first be decompressed before it is sent to the user. You should weigh the benefits of saving repository space against the impact of the time it takes to retrieve a compressed report from the library.

  8. Optionally, check the Send an Email after Report saved to Library option to send an e-mail message to users that have access rights to the report that it is available. The e-mail message also contains the URL to the report content in the Library.

    When you select this option, the following fields appear:

    • From. This can be any value, for example, the name of the person creating the schedule. ReportCaster does not require this, but your e-mail system may require it.
    • Reply Address. The e-mail address of the sender. This is a required field. If report recipients reply to the notification, their messages are sent to this address.
    • Subject. The optional text that you want to appear in the e-mail subject line.
    • Message. An optional message you want to appear in the body of the e-mail notification.


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Reference: Considerations When Limiting Distribution to Values in an Access List

When limiting Report Library distribution to values in an Access List, note the following:


WebFOCUS