Distribution Options

In this section:

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

Note: If you are using the Single Page Scheduling Tool with the Legacy HTML ReportCaster Interface, the FTP and SFTP options are not available.

This section describes the options available for each distribution method.


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Distributing Scheduled Output Using E-mail

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 the report is distributed 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 tab of the Scheduling Tool.



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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. In the Mail Server Name field, the SMTP e-mail server specified in the ReportCaster Server Configuration tool appears. You can accept the default e-mail server, or type another name for the e-mail server that will distribute the scheduled output. ReportCaster requires the SMTP server domain name, not its IP address.
  3. From the drop-down list that appears under Mail Server Name, select the method in which you will provide the e-mail addresses that will receive the distribution. The options are:
    • Distribution List. The report will be sent to all e-mail addresses in the selected Distribution List. To select a Distribution List, click the icon next to the Distribution List field. The Distribution List Selection dialog box opens. In the display pane, double-click the folder with your ID. The display pane lists the e-mail Distribution Lists that are public and that you own. The following image is an example of the Distribution List Selection dialog box displaying a group of Distribution List belonging to specific user ID.

      distribution list

      Note: While in the Distribution List Selection dialog box, you can view additional information about the Distribution Lists in the display pane by selecting Details from the far-right icon. Additionally, you can edit an existing Distribution List (select a list and click the Open icon). You can also create a Distribution List by clicking the New icon.

      Click the Distribution List you want to use. It will appear in the Dist. List Name field. Then click OK. The Distribution List name appears in the Schedule Distribution List field.

    • Distribution File. Type the full path and file name of the external distribution file you want to use for this schedule. The path and file must be accessible to the ReportCaster Distribution Server. For more information about external distribution files, see Creating an External Distribution File.
    • Email Address(es). The report will be sent to a single e-mail address or multiple e-mail addresses. 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 is dependent 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 in the Email Address(es) field. 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 the scheduled output is distributed. 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 Email Address(es) 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 on 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 Email Address(es) field. If the group mail list contains a space within its name, enclose the space with quotation marks. For more information, see your mail server administrator.
      • Dynamic List. A Dynamic List enables you to return in memory either a list of burst values and destinations, or only a list of destinations from a data source (for example, a flat file, SQL database, FOCUS data source, or LDAP). To select a Dynamic List, click the icon next to the Dynamic List field. The Select Dynamic List Procedure dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

        dynamic list

        In this dialog box, select or type a value for the WF Server Name, Execution Id, password to access the server, and the procedure name that creates the Dynamic List. For more information, see Creating a Dynamic Distribution List.

        Then click OK. The designated Dynamic List procedure appears in the Schedule, Dynamic List field.

  4. In the From field, type any value (for example, the name of the person creating the schedule). ReportCaster does not require the field, but your e-mail system may require the field.
  5. 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.
  6. In the Subject field, type the text you want to appear in the e-mail subject line. ReportCaster may not require this information, but it may be needed by your e-mail system. The value you entered in the schedule Description field is 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 dynamically creates the subject 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.

    Parameters must be specified 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.

  7. Specify whether or not you want to send the report 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.

specifying parameters

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 Distribution tab 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.

distribution

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

    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 it may be required by your e-mail system or by the e-mail provider.
  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 this information.
  6. Continue selecting the remaining schedule options, then click Save to save the schedule.

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Distributing Scheduled Output Using FTP or SFTP

How to:

This section provides information about distributing scheduled output using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). The benefit of using SFTP over FTP is that it encrypts the data and user credentials distributed over the network. Host key fingerprints are not used in this SFTP implementation.

Note:

The following image shows the FTP distribution options in the Distribution tab of the Scheduling Tool.



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Procedure: How to Distribute Scheduled Output to FTP or SFTP
  1. From the Distribute report by drop-down list, select FTP or SFTP. In this procedure, we refer to either of these selections as (S)FTP.
  2. In the (S)FTP Server Name field, the (S)FTP server specified in the ReportCaster Server Configuration tool appears. You can accept the default (S)FTP server, or type another name for the (S)FTP server that will distribute the scheduled output.

    In this field, you can also designate a port for the (S)FTP server other than the default assignment using the syntax:

    hostname:port
  3. In the (S)FTP User and (S)FTP Password fields, type the user ID and password for the (S)FTP server account to which the scheduled output will be sent. You can specify a default (S)FTP user ID and password within the ReportCaster Server Configuration tool.
  4. In the Directory field, type the destination where the output will be sent.
    • You cannot create new Prepared Reports. However, all previously created Prepared Reports will be supported.
    • For WF Server Procedures and Managed Reporting reports other than Prepared Reports, specify the (S)FTP logon directory and path of the user ID to whose account on the (S)FTP server the report will be sent.
    • If left blank, this specifies that WF Server Procedures distributed using (S)FTP will be sent to the home directory of the (S)FTP user.
    • If the (S)FTP server resides on an OpenVMS file system, use UNIX-style directory specifications.
    • If the (S)FTP server resides on a z/OS UNIX system in data set mode, you must type a forward slash (/) as the first character for the directory.
    • If the (S)FTP server resides on a VM system, you must type ./ for the directory. This will send reports to the default VM minidisk of the (S)FTP user.

    Note: When scheduling a Managed Reporting report from Domain Builder for (S)FTP distribution, the maximum number of characters you can specify for the directory is 64, including the full path name.

  5. From the drop-down list that appears under (S)FTP Password, select Distribution List, Distribution File, Single File, or Dynamic List.
    • Distribution List. The report will be sent to all (S)FTP addresses in the selected Distribution List. To select a Distribution List, click the icon next to the Distribution List field. The Distribution List Selection dialog box opens. In the display pane, double-click the folder with your ID. The display pane lists the (S)FTP Distribution Lists that are public and that you own. The following image is an example of the Distribution List Selection dialog box displaying a group of Distribution List belonging to specific user ID.

      distribution list

      Note: While in the Distribution List Selection dialog box, you can view additional information about the Distribution Lists in the display pane by selecting Details from the far-right icon. Additionally, you can edit an existing Distribution List (select a list and click the Open icon). You can also create a Distribution List by clicking the New icon.

      Click the Distribution List you want to use. It will appear in the Dist. List Name field. Then click OK. The Distribution List name appears in the Schedule Distribution List field.

    • Distribution File. Type the full path and file name of the external distribution file you want to use for this schedule. The path and file must be accessible to the ReportCaster Distribution Server. For more information about external distribution files, see Creating an External Distribution File.
    • Single File. Type the name of the FTP file. ReportCaster cannot validate the FTP file. The burst option is not supported with this distribution option. The maximum length of this field is 800 characters.
    • Dynamic List. A Dynamic List enables you to return in memory either a list of burst values and destinations, or only a list of destinations from a data source (for example, a flat file, SQL database, FOCUS data source, or LDAP). To select a Dynamic List, click the icon next to the Dynamic List field. The Select Dynamic List Procedure dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

      Dynamic List

      In this dialog box, select or type a value for the WF Server Name, Execution Id, password to access the server, and the procedure name that creates the Dynamic List.

      Then click OK. The designated Dynamic List procedure appears in the Schedule, Dynamic List field.

  6. In the optional Index File Name field, specify a name for the index file of the report. (Availability of this option is dependent on your ReportCaster configuration.)

    Note: For WF Server Procedures, if you are going to specify that the report is to be burst, type the name of the file in which you want the index page to be created.

    You must type the name of the index in the case specific to your operating system.

    The following table lists the case you should use for a specific operating system:

    Case

    Operating System

    Uppercase

    z/OS

    Lowercase

    Windows

    UNIX

    Note: Index pages for burst report output contain only the burst values specified in the Distribution List.

  7. From the Zip File Type drop-down list, select one of the following:
    • None if you do not want to Zip the output.

    • Add Reports to One Zip File to Zip the output in a single file. Type a name for the file in the Zip File Name field.

    Note: Usability enhancement for FTP and SFTP distribution schedules. ReportCaster will now store FTP/SFTP server names, user ids and passwords in its internal table and list them in the scheduling tool for selection when creating new schedules. These server names and user ids and password can be maintained on the Execution ID table of the ReportCaster Development interface.



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Distributing Scheduled Output to a Printer

How to:

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

distribution tab



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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 as follows.
    • Distribution List. The report will be sent to all printers in the selected Distribution List. To select a Distribution List, click the icon next to the Distribution List field. The Distribution List Selection dialog box opens. In the display pane, double-click the folder with your ID. The display pane lists the printer Distribution Lists that are public and that you own. The following image is an example of the Distribution List Selection dialog box displaying a group of Distribution List belonging to specific user ID.

      distribution list selection

      Note: While in the Distribution List Selection dialog box, you can view additional information about the Distribution Lists in the display pane by selecting Details from the far-right icon, and edit an existing Distribution List (select a list and click the Open icon). You can also create a Distribution List by clicking the New icon.

      Click the Distribution List you want to use. It will appear in the Dist. List Name field. Then click OK. The Distribution List name appears in the Schedule Distribution List field.

      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
    • Distribution File. Type the full path and file name of the external distribution file you want to use for this schedule. The path and file must be accessible to the ReportCaster Distribution Server. For more information about external distribution files, see Creating an External Distribution File.
    • Printer Name. 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, we recommend 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.

    • Dynamic List. A Dynamic List enables you to return in memory either a list of burst values and destinations, or only a list of destinations from a data source (for example, a flat file, SQL database, FOCUS data source, or LDAP). To select a Dynamic List, click the icon next to the Dynamic List field. The Select Dynamic List Procedure dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

      dynamic list

      In this dialog box, select or type a value for the WF Server Name, Execution Id, password to access the server, and the procedure name that creates the Dynamic List. For more information, see Creating a Dynamic Distribution List.

      Then click OK. The designated Dynamic List procedure appears in the Schedule, Dynamic List field.


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Distributing a Report to the Report Library

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 allows 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.

Reports can contain links to Web resources (live links) and to other reports (drill-downs). The following variables, used with the SET command in the FEX, define the path to the resource or the drill-down report.

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

distribution tab



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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. Specify a Library category where the report will be distributed.

    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. Optionally, select the Category in Library check box to specify a different.

    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 three 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 you deleted version 6 and version 5 is not among the top three 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.
    • The maximum number of versions of a report scheduled to the library is 9999. If you exceed this limit, the new report will not be stored and you will receive a message in the ReportCaster log file.
  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:

    • Library URL. This is a URL to log on and open the Report Library. When a user is sent a Library Email Notification the email contains a link to the report in the Library that the user is being notified about. That link is created by adding the specific report ID of the notification to the Library URL.
    • Mail Server Name. This is the host name of the email server that ReportCaster will connect to to send out Library email notification.
    • 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 this.
    • 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