Email Settings

In this section:

The Email Settings folder in the Configuration tab, shown in the following image, contains the settings, such as the default email server, the notification e-mail server, and e-mail security.

email settings

The Email Settings folder contains the following configuration settings.

Setting

Optional or Required/Default Value

Descriptions and Possible Values

Inline Report Distribution

Required.

Default value is Allowed.

Designates whether or not the e‑mail distribution method in the Schedule user interface will enable the option to send a report in the body of the e‑mail (inline).

For details on this setting, see Inline Report Distribution Setting.

Possible values are:

  • Allowed. Enable the option to schedule the report as an inline message.
  • Not Allowed. Disable the option to schedule a report as an inline message, but allow existing schedules configured for inline e-mail distribution to run.
  • Not Allowed to Create or Run. Disable the option to schedule a report as an inline message and do not run existing schedules set for inline report distribution.

Packet Email

Required.

Default value is Yes.

Controls how task output and burst content are distributed through e-mail.

Valid values are:

  • No. Each burst value or task output is distributed in a separate e-mail.
  • Yes. People receiving multiple burst values or output from multiple tasks will receive a single e-mail with multiple attachments.
  • Burst. Each burst value in a distribution list will generate a separate e-mail for a given e-mail address. There may be one or more attachments in the e-mail depending on the number of tasks in the schedule.

For details about the Packet Email setting, see Packet Email Setting.

Allowed Email Domains

Default value is Off.

Contains the e-mail domains that are permitted in a distribution.

For instruction to add or remove e-mail domains, see Configuring Allowed Email Domains.

Note: Files containing e-mail addresses intended for distribution are also verified for valid domains at schedule execution time. If it contains a restricted address, then no delivery is made to that address and an error message is written to the log file.

Email Defaults section

Mail Host

Required.

Name of the default mail server used to distribute an e-mail schedule.

You can also specify a port for Mail Host using hostname:port. If you do not specify a port or the port you specify is not present, the default port is used.

Note: This setting is also available in the WebFOCUS Administration Console.

Mail From

Optional.

Default value for the e-mail From field. This can be any value.

Note: This setting is also available in the WebFOCUS Administration Console.

Mail Reply Address

Optional.

Default e-mail reply address when creating an e-mail schedule.

Note: This setting is also available in the WebFOCUS Administration Console.

Notify Mailhost section

Notify Mailhost

Optional.

Name of the mail server that handles notification e-mail. If blank, ReportCaster uses the Mailhost setting as the notification mail server.

Tip: Information Builders recommends using different mail servers for notification and e-mail distribution. This way, if there is a problem with your Mailhost, notification will still be sent. Having separate mail servers ensures that you will be informed when the default mail server falters.

You can also specify a port for the Notify Mailhost using hostname:port. If you do not specify a port or the port you specify is not present, the default port is used.

Note: This setting is also available in the WebFOCUS Administration Console.

Default Notify Type

Default value is Never.

Specifies whether to send notification of the schedule status to a specified e-mail address. Possible values are:

  • Never. This is the default value. ReportCaster does not send notification of the schedule status under any circumstance.
  • On Error. The specified users are notified when errors are encountered while running the schedule. Information Builders recommends using the On Error notification option.
  • Always. The specified user is always notified when the schedule runs.

Note: This setting is also available in the WebFOCUS Administration Console.

Email Retries section

Email Retries

Default value is 0.

The number of times the Distribution server will try to connect to the e-mail server to deliver report output.

If the Distribution server is unable to connect to the e-mail server on the first try, it will attempt to connect again after the specified Email Retry Interval has passed. A message for each attempt is written to the log file.

Valid values are 0 through 9.

Email Retry Interval(sec)

Default value is 60 seconds.

The amount of time that the Distribution server will wait between retries.

Valid values are 1 through 999.

Email Security section

SMTP User Id/Password

Required if the mailhost is using SMTP Authorization.

No default value.

The user ID and password used to connect to the mailhost.

SMTP Security Plug-in

Optional.

The name of a custom written Java class that implements the ReportCaster SMTP security interface to dynamically retrieve the user ID and password needed to connect to an SMTP server.

For more information, see Customizing ReportCaster Plug-ins.



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Inline Report Distribution Setting

How to:

The Inline Report Distribution setting controls whether or not a user will have the option to include a report in the body of an e‑mail when setting up an e‑mail distribution method for a schedule. When inline report distribution is not allowed, the option is not available for selection in the schedule user interface.

In addition, if you disable the Inline Report Distribution option, another option is available in the Inline Report Distribution dialog box that designates whether or not to run existing schedules configured for inline distribution.

Note: The display of a report that is distributed as an inline e-mail message can be affected by settings in the e-mail client.



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Procedure: How to Configure the Inline Report Distribution Setting
  1. In the Email Settings folder, click the icon to the right of the Inline Report Distribution field.

    The ReportCaster - Inline Report Distribution dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

    report distribution setting

    The default setting is to allow inline e-mail report distribution.

  2. Select or deselect Inline Report Distribution.

    When the inline option is not selected, notice that the Only Run Schedules Distributing Reports As Attachment option is available for selection, as shown in the following image.

    inline report distribution

    Select the Only Run Schedules Distributing Reports As Attachment option to determine if existing inline e‑mail distribution schedules will run.

    1. To see a current list of schedules that are set to the inline e‑mail distribution method, click OK. The Inline Report Distribution dialog box closes and you return to the General Preferences setting pane. From the Configuration tab toolbar, select Verify, then Inline Report Distribution.

      The following image is an example of the window displaying a list of inline e‑mail distribution schedules.

      inline report distribution

    2. Select Only Run Schedules Distributing Reports As Attachments if you do not want to run existing schedules set for inline e-mail distribution. This sets the Inline Report Distribution option to Not Allowed to Create or Run.

      To run existing schedules set for inline e‑mail distribution, clear the Only Run Schedules Distributing Reports As Attachments option.

  3. When your selections are complete in the inline Report Distribution dialog box, click OK. The changes are saved and the inline Report Distribution dialog box closes.
  4. To implement the changes in ReportCaster, in the Configuration tab toolbar, select Save, then Restart.

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Packet Email Setting

The Packet Email setting controls how burst content and task output are distributed through e-mail. The previous settings are:



Example: Using the Packet Email Setting

To illustrate the Packet Email setting, we will use the example of a single schedule with the following two tasks and Distribution List:

Schedule Tasks

Distribution List

Burst Value

Address

ENGLAND

Tom@ibi.com

ENGLAND

Alex@ibi.com

FRANCE

Sylvie@ibi.com

FRANCE

Tom@ibi.com

E-mails Distributions

The following are the expected e-mail distributions based on the Packet Email setting.

When the Packet Email setting is No, this schedule generates eight e-mails (one e-mail for each attachment), as follows:

When the Packet Email setting is Yes, this schedule generates three e-mails (one e-mail containing the appropriate attachments for each address in the Distribution List), as follows:

When the Packet Email setting is Burst, this schedule generates four e-mails (one e-mail containing the appropriate attachments for each combination of a burst value and e-mail address in the Distribution List), as follows:

Notice that Tom now gets two separate e-mails, each with two attachments.

Note: It is possible to create a multi-task schedule with one or more tasks that are burst and one or more tasks that are not burst. When Packet Email is set to Yes, non-burst output is always distributed to every e-mail address in the Distribution List. When Packet Email is set to Burst, non-burst output is only distributed to e-mail addresses in the Distribution List with a burst value that is present in the report output.

For example, a schedule contains Task1 set for bursting and Task2 set for non-bursting, and the following Distribution List.

Burst Value

Address

ENGLAND

Tom@ibi.com

FRANCE

Sylvie@ibi.com

CHINA

Joe@ibi.com

If there is no data for China in the report output, then a burst report for China cannot be created, and the following reports are distributed.



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Configuring Allowed Email Domains

How to:

When the Allowed Email Domains setting is set to On, you will define the e-mail domains that you want in a distribution. You can add to and remove from this list, as needed.



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Procedure: How to Configure the Allowed Email Domains Setting
  1. In the Email Settings folder, select Allowed Email Domains.

    The Allowed Domain List dialog box opens, shown in the following image.

    allowed email domains

  2. Select Enabled. This sets the Allowed Email Domains setting to On and actives the entry fields in the Allowed Domain List dialog box.

    The following image shows the Allowed Domain List with entries in the Allowed List field.

    allowed domain list

  3. Add to or remove from the list of Allowed Email Domains, as follows:
    • To add a domain, type the domain name in the Domain field, and click Add.

      The domain appears in the Allowed List field.

    • To remove a domain, in the Allowed List, select the domain that you want remove and click Remove.

      The selected domain is removed from the list.

  4. Click OK. The changes in the Allowed Domain List dialog box are saved and the inline Report Distribution dialog box closes.
  5. To implement the changes in ReportCaster, in the Configuration tab toolbar, select Save, then Restart.

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