WEBFOCUS - ReportCaster End User’s Manual

ReportCaster End User’s ManualVersion 5 Release 3

DN4500591.0904

EDA, EDA/SQL, FIDEL, FOCCALC, FOCUS, FOCUS Fusion, FOCUS Vision, Hospital-Trac, Information Builders, the Information Builders logo, Parlay, PC/FOCUS, SmartMart, SmartMode, SNAPpack, TableTalk, WALDO, Web390, WebFOCUS and WorldMART are registered trademarks, and iWay and iWay Software are trademarks of Information Builders, Inc.

Due to the nature of this material, this document refers to numerous hardware and software products by their trademarks. In most, if not all cases, these designations are claimed as trademarks or registered trademarks by their respective companies. It is not this publisher’s intent to use any of these names generically. The reader is therefore cautioned to investigate all claimed trademark rights before using any of these names other than to refer to the product described.

Copyright © 2004, by Information Builders, Inc and iWay Software. All rights reserved. Patent Pending. This manual, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Information Builders, Inc.

iii

PrefaceThis documentation describes how a Managed Reporting Analytical User or a Business

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uling

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CUS nd

ReportCaster End User’s Manual

Intelligence Dashboard user can create and distribute a schedule for Standard Repotheir own My Reports. It is intended for users who want to schedule reports and distthose reports to specified recipients.

How This Manual Is OrganizedThis manual includes the following chapters:

Chapter/Appendix Contents

1 Introducing ReportCaster

Describes how to access and use the ReportCaster Scheduling Wizard, and the ReportCaster HTML UseInterface.

2 Creating and Maintaining a Distribution List

Discusses how to create, edit, and delete a DistributList. It also describes ReportCaster’s burst feature.

3 Creating a Schedule Describes how to schedule a report using the SchedWizard.

4 Maintaining a Schedule

Discusses how to edit the properties of a schedule, da schedule, or run a log report to obtain informationabout a schedule.

5 Report Library Describes the Report Library, an optional storage anretrieval facility for ReportCaster output. Provides information about creating and maintaining LibraryAccess Lists, and viewing Library Content.

A ReportCaster Formats

Provides descriptions, suggested uses, and consideraabout each ReportCaster output format.

B Tips and Techniques for Coding a ReportCaster Report

Provides tips and techniques for developing WebFOreports that meet the requirements for scheduling adistribution using ReportCaster.

Documentation Conventions

Documentation ConventionsThe following conventions apply throughout this manual:

In this manual, the term Internet refers to corporate intranets as well as the Internet.

Convention Description

THIS TYPEFACE orthis typeface

Denotes syntax that you must enter exactly as shown.

this typeface Represents a placeholder (or variable) in syntax for a value that you or the system must supply.

underscore Indicates a default setting.

this typeface Represents a placeholder (or variable) in a text paragraph, a cross-reference, or an important term.

this typeface Highlights a file name or command in a text paragraph that must be lowercase.

this typeface Indicates a button, menu item, or dialog box option you can click or select.

Key + Key Indicates keys that you must press simultaneously.

{ } Indicates two or three choices; type one of them, not the braces.

[ ] Indicates a group of optional parameters. None are required, but you may select one of them. Type only the parameter in the brackets, not the brackets.

| Separates mutually exclusive choices in syntax. Type one of them, not the symbol.

... Indicates that you can enter a parameter multiple times. Type only the parameter, not the ellipsis points (…).

.

.

.

Indicates that there are (or could be) intervening or additional commands.

iv Information Builders

Preface

Related PublicationsVisit our World Wide Web site, http://www.informationbuilders.com, to view a current listing of our publications and to place an order. You can also contact the Publications Order Department at (800) 969-4636.

Customer SupportDo you have questions about ReportCaster?

Call Information Builders Customer Support Services (CSS) at (800) 736-6130 or (212) 736-6130. Customer Support Consultants are available Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. EST to address all your WebFOCUS ReportCaster questions. Information Builders consultants can also give you general guidance regarding product capabilities and documentation. Please be ready to provide your six-digit site code number (xxxx.xx) when you call.

You can also access support services electronically, 24 hours a day, with InfoResponse Online. InfoResponse Online is accessible through our World Wide Web site, http://www.informationbuilders.com. It connects you to the tracking system and known-problem database at the Information Builders support center. Registered users can open, update, and view the status of cases in the tracking system and read descriptions of reported software issues. New users can register immediately for this service. The technical support section of www.informationbuilders.com also provides usage techniques, diagnostic tips, and answers to frequently asked questions.

To learn about the full range of available support services, ask your Information Builders representative about InfoResponse Online, or call (800) 969-INFO.

Information You Should HaveTo help our consultants answer your questions most effectively, be ready to provide the following information when you call:

• Your six-digit site code number (xxxx.xx).

• Your WebFOCUS configuration:

• The front-end you are using, including vendor and release.

• The communications protocol (for example, TCP/IP or HLLAPI), including vendor and release.

• The software release.

• The server you are accessing, including release (for example, 5.3).

ReportCaster End User’s Manual v

http://www.informationbuilders.com


User Feedback

• The stored procedure (preferably with line numbers) or FOCUS commands being used in server access.

• The name of the Master File and Access File.

• The exact nature of the problem:

• Are the results or the format incorrect? Are the text or calculations missing or misplaced?

• The error message and return code, if applicable.

• Is this related to any other problem?

• Has the procedure or query ever worked in its present form? Has it been changed recently? How often does the problem occur?

• What release of the operating system are you using? Has it, WebFOCUS, your security system, communications protocol, or front-end software changed?

• Is this problem reproducible? If so, how?

• Have you tried to reproduce your problem in the simplest form possible? For example, if you are having problems joining two data sources, have you tried executing a query containing the code to access a single data source?

• Do you have a trace file?

• How is the problem affecting your business? Is it halting development or production? Do you just have questions about functionality or documentation?

User FeedbackIn an effort to produce effective documentation, the Documentation Services staff welcomes any opinion you can offer regarding this manual. Please use the Reader Comments form at the end of this manual to relay suggestions for improving the publication or to alert us to corrections. You can also use the Documentation Feedback form on our Web site, http://www.informationbuilders.com.

Thank you, in advance, for your comments.

Information Builders Consulting and TrainingInterested in training? Information Builders Education Department offers a wide variety of training courses for this and other Information Builders products.

For information on course descriptions, locations, and dates, or to register for classes, visit our World Wide Web site (http://www.informationbuilders.com) or call (800) 969-INFO to speak to an Education Representative.

vi Information Builders



Contents1. Introducing ReportCaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-1

Accessing and Using the Scheduling Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-2Accessing and Using the ReportCaster HTML User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-3

2. Creating and Maintaining a Distribution List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-1Accessing the Distribution List Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-2Creating a Distribution List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-2Editing a Distribution List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-6Deleting a Distribution List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-7Bursting a Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-7

3. Creating a Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-1Schedule Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-2Report Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-5

Bursting Guidelines and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-8Distribution Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-9

Distributing a Report Using E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-9Distributing a Report to a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-17Distributing a Report to Managed Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18Distributing a Report to the Report Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20

Priority and Notification Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24

4. Maintaining a Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-1Accessing the Schedule Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-2Editing a Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-3Deleting a Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-5Viewing a Log Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-6Purging the Log File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12

Troubleshooting ReportCaster Log Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14Checking the Status of a Scheduled Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14Creating, Updating, and Deleting an Execution ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15

5. Report Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-1Creating and Maintaining a Library Access List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-2Viewing Library Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-6

Viewing Content in the Report Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-7PDF Drill Through Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10

ReportCaster End User’s Manual vii

Contents

A. ReportCaster Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1ReportCaster Formats for Scheduled Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

B. Tips and Techniques for Coding a ReportCaster Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-1Editing WebFOCUS Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-2Using an Ampersand or a Single Quotation Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-2HTML and Drill-Down Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-4Using -HTMLFORM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-5Distributing a TOC Report Using ReportCaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-7Data Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-9Using the GRAPH FILE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-10Distributing a Graphic in a PDF Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-12Financial Modeling Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-12Using the &&KILL_RPC Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-14Limitations for Using WebFOCUS Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-15Known Issues When Using WebFOCUS Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-15

viii Information Builders

CHAPTER 1

Introducing ReportCaster

Topics:

• Accessing and Using the Scheduling Wizard

• Accessing and Using the ReportCaster HTML User Interface

Managed Reporting Analytical Users can schedule and distribute Standard Reports or their own My Reports using the Scheduling Wizard, which may be accessed from the Business Intelligence Dashboard and Managed Reporting Domains environments. Reports can be distributed using e-mail, to a printer, as a report in a Managed Reporting folder, or to the Report Library. In addition, if you are a Managed Reporting Analytical User with Advanced privileges, you may schedule Managed Reporting Custom Reports.

When scheduling a report, you must select whether to distribute using a distribution list, distribution file name, or to a single address. You can distribute an entire report, or you can break a report into sections using ReportCaster’s burst feature. When you burst a report, you send only the relevant report sections to the users you specify.

ReportCaster enables you to determine the recipients of each scheduled report, the format for the report output, and when the report will be sent. ReportCaster gives you the ability to schedule and distribute reports at any time.

The ReportCaster HTML User Interface enables Managed Reporting Analytical Users to create and maintain Distribution Lists and Access Lists, edit and delete schedules, run log reports, and purge the log file. Additionally, you can check the status of scheduled jobs that are in the ReportCaster Distribution Server queue, and create, update, and delete an Execution ID, which is a valid user ID that is used to run a schedule on a specified server.

Note: Managed Reporting Developers and Administrators can be configured to access the Scheduling Wizard and HTML User Interface rather than the ReportCaster Development and Administration Interface. For details, see the ReportCaster Development and Administration manual.

ReportCaster End User’s Manual 1-1

Accessing and Using the Scheduling Wizard

Accessing and Using the Scheduling WizardAs a Managed Reporting Analytical User with schedule capability, you can schedule Standard Reports or your own My Reports using the ReportCaster Scheduling Wizard, which may be accessed from the Business Intelligence Dashboard and Managed Reporting Domains environments. If you do not have the schedule capability, contact your Managed Reporting Administrator to request this capability.

• To create a new schedule from Managed Reporting, right-click a Standard Report or My Report and select Schedule from the drop-down menu.

• To create a new schedule from the Dashboard, click a Standard Report or My Report and select Schedule from the drop-down menu:

This opens the Scheduling Wizard, which guides you through the necessary steps for creating a schedule. For more information about the Scheduling Wizard, see Chapter 3, Creating a Schedule.

Note: Reporting Objects that have the “Show as Standard Report” or “Show Only as Standard Report” property selected appear as Standard Reports. However, these Reporting Objects cannot be scheduled by ReportCaster.

1-2 Information Builders

Introducing ReportCaster

Accessing and Using the ReportCaster HTML User InterfaceAs a Managed Reporting Analytical User, you must create a schedule using the Scheduling Wizard. However, all additional ReportCaster functionality is accomplished using the ReportCaster HTML User Interface.

Note: Managed Reporting Developers and Administrators can also be configured to access the Scheduling Wizard and HTML User Interface. For details, see Configuring Access to the ReportCaster User Interfaces in the Accessing ReportCaster and Enabling User Capabilities chapter in the ReportCaster Development and Administration manual.

You can access the ReportCaster HTML User Interface in one of the following ways:

• From the Managed Reporting Domains environment, click the Clock icon on the

toolbar.

• From the Business Intelligence Dashboard, select ReportCaster from the Tools link in the banner. You can also add the interface to a Dashboard Content page.

• From a separate browser window, type the following URL:

http://hostname/context_root/enduser/rclogon.htm

where:

hostname

Is the host name of the ReportCaster Distribution Server.

context_root

Is the context root for the ReportCaster Web application in your Application Server configuration. By default, rcaster is the default value.

The ReportCaster HTML User Interface opens, displaying all schedules that you have created using the Scheduling Wizard:


Accessing and Using the ReportCaster HTML User Interface

From this interface, you may perform the following functions:

• Create and maintain a Distribution List that you can then assign to scheduled reports. For more information, see Chapter 2, Creating and Maintaining a Distribution List.

• Create and maintain a Library Access List that you can then assign to scheduled reports that are distributed to the Report Library. For more information about Access Lists and viewing content in the Report Library, see Chapter 5, Report Library.

• Edit or delete schedules that you have created using the Scheduling Wizard. You can also run a log report to obtain information about a schedule, and purge the log file to conserve space. For more information, see Chapter 4, Maintaining a Schedule.

• Check the status of a scheduled job. For more information, see Checking the Status of a Scheduled Job in Chapter 4, Maintaining a Schedule.

• Create, update, and delete an Execution ID. For more information, see Creating, Updating, and Deleting an Execution ID in Chapter 4, Maintaining a Schedule.

• Open the online Help file.

• Close the ReportCaster HTML User Interface.

Important:

• Although ReportCaster End Users can only view and perform actions on their own objects (Schedules, Distribution Lists, Log Files, Access Lists, and Execution IDs), ReportCaster Administrators can view and perform actions on all user’s objects.

• ReportCaster Administrators can customize which languages are available on the ReportCaster HTML End User logon page by using the Dynamic Language Switch setting in the ReportCaster Server Configuration tool. For more information, see Customizing the Dynamic Language Switch in the ReportCaster Server Configuration chapter in the ReportCaster Development and Administration manual.


CHAPTER 2

Creating and Maintaining a Distribution List

Topics:

• Accessing the Distribution List Interface

• Creating a Distribution List

• Editing a Distribution List

• Deleting a Distribution List

• Bursting a Report

When creating a schedule, you can distribute report output to a single recipient or several recipients. If you are creating a schedule to be distributed to several recipients, you may want to create a Distribution List consisting of multiple recipients. The Distribution List may then be assigned to any schedule.

If the entire report is not relevant to those receiving it, you can specify sections of the report to be sent using the burst option. Each person on your Distribution List can receive different sections of the report depending on the individual burst values you specify.

If you are distributing to the Report Library, you must create an Access List instead of a Distribution List. For more information, see Chapter 5, Report Library.


Accessing the Distribution List Interface

Accessing the Distribution List InterfaceFrom the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, click the Distribution List link. All Distribution Lists that you have access to (public lists and your own private lists) appear:

From the Distribution List window, you can:

• Create a new Distribution List. For more information, see Creating a Distribution List on page 2-2.

• Edit the properties of a Distribution List. For more information, see Editing a Distribution List on page 2-6.

• Delete a Distribution List. For more information, see Deleting a Distribution List on page 2-7.

• Refresh the window so that it contains the latest Distribution List information.

• Open the online Help file.

Creating a Distribution List

When you create a Distribution List, you specify the name of the Distribution List, the distribution method (e-mail or printer), the destinations to which the report will be distributed, the optional burst values, and whether public or private access will be applied.

How to:

Create a Distribution List

Reference:

Considerations When Creating a Printer Distribution List



Procedure: How to Create a Distribution List

1. From the Distribution List window, click the New icon . The following window

appears:

• Distribution List. Specify a name for your Distribution List (for example, Sales Team).

• Access. Select Public (default) or Private from the drop-down list. Only the owner and ReportCaster Administrators can view a Private Distribution List, whereas every ReportCaster user can view a Public Distribution List.

• Distribution Method. Select Email (default) or Printer from the drop-down list.

• Burst Value. If you are bursting a report, specify individual sort values in the Burst Value field. The burst value is case sensitive and may be a maximum of 75 characters.

The burst value for a tabular report will be the first BY field, which is the primary sort field. The burst value for a graph report will be the second BY field. The burst value specified must exist in the data source that the scheduled job reports against.

For more information about bursting a report, see Bursting a Report on page 2-7.


Creating a Distribution List

2. Destination. Specify the destinations to which the report will be distributed.

• If you selected Email as the distribution method, type the e-mail addresses of the recipients (for example, [email protected]). Be careful typing this information because there is no edit checking.

You can specify multiple e-mail addresses within a single Destination line. If you separate each e-mail address by a comma, the e-mail addresses will appear in the To: line of a single e-mail when the scheduled output is distributed.

You may specify a maximum of 75 characters within a single Destination line.

• If you selected Printer as the distribution method, specify the printer server locations and names to which you want to distribute the report. Each printer location and name you specify must be accessible by the ReportCaster Distribution Server.

Note:

• If you specified burst values, be sure to match the specified e-mail or printer destinations with the appropriate burst values.

• The maximum number of e-mail addresses or printers you can specify in a Distribution List is 9999.

• If you are specifying more than ten e-mail addresses or printers in your Distribution List, click the Insert icon to insert additional rows.

• For more information about creating an e-mail Distribution List, see Considerations When Creating a Printer Distribution List on page 2-5.

• For more information about creating a printer Distribution List, see Considerations When Creating a Printer Distribution List on page 2-5.

3. Click Save to save the Distribution List.



Reference: Considerations When Creating a Printer Distribution List

When printing on Windows and UNIX, ReportCaster uses the lp protocol, which runs on top of TCP/IP to communicate to printers. For printing on z/OS, ReportCaster uses the lpr UNIX command, which has special options on the mainframe for sysout dest and class.

Note: To verify that you can connect to your printer, ping the printerserver/printername. If you are unsuccessful, try connecting to the printer’s IP address. If you are successful, you can use the printer’s IP address when creating a schedule. If you do not want to use the printer’s IP address, contact your system administrator to update the DNS host name of the printerserver.

When creating a printer Distribution List, be aware of the following additional platform-specific considerations:

Windows:

Information Builders recommends using the PS or DOC format, instead of the WP format, when printing from a Windows machine.

UNIX:

Contact your UNIX Administrator for a list of defined printers. An administrator can generate a list of defined printers by using the following UNIX command:

lpstat -t

z/OS:

The printer should be a SYSOUT class (such as A) that has been routed to a printer. For example, you can indicate that scheduled report output be distributed to a specific network printer by typing the following printer identification.

A DEST IBVM.P24E2

where:

A

Is the SYSOUT class to be assigned to a network printer.

IBVM.P24E2

Is the printer location and name.


Editing a Distribution List

Editing a Distribution ListFrom the Distribution List window in the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, you can edit your own previously created Distribution Lists at any time by performing the following steps:

1. Select the Distribution List you want to edit (for example, Sales Team):

2. Click the Open icon . The properties of the selected Distribution List appear:

3. You can perform the following functions:

• Copy the Distribution List. This is accomplished by changing the name of the Distribution List. The original Distribution List will remain unaltered.

• Change the values of already existing entries. For example, you can make the Distribution List Private instead of Public, or you can change the destinations.

• Insert additional Burst values and Destinations by clicking the Insert icon. A new row appears where your cursor is positioned, enabling you to insert additional entries.

• Delete Burst Values and Destinations by selecting the row and clicking the Delete icon.

4. Once you have made the necessary changes to your Distribution List, click the Save icon to save the changes.



Deleting a Distribution ListFrom the Distribution List window in the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, you can delete your own Distribution Lists at any time by performing the following steps:

1. Select the Distribution List you want to delete (for example, Sales Team):

2. Click the Delete icon . A message appears asking for confirmation that you want to delete the list. Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the Distribution List.

Bursting a Report

Instead of distributing an entire report, you can use ReportCaster’s burst feature to break a report into sections to be distributed separately. Bursting enables you to target relevant sections of a report to individual users. Each report section is saved as a separate file.

If you are distributing a burst tabular report, the burst value is determined by the first BY field. If you are distributing a burst graph report, the burst value is determined by the second BY field. The burst value is automatically determined by the internal matrix, which is a memory area that stores each database field value and calculates values referenced by the TABLE or GRAPH request.

You can send several report sections to one recipient by specifying that recipient’s destination (e-mail address or printer) for each section you want to send. You can send several report sections to one destination, or you can send one report section to several destinations. The burst values you specify in the Distribution List must exist in the data source you are reporting against.

Note: If you want to burst a report, you must select the Enable Report Bursting check box when you create the schedule. The burst values specified in the Burst Value column in the Distribution List window are ignored unless the schedule specifies to burst the report. For more information, see Chapter 3, Creating a Schedule.

Example:

Bursting a Sales Report


Bursting a Report

Example: Bursting a Sales Report

This sample window shows how to specify burst values when creating a Distribution List. Using the sales report’s primary sort field values (Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest), each representative’s e-mail address is associated with the relevant report data.

Since Adam Abernathy needs only the data for the Northeast branch, the sort value Northeast is listed in the Burst Value column opposite his e-mail address.

However, Chuck Hill works in both the Northeast and Southeast regions. Since he requires data for both regions, his e-mail address is listed twice, with a burst value for each region opposite his address.


CHAPTER 3

Creating a Schedule

Topics:

• Schedule Options

• Report Information

• Distribution Options

• Priority and Notification Options

As a Managed Reporting Analytical User, you can schedule Standard Reports or your own My Reports using the ReportCaster Scheduling Wizard, which may be accessed from the Business Intelligence Dashboard and Managed Reporting Domains environments. To create a schedule from Managed Reporting, right-click a Standard Report or My Report and select Schedule from the drop-down menu. To create a schedule from the Business Intelligence Dashboard, click a Standard Report or My Report and select Schedule from the drop-down menu. This opens the Scheduling Wizard, which includes the following windows:

Schedule. Specify when and how often to run the schedule. For more information, see Schedule Options on page 3-2.

Report Information. Select the report format, whether or not to burst the report, and the Execution ID and password. For more information, see Report Information on page 3-5.

Distribution. Select whether to distribute the report as an e-mail message, to a printer, as a report in a Managed Reporting folder, or to the Report Library. You must also select whether to distribute the report using a Distribution List, distribution file name, or a single location. For more information, see Distribution Options on page 3-9.

Settings. Specify the priority level of the schedule and select notification options. For more information, see Priority and Notification Options on page 3-24.


Schedule Options

Schedule OptionsWhen you access the ReportCaster Scheduling Wizard, the Schedule window is the first to open:


Creating a Schedule

Enter the following schedule information:

1. Description. Type a descriptive name for the schedule. This name will identify the schedule. After the schedule runs, the description appears in your list of schedules.

2. Schedule Job. From the drop-down list, select how frequently you want the schedule to run. Possible values are:

• once. If you want to run the schedule only once. By default, the schedule will execute immediately. Modify the Start Date or Start Time if you do not want the schedule to run immediately.

• hours. If you want to run the schedule every n hours. Select a range between 1 and 24 hours, and check the days of the week on which you want to run the schedule. For example, the following schedule will run every 3 hours on Monday and Friday:

• days. If you want to run the schedule every n days. The following schedule will run every 5 days:

• weeks. If you want to run the schedule every n weeks. Select how often you want to run the schedule (for example, every 2 weeks), and check the days of the week on which you want to run it. The following schedule will run every two weeks on both Monday and Friday:


Schedule Options

• months. If you want to run the schedule every n months. Select how often you want to run the schedule (for example, every 3 months), and click the days of the month on which you want to run it. The following schedule will run every three months on the 9th and the 23rd:

You can also click the Last Day of Month option at the end of the calendar to run the schedule on the last day of the month.

• years. If you want to run the schedule every n years. The following schedule will run every 2 years:

3. Start Date. Using the drop-down lists, specify the date on which you want the schedule to begin. The current date is the default Start Date.

4. Start Time. Using the drop-down lists, specify the time you want the schedule to begin. The current time is the default Start Time. The start time applies only to the Start Date and does not apply to any date thereafter. If you select a time that is after the current time, the scheduled job will not run until the next instance of the Start Time that fits within the schedule’s specifications.

5. End Date. Using the drop-down lists, specify the date on which you want the schedule to end. December 31, 2021 is the default End Date.

6. End Time. Using the drop-down lists, specify the time you want the schedule to end. 12:59 A.M is the default End Time.

7. Enabled (Scheduled jobs run at specified time). Uncheck the Enabled check box if you want the schedule to be inactive.

8. Delete job if it is not scheduled to run again. Check this option if you want the schedule to run once and not be stored in the ReportCaster Repository.

9. Click Next on the bottom of the Schedule window to continue to the Report Information window.


Creating a Schedule

Report Information

Once you have specified scheduling options, you must specify the Report Information:

In this section:

Bursting Guidelines and Limitations


Report Information

1. Report Format. Select the report format from the drop-down list. HTML is the default value.

There are limitations on which formats are valid for certain options. Not all formats are supported for bursting or for printing. If your report contains a format statement (for example, FORMAT PDF), be sure to select the same report format in ReportCaster. The report format specified in this field overrides the format statement in the procedure.

If a TABLE request containing a non-styled format type (for example, ALPHA, COMMA, DOC, EXCEL, EXL97, TABT, WK1, WP, or XML) is scheduled for distribution as a styled format type (for example, EXL2K, EXL2K FORMULA, HTML, PDF, or PS), the report is not created by the WebFOCUS Reporting Server and the ReportCaster log report contains a "No destination found for this distribution" message. Use a non-styled report format when scheduling the procedure, or change the TABLE request to a styled format type.

For detailed information about each format, see Appendix A, ReportCaster Formats.

2. Enable Report Bursting. If you want to burst the report, select the Enable Report Bursting check box. The burst feature enables you to break a report into sections and distribute the sections separately. Burst values may be specified in a Distribution List or distribution file. For more information about bursting, see Bursting Guidelines and Limitations on page 3-8, and Bursting a Report in Chapter 2, Creating and Maintaining a Distribution List.


Creating a Schedule

3. Execution ID. Specify an Execution ID that is authorized to execute procedures on the server running the report.

• If the Execution ID field is grayed out, it means that a default Execution ID and password have been specified within the ReportCaster configuration file.

• If the Execution ID field is not grayed out, and you will be using an Execution ID that you previously used for a schedule, select the 'Choose Security Information' action button. Next, select the Execution ID (for example, rcuser) from the drop-down list:

• If the Execution ID field is not grayed out, and you will be using a new Execution ID, select the 'Enter the Execution Id and Password that will be used to connect to the WebFOCUS Reporting Server' action button. Next, type the Execution ID and password in the appropriate text boxes.

Note: The Execution ID is added to the ReportCaster Repository and is viewable in the ReportCaster HTML User Interface.

4. Click Next on the bottom of the Report Information window to continue to the Distribution window. For more information, see Distribution Options on page 3-9.


Report Information

Bursting Guidelines and LimitationsBursting enables you to target relevant sections of a report to individual users. Each section is saved as a separate file. If you are distributing a burst tabular report, the burst value is determined by the first BY field. If you are distributing a burst graph report, the burst value is determined by the second BY field. The burst value is automatically determined by the WebFOCUS Reporting Server’s internal matrix. The internal matrix is a memory area that stores each database field value and calculates values referenced by the TABLE or GRAPH request.

The following are guidelines and limitations that apply to ReportCaster’s burst feature:

• Case. Burst values are case sensitive.

• Formats. DOC, EXL2K, EXCL97, EXL2K FORMULA, EXL2K PIVOT, GIF, HTML, PDF, PNG, PS, and SVG support bursting. Each burst section of the report will be named burstvalue.format (for example, Northeast.pdf ).

• ACROSS command. This command is not evaluated as a primary sort field. To burst a report, you must also include a BY field. Bursting will occur on the BY field.

• FML reports. Bursting an FML report is supported only if the request has a BY field.

• Compound Reports. Cannot be burst.

• TABLEF. No internal sort processing is performed. The specification of a BY field requires that the data already be sorted in the data source.

• ON TABLE SUBHEAD/ON TABLE SUBFOOT. Creates a SUBHEAD for only the first page of the report, and a SUBFOOT for only the last page of the report. When bursting a report, the SUBHEAD and SUBFOOT should occur for each sort break. Therefore, specify the primary sort field in place of TABLE in the ON command. For example:

ON primarysortfield SUBHEAD


Creating a Schedule

Distribution OptionsThe Distribution window enables you to select how you want to distribute scheduled report output. You can distribute the report using one of the following methods:

• Email. See Distributing a Report Using E-mail on page 3-9.

• Printer. See Distributing a Report to a Printer on page 3-17.

• Managed Reporting. See Distributing a Report to Managed Reporting on page 3-18.

• Library. See Distributing a Report to the Report Library on page 3-20.

Distributing a Report Using E-mail

You can distribute a report as an e-mail attachment or inline within the body of an e-mail message. 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. For more information about distributing a report to a fax machine, see Distributing a Report to a Fax Machine Using E-mail on page 3-13.

How to:

Distribute a Report Using E-mail

Example:

Distributing a Report to a Fax Machine Using E-mail

Reference:

Considerations When Distributing a Report Using Email


Distribution Options

Procedure: How to Distribute a Report Using E-mail

1. On the Distribution window, select Email from the Distribute Reports by drop-down list. The following options appear:


Creating a Schedule

2. Mail Information. Select Single Address, Distribution File, or Distribution List from the drop-down list.

• Single Address. In the accompanying text box, type the e-mail address of the single recipient. 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 SMTP mail server’s ability to validate the e-mail address. The SMTP mail server will return undeliverable e-mail messages to the reply address you specify for the schedule. The burst option is not supported with this distribution option. The maximum length of this field is 65 characters.

Tip: You can specify multiple e-mail addresses within a Single Address:

• If you separate each e-mail address by a comma, the e-mail addresses will appear in the To: line of a single e-mail when the scheduled output is distributed.

• If you separate each e-mail address by a semicolon, the e-mail addresses will appear in the To: line of separate e-mails when the scheduled output is distributed.

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 is dependent 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. For more information, see your mail server administrator.

• Distribution File. In the accompanying text box, type the full path and file name of the Distribution File. The path and file name must be accessible to the ReportCaster Distribution Server.

The external file must contain comma-delimited records, where the maximum length is 75 characters. Records must end with a comma followed by a dollar sign (,$). Each record must be entered on a separate line in the file.

To specify a record for a burst procedure, use the following format:

e-mail address, burst value,$

To specify a record for a non-burst procedure, use the following format:

e-mail address, ,$

Tip: You can create Distribution Files that are automatically deleted after a schedule runs. For more information, contact your ReportCaster Administrator.



• Distribution List. The Single Address drop-down list appears:

From the Select Address drop-down list, select a Distribution List. Note that this drop-down list displays all e-mail Distribution Lists that you are the owner of, and all public e-mail Distribution Lists. For more information about creating a Distribution List, see Chapter 2, Creating and Maintaining a Distribution List.

3. From. This can be any value (for example, the name of the person creating the schedule). This is not required by ReportCaster, but may be required by your e-mail system.

4. Reply Address. Type a valid e-mail address. If recipients reply to the e-mail, their messages will be 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.

5. Subject. Type the text you want to appear in the message’s subject line. This information is not required by ReportCaster, but may be needed by your e-mail system.

6. Save As Report Name. Type a name for the report to be distributed. For example, you might call this report salary. If you selected HTML as the format, this report will be distributed as salary.htm. If the report is burst, it will be distributed as salary_burstvalue.htm.

7. Specify whether you want to distribute the report as an e-mail attachment, or inline within the body of an e-mail message:

• If you want to distribute the report inline within the body of an e-mail message, select the Select report as inline message option button.

• If you want to distribute the report as an e-mail attachment, select the Send report as attachment option button. If you want to send an optional message within the body of your e-mail, type the message in the Enter message for body of email box. You may specify a maximum of 256 characters of text.

8. Click Next on the bottom of the Distribution window to continue to the Settings window. For more information, see Priority and Notification Options on page 3-24.

Note: For information you should be aware of when creating a schedule using the e-mail distribution method, see Considerations When Distributing a Report Using Email on page 3-16.


Creating a Schedule

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.

The following example shows how to distribute a report directly to a fax machine. The e-mail address, [email protected], 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 will be validated by emfax.com. If the e-mail address is valid, emfax.com will distribute 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.



1. On the Distribution window, select Email from the Distribute Reports by drop-down list. The following options appear:


Creating a Schedule

2. Mail Information. Select Single Address from the drop-down list.

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 [email protected] or [email protected] (where emfax.com is the name of your e-mail provider).

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

3. From. This can be any value (for example, the name of the person creating the schedule). This is not required by ReportCaster, but may be required by your e-mail system or by the e-mail provider.

4. Reply Address. 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.

5. Subject. Type the text you want to appear in the message’s subject line. This information is not required by ReportCaster, but may be needed by your e-mail system or e-mail provider.

6. Save As Report Name. Type the name of the report to be distributed.

7. Select the Select report as inline message option button.

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




Reference: Considerations When Distributing a Report Using Email

ReportCaster transfers e-mail asynchronously to your e-mail system. The delivery time depends upon your e-mail system.

Exchange Mail Server Considerations:

• When distributing a report to an Exchange Server, attachment names have a .txt extension added to WP and DOC format output. This occurs because WP and DOC formats are not mapped to a standard MIME type. The Exchange Server interprets WP and DOC output as a text/plain MIME type and adds the .txt extension to the end of the file name. For example, hold.wp.txt or hold.doc.txt.

• Exchange Server individual recipient names ([email protected]) and Exchange Server-defined distribution lists ([email protected]) can be specified in ReportCaster Distribution Lists. However, Exchange Server user-defined distribution lists cannot be referenced in a ReportCaster Distribution List. They are defined internally on the user’s machine. The ReportCaster Distribution List is parsed by the Exchange Server and not the user’s mail client. Since a ReportCaster Distribution List is parsed by the Exchange Server, when an external server submits an Exchange Server distribution list, it must contain the proper prefix and the proper domain (which is prefaced by an @ sign). Consult your Exchange Server Administrator for these values.

CC:Mail Considerations:

• When you distribute ReportCaster generated e-mail attachments greater than 20K in size to users of cc:Mail, cc:Mail renames the attachment textitm.txt, ignoring the file name and extension supplied by the user. This change affects DOC, HTML, and WP formats on UNIX and Windows platforms. However, despite the naming convention issue, the attachments contain the correct output and can be viewed if the attachment is saved to disk with the correct extension.


Creating a Schedule

Distributing a Report to a PrinterThe following section describes how to schedule a report to a printer.

Procedure: How to Distribute a Report to a Printer

1. On the Distribution window, select Printer from the Distribute Reports by drop-down list. The following option appears:



2. Distribution Information. Select Single Printer or Distribution List from the drop-down list.

• Single Printer. Type the name or IP address of the printer (for example, printername). The printer must be on a mapped drive that is accessible to the ReportCaster Distribution Server. The maximum length of this field is 95 characters.

• Distribution List. The Single Address drop-down list appears:

From the Select Address drop-down list, select a Distribution List. Note that this drop-down list displays all e-mail Distribution Lists that you are the owner of, and all public e-mail Distribution Lists. For more information about creating a Distribution List, see Chapter 2, Creating and Maintaining a Distribution List.

Note: If the printer you specify is unrecognized, the “Cannot connect to specified printer" message will be recorded in the log file when the ReportCaster Distribution Server tries to distribute the report.


Distributing a Report to Managed Reporting

Tip: Information Builders recommends distributing report 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 report 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 is distributed to Managed Reporting as a My Report. Therefore, you cannot distribute Standard Reports back to Managed Reporting. The report is available to other users who have access to the Domain. The report is stored in the user’s directory in the Managed Reporting Repository.

How to:

Distribute a Report to Managed Reporting

Reference:

Considerations When Distributing a Report to Managed Reporting


Creating a Schedule

Procedure: How to Distribute a Report to Managed Reporting

1. On the Distribution window, select Managed Reporting from the Distribute Reports by drop-down list. The following option appears:

2. Folder Name. Type the job description of the scheduled report. This description must not exceed 90 characters.




Reference: Considerations When Distributing a Report to Managed Reporting

When distributing a report to Managed Reporting, consider the following:

• Analytical Users cannot distribute Standard Reports back to Managed Reporting.

• Multiple Managed Reporting reports are distributed to the same folder if they both run at the same time. Information Builders recommends assigning each Managed Reporting report a different start time.

• The PostScript (PS) format is not supported for this distribution method.

• When ReportCaster is configured with a WebFOCUS Client on a z/OS UNIX Web server and a WebFOCUS Reporting Server on z/OS, Managed Reporting distribution is not supported for EXCEL or WK1 format. This limitation is due to an EBCDIC to ASCII translation problem. This problem does not occur when the WebFOCUS Client is installed on UNIX (AIX, HP-UX, Sun) or Windows platforms. Information Builders recommends using the EXL2K format instead.

• When distributing a report to Managed Reporting with a format of COMMA, the following information must be added to the /client53/wfs/etc/mime.wfs file to open the output in Excel:

<ADDTYPE> .csv application/vnd.ms-excel binary yes yes no yes no

• When distributing a report to Managed Reporting, you can only drill-down to another report if it is a procedure on the WebFOCUS Reporting Server. There is currently no support for drill-down functionality to Managed Reporting procedures.

Distributing a Report to the Report Library

When you create a schedule, you can specify to distribute report output to the Report Library, an optional storage and retrieval facility. When distributing a report to the Report Library, you can send an e-mail informing users of its availability and providing the link to the content in the library.

The Report Library includes secure access to library content, the ability to save multiple versions of the same report output, and the ability to set an expiration date or keep a specified number of versions. The Report Library is only available to ReportCaster users who have been granted library privileges.

For more information about the Report Library, see Chapter 5, Report Library.

How to:

Distribute a Report to the Report Library


Creating a Schedule

Procedure: How to Distribute a Report to the Report Library

1. On the Distribution window, select Library from the Distribute Reports by drop-down list. The following options appear:



2. Email for Library. Select the Send email after saving report to library check box to send an e-mail message to users with access rights to the content in the Report Library. Any user with access to this report will receive this e-mail message, which contains the URL address needed to access the scheduled report output.

Selecting the Send email after saving report to library check box activates the following fields:

• From (optional). This can be any value (for example, the name of the person creating the schedule). This is not required by ReportCaster, but may be required by your e-mail system.

• Reply Address (required). The sender’s e-mail address. If report recipients reply to the notification, their messages will be sent to this address. If your e-mail system is unable to deliver a report, the undeliverable report message is also returned to this address.

• Subject (optional). Type the text you want to display in the subject line of the e-mail message.

• Enter message for body of email (optional). Type an e-mail message in the text box. You can overwrite the default message.

3. Access Options. Select one of the following option buttons to specify which users can view the report in the library. Depending on what you previously specified, these users may also receive an e-mail notification when the report is distributed to the library.

• 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 can view the report.

For more information about creating a Library Access List, see Creating and Maintaining a Library Access List in Chapter 5, Report Library.


Creating a Schedule

4. Expiration of Reports in the Library. Select one of the following option buttons:

• Never Expire. The report will remain in the Report Library until it is manually deleted by the owner or ReportCaster Administrator.

• Expire after. If you select this option button, specify a number and then select one of the following options:

version(s). The Report Library will store the number of versions specified.

day(s). The Report Library will store the report for the number of day(s) specified.

week(s). The Report Library will store the report for the number of week(s) specified.

month(s). The Report Library will store the report for the number of month(s) specified.

year(s). The Report Library will store the report for the number of year(s) specified.

Note: ReportCaster automatically purges expired reports at 2:00 A.M. each day.


Note: When distributing a report to the Report Library, you can only drill-down to another report if it is a procedure on the WebFOCUS Reporting Server. There is currently no support for drill-down functionality to Managed Reporting procedures.


Priority and Notification Options

Priority and Notification OptionsOnce you have specified the distribution options, the Settings window is where you specify the priority level of the schedule and select notification options:


Creating a Schedule

1. Priority Level for the Job. Indicate the priority for running the job. 1 is the highest priority, and 5 is the lowest priority. 3 is the default priority. The ReportCaster Distribution Server queue sorts scheduled jobs by priority and then by time.

2. Notification will be sent out. Send notification of the schedule’s status to a specified e-mail address by selecting one of the following options:

• On Error. This is the default value. 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.

• Never. ReportCaster does not send notification of the schedule’s status under any circumstances. If you select Never, you may proceed to step 7.

3. Reply Address. Type the sender's e-mail address. If report recipients reply to the report's sender, their messages will be sent to this address. If your e-mail system is unable to deliver a report, the undeliverable report message is also returned to this address.

4. Subject. Type the text you want to display in the message’s subject line. There is a limit of 255 alphanumeric characters.

5. Brief Notification. Type the e-mail address to which you want a brief notification sent. A brief notification sends the ID and job description of a schedule, as well as messages about the schedule (such as “Completed Successfully”). Note that there is no syntax error checking for this field.

Tip: Information Builders recommends using the Brief Notification option when you are sending notification to devices that have limited memory, such as pagers and cell phones. If you want to notify multiple recipients, you can use group mail lists defined on your mail server provided that you append an @ sign followed by a valid domain.

6. Full Notification. Type the e-mail address to which you want a full notification sent. A full notification sends a complete Job Process Log Report as an e-mail attachment. Note that there is no syntax error checking for this field.

Tip: If you want to notify multiple recipients, you can use group mail lists defined on your mail server provided that you append an @ sign followed by a valid domain.


Priority and Notification Options

7. Click Save. The Created New Schedule Successfully message appears.

You can also select the following buttons:

• Back. Takes you back to the previous window.

• Run. Runs and distributes the report immediately but does not save the schedule. This is useful for test purposes. If the report runs successfully, you will receive a confirmation message.

• Cancel. Cancels the schedule request.

• Help. Opens the online Help file.

8. Click Close to complete the schedule and exit the Scheduling Wizard.


CHAPTER 4

Maintaining a Schedule

Topics:

• Accessing the Schedule Interface

• Editing a Schedule

• Deleting a Schedule

• Viewing a Log Report

• Purging the Log File

• Checking the Status of a Scheduled Job

• Creating, Updating, and Deleting an Execution ID

As a Managed Reporting Analytical User, you can schedule Standard Reports or your own My Reports using the ReportCaster Scheduling Wizard, which may be accessed from the Business Intelligence Dashboard and Managed Reporting Domains environments (for details, see Chapter 3, Creating a Schedule).

Once you have created the schedule, you can access the ReportCaster HTML User Interface to edit the properties of the schedule, delete the schedule, or run a log report to obtain information about the schedule. Additionally, you can purge log records to conserve space in the log file, check the status of your scheduled jobs that are in the ReportCaster Distribution Server queue, and create, update, and delete your Execution IDs, which are valid user IDs that you can use to run schedules on a specified server.


Accessing the Schedule InterfaceOnce you have created a schedule using the Scheduling Wizard, you can perform various maintenance functions on the schedule. From the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, click the Schedule link. The Schedule window appears displaying all schedules that you have created.

The Schedule window contains icons that enable you to:

• Open the Scheduling Wizard to edit the properties of a selected schedule. For more information, see Editing a Schedule on page 4-3.

• View a log report for a selected schedule. For more information, see Viewing a Log Report on page 4-6.

• Delete a selected schedule. For more information, see Deleting a Schedule on page 4-5.

• Purge log file information for a selected schedule or for all schedules in your list. For more information, see Purging the Log File on page 4-12.

• Refresh the current schedule list with any newly created schedules.

• Open the online Help documentation.

Note: If you attempt to access a schedule that was created using the Java Web-Start (JWS)-based ReportCaster Development and Administration Interface, you will receive a message informing you that the schedule cannot be opened. Use the JWS tool instead of the ReportCaster HTML User Interface.



Editing a ScheduleFrom the Schedule window in the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, you can edit your own previously created schedules at any time by performing the following steps:

1. Select the schedule you want to edit (for example, Sales):


2. Click the Open icon or double-click the schedule. The Schedule window opens and displays all previously entered information for the schedule:

3. Make the changes to the schedule. For more information about navigating through the Scheduling Wizard, see Chapter 3, Creating a Schedule.

4. Click Save.



Note:

• If you selected once for the run interval, the schedule will run immediately unless you change the Start Time to a time later than the current time. All other run intervals will run at the schedule’s “next run time”.

• If you want your schedule to run immediately, click Run. A new schedule ID is created for the job. Be advised that this will result in multiple entries in the Report Library for scheduled output distributed to the library.

Deleting a ScheduleFrom the Schedule window in the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, you can delete your own schedules at any time by performing the following steps:

1. Select the schedule you want to delete (for example, Sales):

2. Click the Delete icon . A message appears asking for confirmation that you want to delete the selected schedule.

3. Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the schedule.


Viewing a Log Report

Information about the date, time, execution status, and recipients of a distributed report job can be accessed using the Log icon. The Log icon enables you to run a log report that contains information about a distributed job, such as whether or not the job executed successfully, when the report output was distributed, in what format the report output was sent, and the method of distribution. Log reports are stylized HTML format, and appear in a separate browser window. You can search, print, or save the log report.

How to:

View a Log Report

Example:

Reading a Log Report

Reference:

&ECHO and -TYPE Support In Log Reports

Considerations When Viewing a Log Report



Procedure: How to View a Log Report

From the Schedule window in the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, you can view a log report for a schedule by performing the following steps:

1. Select the schedule for which you want to view the log report (for example, Sales):

2. Click the Log icon . The ReportCaster - Web Page Dialog dialog box opens with the Selected Schedule check box active and checked, and the Last Executed option button selected:

To switch from the schedule you selected to viewing information about all of your schedules, uncheck the Selected Schedule check box. If you want to change your selection criteria, click Cancel and reselect another schedule from the list.


3. Select one of the following option buttons:

• Last Executed. Produces a log report containing the most currently run process for the selected schedule or for all schedules (if you did not select a schedule). This is the default.

• All Executed. Produces a log report containing all run processes for the selected schedule or for all schedules (if you did not select a schedule).

• Date Executed. Activates the Start Date and Start Time fields.

If you have selected the Date Executed option, proceed to step 4. Otherwise, proceed to step 6.

4. In the Start Date field, specify the date on which you want the log report to begin. The report will display all processes for the selected schedule (or schedules) that were run on or after the specified Start Date. You can select a Start Date from the pop-up calendar, or you can accept the default Start Date, which is the current date.

5. In the Start Time field, specify a start time for the Start Date by using the drop-down lists. 1:00 A.M is the default value for the Start Time field.

6. Click OK to view the log report.



Example: Reading a Log Report

The log report displays information according to your specifications in a separate browser window. One log record is produced for each scheduled job run in the specified time frame. The log report appears similar to the following example:

A log report includes the following information:

• Job Description. Unique description that you supplied to identify the schedule.

• User. ReportCaster user ID, indicating the owner of the schedule.

• Procedure. Unique, ReportCaster-generated key that identifies a specific execution of a scheduled job.

• Schedule ID. Unique, ReportCaster-generated key assigned to the job when it was scheduled.

• Start Time. Date and time the job started running.

• End Time. Date and time the job finished running.

• Messages. These consist of:

• General information, such as the method of distribution for a particular job (for example, e-mail distribution).

• Processing information, indicating that the request started, distribution was successful, and the request was completed. Processing information also includes reasons why a request failed, such as the unavailability of a data source.


Reference: &ECHO and -TYPE Support In Log Reports

Values from &ECHO variables and –TYPE commands in WebFOCUS procedures appear in log reports. The &ECHO variable displays command lines as they execute in order to test and debug procedures. The -TYPE command enables you to comment and evaluate your code for informational and debugging purposes. For example, this procedure:

-SET &ECHO=ALL;-TYPE Country Sales and Growth -TYPE Parameter RATE is passed into report to forecast potential sales growthTABLE FILE CARHEADING"Sales Growth Forecast using Rate: &RATE "SUM SALES AS 'Sales' COMPUTE GROWTH/D12.2 = (SALES * &RATE)+ SALES; AS 'Sales, Forecast' BY COUNTRY AS 'Country'END

may produce the following log report when scheduled using ReportCaster:



Reference: Considerations When Viewing a Log Report

When viewing a log report, be aware of the following considerations.

E-mail Addresses:

ReportCaster cannot validate e-mail addresses since e-mail validation is performed by the mail server. The log report will include any e-mail addresses validated by the mail server and returned to ReportCaster.

Burst Reports:

• If a valid burst value is omitted in a Distribution List, Distribution File, or Dynamic Address List, ReportCaster treats the blank value as if it is a valid burst value, and no entries indicating a blank burst value appear in the log file. This will significantly reduce the size of the log file, particularly when the database contains many values for the primary field and only a small subset of those values are burst.

• If a burst value is specified in a Distribution List, Distribution File, or Dynamic Address List and it is not found in the database, the following message appears in the log file:

Burst Value: value is not in the database.

• When a report is successfully burst, the log file will include the following message for each burst value:

FILE filename SUCCESSFULLY DISTRIBUTED TO destination FOR burst value.


Purging the Log File

The log file accumulates information and can become difficult to navigate. Information Builders recommends that you periodically purge log records to conserve space.

You can purge the log file in one of two ways:

1. Purge log file information for a specific schedule. Select a schedule and then click

the Purge Log icon . The Purge Log - Web Page Dialog dialog box opens with the Selected Schedule check box active and checked, and the Delete Items through check box inactive and unchecked.

To switch from purging the selected schedule to purging all schedules, uncheck the Selected Schedule check box.

In this section:

Troubleshooting ReportCaster Log Reports



2. Purge log file information for all schedules. Without selecting a schedule, click the

Purge Log icon . The Purge Log - Web Page Dialog dialog box opens with the

Selected Schedule check box inactive and unchecked, and the Delete Items through check box active and checked.

Selecting the Delete Items through check box activates the End Date field, where you can specify the date through which you want to purge the log records. The current date is the default value for the End Date . To change the End Date, click the calendar to the right of the End Date field and select the End Date from the pop-up calendar:

Click OK to purge the log file, or click Cancel to cancel the purge request.

Note: To verify that the specified log files have been deleted, you may want to run a log report again to note the new log output. The deletion of log files is immediate.


Troubleshooting ReportCaster Log ReportsIf you do not receive a log report because there is an insufficient amount of memory available, this may be because the report is too large or you have too many windows open. Information Builders recommends closing all windows and attempting to run the log report again. If you are still unsuccessful, rerun a schedule that successfully created a log report. If you are successful in running the log report, this confirms that the original log report that did not run was too large to be processed. Contact your ReportCaster Administrator to help you troubleshoot this issue.

Checking the Status of a Scheduled Job

From the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, click the Status menu option to generate a list of your scheduled jobs that are in the ReportCaster Distribution Server queue:

The list includes schedule ID, schedule description, priority, start time, owner, and status information. Sorting is available for each column by clicking on the column title (for example, Schedule ID). The Status column will contain one of the following values:

• Run. The scheduled job is currently running.

• Queue. The scheduled job is waiting for a thread to become available to run the request.

Once you have generated a status list of scheduled jobs, you can:

• Select a scheduled job with a status of Queue and click the Remove icon. The schedule will be removed from the queue if it is still in the queue, and the Status list will be refreshed.

• Select a scheduled job with a status of Queue to enable the Update Priority button. In the New Priority field, you can change the priority of the scheduled job using the drop-down list. Click Update Priority to change the priority of the scheduled job if it is still in the queue.

• Click the Refresh icon to refresh the current list of schedules with any new jobs that are in the ReportCaster Distribution Server queue. You can automate this process by selecting a value (for example, 10 Seconds) from the Auto Refresh drop-down list.

• Click the Help icon to open the online Help documentation.



Creating, Updating, and Deleting an Execution ID

An Execution ID is a valid user ID that is used to run a schedule on a specified server. When an Execution ID is created, changed, or deleted on a server, it must also be created, changed, or deleted in the ReportCaster Repository tables using ReportCaster. Similarly, when the password for an Execution ID is changed on the server, the password for that Execution ID must also be changed in the ReportCaster Repository tables. Exceptions are when Execution credentials are Trusted.

Procedure: How to Generate a List of Execution IDs

From the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, click the Execution ID menu option to generate a list of your Execution IDs defined to ReportCaster.

Note: Execution IDs display when the Run Id Type setting for that server is set to User. For Trusted servers, only the Execution ID can be changed.

Once you have generated a list of Execution IDs, you can:

• Click the New icon to create a new Execution ID.

• Select an Execution ID and click the Open icon to optionally change the Execution ID for a specific server, and/or change the password of the Execution ID.

• Select an Execution ID and click the Delete icon to delete the Execution ID from the ReportCaster Repository tables.

• Click the Refresh icon to refresh the current list with any newly created Execution IDs.

• Click the Help icon to open the online Help documentation.

Note: When you create, change, or delete an Execution ID it updates the ReportCaster Repository tables so that they are in sync with the specified server. However, the credentials of the user ID on the server itself remain unchanged.

How to:

Generate a List of Execution IDs

Create a New Execution ID

Change an Execution ID and Password

Delete an Execution ID


Procedure: How to Create a New Execution ID

1. Click the Execution ID menu option.

2. Click the New icon. The ReportCaster -- Web Page Dialog dialog box opens:

3. Specify the following parameters:

a. Server Name: From the Server Name drop-down list, select the name of a WebFOCUS Reporting Server that will be used to run schedules.

b. Execution ID: Enter a valid user ID for the server.

c. Password: Enter the password of the user ID. Note that you are not creating this password on the specified server, but are entering the existing password into the ReportCaster Repository.

d. Confirm Password: Reenter the password.

4. Click OK to create the Execution ID in the ReportCaster Repository table, or click Cancel to cancel the request.



Procedure: How to Change an Execution ID and Password

To change an Execution ID and/or password for a specific server, perform the following steps:

1. Click the Execution ID menu option to generate a list of your Execution IDs.

2. Select the Execution ID whose properties you want to change (for example, caster). This activates the Open icon, enabling you to change the Execution ID, the Execution ID’s password, or both.

3. Click the Open icon. The ReportCaster -- Web Page Dialog dialog box opens:

4. Optionally, enter the following information:

a. Execution ID: Enter a value for the Execution ID. This should be an already existing and valid Execution ID. This Execution ID will globally replace the old Execution ID for all schedules on the specified server.

b. Password: Enter the password for the Execution ID. This password must match the current password for this user ID on the server that appears in the Server Name field.

c. Confirm Password: Reenter the password.

Changing the password using ReportCaster does not change the password on the specified server.

5. Click OK to change the Execution ID and/or password values in the ReportCaster Repository tables. A message appears confirming that the values have been changed.


Procedure: How to Delete an Execution ID

1. Click the Execution ID menu option to generate a list of your Execution IDs.

2. Select the Execution ID you want to delete (for example, caster).

3. Click the Delete icon. A message appears asking for confirmation that you want to delete the selected Execution ID.

4. Click OK.

Once the Execution ID is deleted, a scheduled job that requires this Execution ID on the specified server will not run unless the schedule is modified to use a valid Execution ID. If you modify the Execution credentials for a single schedule that specifies the deleted Execution ID, ReportCaster will make this modification for all schedules that specify the deleted Execution ID.


CHAPTER 5

Report Library

Topics:

• Creating and Maintaining a Library Access List

• Viewing Library Content

When you create a schedule (see Chapter 3, Creating a Schedule), you can specify to distribute report output to the Report Library, an optional storage and retrieval facility. When distributing report output to the Report Library, you can send an e-mail informing recipients of its availability and providing the link to the content in the library.

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. The Report Library is available only to ReportCaster users who have been granted access to the library.


Creating and Maintaining a Library Access List


An Access List is similar to a Distribution List. Access Lists define the users and groups that are allowed to view the output of specified schedules distributed to the Report Library. Once the Access List is created, it can be used as often as needed. Each Access List is created as a private list that is known only by ReportCaster Administrators and the user who created it.

Procedure: How to Create a New Library Access List

1. From the ReportCaster Analytical User Interface, click the Access List link. All Access Lists that you have created appear:

How to:

Create a New Library Access List

Edit and Delete a Library Access List


Report Library

2. Click the New icon . The following window appears:

3. Type the following information:

a. List Name. The name of the Library Access List.

b. Description. A description that can be used to identify the list.

c. Burst Value. An optional burst value. This value is case sensitive.



4. Add groups and users to the Access List.

To add groups to the Access List:

• In the Group List field, select the group or groups you want to add to the Access List (for example, Analyticals), and then click Insert Group. This populates the Burst Value (if applicable), Member, and Type fields at the bottom of the window. Note that only groups that have been granted access to content in the Report Library appear in the Group List. All members of the group will have access.

To add users to the Access List:

• In the Group List field, select the group from which you want to add users to the Access List, and then click Get User. This populates the User List field with the users from the specified group. In the User List field, select the user or users you want to add to the Access List (for example, rcanalytical), and then click Insert User. This populates the Burst Value (if applicable), Member, and Type fields at the bottom of the window. On the Windows platform, you may add a maximum of 60 users.

Note: To delete a group or user from the Access List, select that group or user and then click Delete the selected rows.

5. Click Save to save the Access List.


Report Library

Procedure: How to Edit and Delete a Library Access List

From the Access List window in the ReportCaster Analytical User Interface, you can edit or delete your own previously created Access Lists at any time by performing the following steps:

1. Select the Access List you want to edit or delete (for example, Sales Team):

2. To edit the Access List, click the Open icon .

To delete the Access List, click the Delete icon .

3. If you are editing the Access List, make the necessary changes and save the list. Note that if you rename the Access List, the original Access List will remain unaltered.

If you are deleting the Access List, a message appears asking for confirmation that you want to delete the list. Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the Access List.


Viewing Library Content


The Library Content interface is where you can view content in the Report Library to which you have been granted access. You can access the Library Content interface in several ways:

• When you create a schedule to be distributed to the Report Library (for details, see Chapter 3, Creating a Schedule), you can send an e-mail message to all recipients with access rights to the content in the Report Library. This message contains the URL needed to access the content. If you receive such an e-mail:

• Open the e-mail and click the link to the library content. The logon window opens.

• Type your ReportCaster user ID and password. After a successful logon, you are sent directly to the specified output within the Library Content interface.

There is a link back to the Library Content interface that enables you to view additional content to which you have access in the library.

• If you do not receive an e-mail notification, you can access the Library Content interface from Managed Reporting or the Business Intelligence Dashboard as follows:

• From the Managed Reporting Domains environment, click the Report Library icon

on the toolbar.

• From the Business Intelligence Dashboard, select Library from the Tools link in the banner. You can also add the interface to a Dashboard Content page.

• To access the Library Content interface directly from a browser, type the following URL

http://hostname/rcaster/library/liblogon.jsp

where:

hostname

Is the host name of the ReportCaster Distribution Server.

Type your ReportCaster user ID and password. After a successful logon, you can view all content to which you have access in the Report Library.

In this section:

Viewing Content in the Report Library

How to:

View Content in the Report Library


Report Library

Note:

• The Report Library option to change your ReportCaster user ID’s password should not be used when ReportCaster is configured with Managed Reporting. This is because this option only updates the password in the ReportCaster Repository and not the Managed Reporting Repository. If this option is used, the user must also use the Managed Reporting change password option to update the password in the Managed Reporting Repository.

• Report Library content will not open when using Internet Explorer 6.0.3790.0 (version of Internet Explorer that comes with Windows 2003 server) on a Windows 2003 server. This issue only occurs when you are using the Windows 2003 server as an end user viewing content in the Report Library. This issue does not occur when using Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 on a Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP machine accessing the ReportCaster Web application on a Windows 2003 server.

Viewing Content in the Report LibraryWhen you access the Library Content interface, the Report Library Summary window opens displaying either or both of the following:

• Domains contains Managed Reporting Standard Reports and My Reports content.

• Categories contains WF Server Procedures, the contents of URLs, and files.



Procedure: How to View Content in the Report Library

1. Select Domains or Categories. If you select Domains, the available Domains appear:

Note: You cannot view a report in a Domain unless you are a member of the Domain under which it appears.

2. Click a Domain or Category to view summary information about the folders within the Domain or Category. For example, if you click the Sales Domain, the Sales By Region folder appears in the tree structure on the left side of the window, and the Current Version Summary of Sales report appears on the right side of the window:


Report Library

3. To view content in a specific Domain or Category folder, click the folder (for example, Sales By Region) on the tree structure on the left side of the window. The Current Version Summary of Sales By Region window appears with the following information:

• Last execution date/time. The date and time of the last schedule execution and distribution. The date format is YYYYMMDD, where YYYY is the 4-digit year, MM is the month, and DD is the day of the month. The time format is the format HHMM, where HH is the hour and MM is the minute.

• Burst. Possible values are Yes (burst) and No (do not burst).

• Burst Value (optional). Only appears when Burst is Yes. Values for this field are Non Burst (highlighted in red) or the burst value.

• Current version. The number of versions currently in the library. Click the version (for example, 43) to view the latest output.

Note that ReportCaster does not renumber when versions are deleted. For example, if you delete versions 1 through 43, the next report sent to the Report Library will be version 44.

• Delete all (optional). Only appears if you are the owner of the schedule. If you click the Delete All icon (which displays as a red X), a message appears asking for confirmation that you want to delete all versions of the selected content. Click OK to confirm the deletion, or click Cancel to cancel the request.



• All versions. Click View to view a summary of all output in the library. A window appears specifying the version number, the size (in bytes), the format (for example, HTML), the execution date and time, and the Delete icon (if you are the owner of the schedule):

Click a specific version (for example, 43) to view its content:

PDF Drill Through SupportThe PDF Drill Through feature enables Report Library users to move from a summary report to a detail report, both of which are packaged together in a single PDF compound report. Drill Through functionality is similar to Drill Down functionality except Drill Through reports are static. A PDF document is produced that contains the summary report plus a detail report, with the detail report containing all the detail data for all the line items in the summary report. Clicking a Drill Through hyperlink navigates internally within the PDF file; no additional reports are run. The PDF file can be distributed to the library using ReportCaster, and when opened with Acrobat Reader, retains its full Drill Through functionality.


Report Library

For more information about the PDF Drill Through feature, see Creating a Drill Through PDF Compound Report in the WebFOCUS Reporting Language Enhancements chapter in the WebFOCUS New Features manual.


APPENDIX A

ReportCaster Formats

Topic:

• ReportCaster Formats for Scheduled Output

Using ReportCaster, you can distribute scheduled output in the following formats:

• ALPHA

• COMMA

• DOC

• EXCEL

• EXCL97

• EXL2K

• EXL2K FORMULA

• EXL2K PIVOT

• GIF

• HTML

• JPG

• PDF

• PNG

• PS

• SVG

• TABT

• WK1

• WP

• XML

For information about how these formats relate to ReportCaster, see ReportCaster Formats for Scheduled Output on page A-2.

ReportCaster End User’s Manual A-1

ReportCaster Formats for Scheduled Output

ReportCaster Formats for Scheduled OutputWhen you create a schedule, you specify the format for the scheduled output. The following table describes the different types of available ReportCaster formats:

Format Description Suggested Uses Considerations

ALPHA Saves scheduled output as fixed-format character data.

For display in a text document; for further reporting in WebFOCUS; as a transaction file for modifying a data source.

When created as a HOLD file, a corresponding Master File is created.

Bursting is not supported.

A-2 Information Builders


COMMA Saves scheduled output as a variable-length text file in comma-delimited format with character values enclosed in double quotation marks. All blanks within fields are retained.

This format is required by certain software packages such as Microsoft Access.

For further processing in a database application. This format type can be imported into applications such as Excel or Lotus.

This format type does not create a Master File.


Cannot be opened in the Report Library. However, you can open COMMA reports in Lotus 1-2-3 by right-clicking the report and saving it as a COMMA file outside of the library.

Smart date fields and dates formatted as I or P fields with date format options are treated as numeric and are not enclosed in double quotation marks in the output file. Dates formatted as alphanumeric fields with date format options are treated as alphanumeric and enclosed in double quotation marks.

Continental decimal notation (CDN=ON|SPACE|QUOTE) is not supported. A comma within a number is interpreted as two separate columns by a destination application such as Microsoft Access.




DOC Scheduled output opens as a plain-text word processing document. Text can be opened by any word processing application. Retains ASCII form feed characters to correctly page output.

Word Processing applications, printing unformatted reports, e-mail, Report Library.

Does not retain most formatting. Does not support hyperlinks or alerts.

Can be distributed as an e-mail attachment or as an inline e-mail message.

Bursting is supported.

Must be using Microsoft Office 2000 at a minimum release level of 9.0.3821 SR-1 in order to open in the Report Library.

EXCEL (XLS)

For Excel 2000 and earlier, scheduled output opens as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet file.

E-mail, Library Any version of Microsoft Excel must be installed. Cannot use the print distribution method. Does not support bursting reports or alerts. Does not retain headings, footings, subheads, or subfoots. The format is binary.


When ReportCaster distributes EXCEL reports created with a TABLE request containing BY HIGHEST primarysortfield syntax, the report contains page breaks on each primary sort field value.




EXCL97(XLS)

Scheduled output opens as an Excel97 spreadsheet file, an HTML-based display format that supports report formatting and drill-downs.

E-mail, Library Microsoft Excel 97 or higher must be installed.



EXL2K(XLS)

For Excel 2000 and higher, scheduled output opens within Excel 2000.

Supports most StyleSheet attributes, allowing for full report formatting.

E-mail, Library Microsoft Excel 2000 or higher must be installed. The format is ASCII.

All EXL2K output with an .xht extension is dynamically changed to .xls for e-mail or FTP distribution. You must edit your Web server’s MIME table so that the .xls extension is ascii/application data instead of binary.






EXL2K FORMULA(XLS)

For Excel 2000 and higher, scheduled output opens within Excel 2000. Contains Excel formulas that calculate and display the results of any type of summed information (such as column totals, row totals, and sub-totals).





EXL2K PIVOT

For Excel 2000 and higher, scheduled output opens within Excel 2000.

Used to analyze complex data much like the OLAP tool in WebFOCUS. It allows you to drag and drop data fields within a PivotTable, providing different views of the data, such as sorting across rows or columns.








GIF Scheduled output opens as a graphic in GIF format.

E-mail, Library Only works with procedures that contain GRAPH FILE syntax.

Bursting is supported and is performed on the second BY field in the GRAPH FILE request.

Drill downs are not supported since the GIF format creates a static image.

To distribute a GIF report on UNIX or z/OS, edit the schbkr script file and add the following code after the #!/bin/ksh line:

DISPLAY=IP_Addressexport DISPLAYTERM=xtermexport TERM

where:

IP_Address

Is the IP address of the machine that is running the xterm.

Note: This step is only necessary if you are distributing a graph created by a WebFOCUS GRAPH FILE request (WF Server Procedure, Standard Report, My Report), and is not necessary if you are distributing a file.




HTML(HTM)

Supports hyperlinks and other World Wide Web features. Retains StyleSheet formatting.

Report Library, e-mail for display in a Web browser

Bursting is supported except for FML reports.


JPG

Scheduled output opens as a graphic in JPG format.

E-mail, Library Only files can be distributed using this format. However, you can embed a JPG in a PDF report and then distribute the PDF report using ReportCaster.




PDF Appearance of the scheduled output is preserved in an electronic document when printed using Adobe Acrobat. Retains all relevant StyleSheet formatting.

E-mail, Library Does not support hyperlinks in e-mail attachments. Recipient must have an Adobe Acrobat application to view.

The OS/390 UNIX platform requires the Web server configuration file to have the MIME setting for PDF set to binary in mime.wfs.


When ReportCaster distributes PDF reports created with a TABLE request containing BY HIGHEST primarysortfield syntax, the report contains page breaks on each primary sort field value.

When distributing a PDF report to a Managed Reporting Repository on z/OS, the PDF report cannot be viewed in Managed Reporting. As a workaround, save the PDF file to your local machine and then view the PDF using Adobe Acrobat. This limitation is due to z/OS being an EBCDIC-based platform and PDF being an ASCII-based format.

The PDF Drill Through feature is supported. For more information about this feature, see the Creating Reports With WebFOCUS Language manual.




PNG Scheduled output opens as a graphical image. These graphs are bitmapped and can support 16 million colors. In addition, PNG graphs have lossless compression (data is decompressed 100% back to the original). Therefore, saving, altering, and resaving a PNG does not degrade its overall quality. For these reasons, PNG graphs are superior to GIF graphs.

E-mail, Library Only works with procedures that contain GRAPH FILE syntax.


Drill downs are not supported, as this format creates a static image.

PS Appearance of the scheduled output is preserved in an electronic document when printed using PostScript. Retains all relevant StyleSheet formatting.

Printing Does not support hyperlinks. Printers must support PostScript. Recipient must have an application (for example, GhostView) that supports PostScript.

Distribution to Managed Reporting is not supported.





SVG Scheduled output opens as a graphical image. This file format, based on Extensible Markup Language (XML), presents powerful, interactive graphical images.

E-mail, Library Recipient must have an SVG viewer, such as Adobe SVG Viewer for Windows. To download Adobe SVG Viewer for Windows, go to http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=46&platform=windows.

Only works with procedures that contain GRAPH FILE syntax.


Drill downs are not supported, as this format creates a static image.

TABT(TAB)

Scheduled output opens in tab-delimited format, including column headings in the first row.

This format is required by certain software packages such as Microsoft Access.

E-mail, Library Bursting is not supported.



http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=46&platform=windows

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=46&platform=windows


WK1 Scheduled output opens within Lotus 1-2-3, Excel.

e-mail In the mime.wfs configuration file:

• Specify no in the Redirect column to launch Lotus 1-2-3.

• Specify yes in the Redirect column to launch Excel.

• The format is binary.

Cannot use the print distribution method. Does not support bursting reports or alerts. Does not retain headings, footings, subheads, or subfoots.

Cannot be opened in the Report Library. However, you can open WK1 reports in Lotus 1-2-3 by right-clicking the report and saving it as a WK1 file outside of the library.

Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel must be installed. Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher is the preferred browser.

WP Scheduled output opens as a plain-text word processing document in the Web browser. Text can be opened by any word processing application.

Word processing applications, printing unformatted reports, e-mail, Report Library.

Does not retain page breaks or most formatting. Does not support hyperlinks, bursting, or alerts.





XML Scheduled output opens in XML format, a markup language that is derived from the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).

Describing and exchanging data for applications on different systems.




APPENDIX B

Tips and Techniques for Coding a ReportCaster Report

Topics:

• Editing WebFOCUS Procedures

• Using an Ampersand or a Single Quotation Mark

• HTML and Drill-Down Reports

• Using -HTMLFORM

• Distributing a TOC Report Using ReportCaster

• Data Visualization

• Using the GRAPH FILE Command

• Distributing a Graphic in a PDF Report

• Financial Modeling Language

• Using the &&KILL_RPC Flag

• Limitations for Using WebFOCUS Features

• Known Issues When Using WebFOCUS Commands

This appendix provides tips and techniques that will enable you to review existing WebFOCUS reports and develop new reports that meet the requirements for scheduling and distribution using ReportCaster.

Among the coding techniques discussed are best practices for coding reports that will be distributed as HTML and graphical output, and examples for using WebFOCUS commands such as -HTMLFORM and GRAPH FILE. Additionally, information is included about distributing drill-down reports, creating Financial Modeling Language (FML) reports for ReportCaster distribution, and using the &&KILL_RPC flag in a pre-processing procedure to stop ReportCaster processing. Limitations and known issues when coding WebFOCUS reports are also included.

For more information about coding WebFOCUS reports, see the Creating Reports With WebFOCUS Language manual.

ReportCaster End User’s Manual B-1

Editing WebFOCUS Procedures

Editing WebFOCUS ProceduresWhen editing WebFOCUS procedures to be scheduled using ReportCaster, Information Builders recommends using Notepad instead of WordPad. This is because WordPad places blank spaces at the end of lines that WebFOCUS cannot parse properly. This is most likely to happen when using the cut and paste technique.

Using an Ampersand or a Single Quotation Mark

In ReportCaster, the following fields allow the use of an ampersand (&) and a single quotation mark (‘):

• Job description.

• Mail subject.

• Company.

• FTP (scheduled from Managed Reporting) report name.

• Managed Reporting folder name.

• Notify subject.

The technique for Using an Ampersand (&)—Place a concatenation sign after the & and before the next character in the string. For example:

-SET &COMPANY=’AT&|T’;-TYPE &COMPANY

The technique for Using a Single quotation mark (')—When a value contains a ', use two single quotation marks (for example, O"Brien). Within a quoted string, two single quotation marks (") are interpreted as one single quotation mark.

Note: Although Information Builders recommends using this technique, you can also use the CTRAN subroutine to change one character to another.

How to:

Use CTRAN to Translate One Character to Another

Example:

Using CTRAN to Change a Single Quotation Mark to a Double Quotation Mark

B-2 Information Builders


Syntax: How to Use CTRAN to Translate One Character to Another

CTRAN (inlen, infield, decfrm, decto, output)

where:

inlen

Is the integer that specifies the length in characters of the input string.

infield

Is the alphanumeric input string.

decfrm

Is the decimal value of the character to be translated.

decto

Is the decimal value of the character to be used as a substitute for decfrm.

output

Is the resulting alphanumeric output string.

To use this subroutine, you need to know the decimal value of the characters in internal machine representation. Printable EBCDIC or ASCII characters and their decimal values are listed in character charts.

Example: Using CTRAN to Change a Single Quotation Mark to a Double Quotation Mark

You can use the following code to change a single quotation mark to a double quotation mark:

TABLE FILE TRAINPRINT TRAIN AND COMPUTEALT_MOD/A20 = CTRAN(20, MODEL, 39, 34, ALT_MOD);BY COUNTRYEND


HTML and Drill-Down Reports

HTML and Drill-Down ReportsWhen distributing an HTML or drill-down report, you must use the BASEURL command in the scheduled procedure to set a fully qualified URL. A fully qualified URL is needed so that the user viewing the report will have access to the URL on the Web server where the WebFOCUS Client is installed. This will enable the user to run the HTML or drill-down report, view images (.gifs or .jpegs), resolve hyperlinks, and apply external Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

Note: External Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) files must be fully qualified and accessible to the user receiving the report.

To run a drill-down report, a user must be able to access the Web server and the WebFOCUS Reporting Server. If the WebFOCUS Reporting Server is running in secured mode, the user must have a valid Execution ID and password to run the report. If the user does not have a valid user ID and password, an authentication message appears.

Do not use localhost as the host name when performing drill-downs. When the report gets sent to the user’s machine, localhost refers to the machine the user is on. To be able to run the drill-down request, the request must be sent to the host name of the Web server where the WebFOCUS Client is installed.



Using -HTMLFORMIn the deployment environment, the -HTMLFORM command enhances the functionality of your Web page by enabling you to include HTML commands in your procedures. You can use all standard HTML elements in your Web page, including character styling, hyperlinks, graphic images, tables, forms, and frames. The content must be self-contained in a single answer set.

Example: Using -HTMLFORM to Save Two Tabular Reports in an HTML Form

TABLE FILE CENTORDSUM LINEPRICEBY PRODCAT AS 'Product Category'HEADING" "" "ON TABLE SET PAGE-NUM OFFON TABLE NOTOTALON TABLE SET ONLINE-FMT HTMLON TABLE SET STYLE *..........ENDSTYLEON TABLE HOLD AS HOLD1 FORMAT HTMTABLEENDTABLE FILE CENTORDSUM LINEPRICE AS 'Sales'BY STORE_CODE AS 'Store'BY PRODCAT AS 'Category'WHERE STORE_CODE EQ '4003NY' ORSTORE_CODE EQ '1003CA'HEADING" "" "ON TABLE SET PAGE-NUM OFFON TABLE NOTOTALON TABLE SET ONLINE-FMT HTMLON TABLE SET STYLE *..........ENDSTYLEON TABLE HOLD AS HOLD2 FORMAT HTMTABLEEND-HTMLFORM SALES


Using -HTMLFORM

The following HTML form can be distributed by ReportCaster:



Distributing a TOC Report Using ReportCaster

You can enhance navigation within a large HTML report by adding a dynamic HTML-based Table of Contents (TOC). To take advantage of this feature, the report must contain at least one vertical sort (BY) field. If you include more than one sort field in a report, the hierarchy is determined by the order in which the sort fields are specified in the request. To add a TOC for a lower-level sort field, you must also add a TOC for its parent.

The TOC displays, as hyperlinks, all values of the first (highest-level) vertical sort field, as well as the values of any lower level BY fields that you designate for inclusion. Unless otherwise specified in the request, a new page begins when the highest-level sort field changes.

Note:

• The size of a TOC-enabled report is limited to the memory available on the WebFOCUS Client.

• Bursting a TOC-enabled report using ReportCaster is not supported.

• The controlling multiple reports feature, documented in Controlling Multiple Reports in the Enhancing the User Interface chapter in the WebFOCUS Developing Reporting Applications manual, is not supported by ReportCaster.

Syntax: How to Distribute a TOC Report Using ReportCaster

To distribute a TOC report using ReportCaster, add the following code:

SET BASEURL=http://hostname/

where:

hostname

Is the host name of the Web server on which the WebFOCUS Client is installed.

How to:

Distribute a TOC Report Using ReportCaster


Distributing a TOC Report Using ReportCaster

For example:

SET BASEURL=http://hostname/SET PAGE-NUM=OFFTABLE FILE CENTORDHEADING"Sales Report"" "SUM LINEPRICE AS 'Sales'BY PLANTBY PRODCATON TABLE SET HTMLCSS ONON TABLE SET STYLE *TYPE=REPORT, GRID=OFF, FONT=ARIAL, SIZE=12, $TYPE=HEADING, SIZE=16, $ENDSTYLEON TABLE SET COMPOUND BYTOCEND

The following HTML TOC output can be distributed by ReportCaster:



Data Visualization

To make your HTML reports more powerful, you can insert visual representations of selected data directly into the report output. These visual representations are in the form of vertical or horizontal bar graphs that make relationships and trends among data more obvious. Data visualization graphs can be used with a Managed Reporting report or WF Server Procedure.

For example, the following code retrieves information from the CENTHR data source:

SET BASEURL=http://hostname:port/ TABLE FILE CENTHRSUM EMP_COUNTBY PLANT ON TABLE SET STYLE *GRAPHTYPE=DATA, FIELD=EMP_COUNT, GRAPHCOLOR=RED,$END

hostname:port is the host name (or IP address) and port number of the Web server on which the WebFOCUS Client is installed. If the port number is 80 (the default), you may omit the colon and port number. For example,

hostname

If the port number is not 80, use a colon as a delimiter and then specify the port number. For example,

hostname:81

The resulting output, which can be distributed by ReportCaster, displays in graph format:

How to:

Use Data Visualization on a Web Server Without WebFOCUS


Using the GRAPH FILE Command

Procedure: How to Use Data Visualization on a Web Server Without WebFOCUS

To use data visualization files on a Web server without WebFOCUS installed on it, you must:

1. Create a Web server alias for /ibi_html on the Web server. For more information about creating the WebFOCUS /ibi_html alias, see the WebFOCUS and ReportCaster Installation and Configuration manual for your platform.

2. Create the vis subdirectory under the /ibi_html directory.

3. Copy the GIF files from the Web server on which WebFOCUS is installed into your outside/vis/ directory (where outside is the name of the Web server on which WebFOCUS is not installed).

4. Execute "SET BASEURL=http://outside/" in the procedure that produces the report you want to distribute.

Note:

• SET BASEURL will also work against a server outside the firewall that has a full WebFOCUS installation.

• BASEURL must point to the top-level Web server URL, since the HTML generated using data visualization refers to the GIF files using URLs that start with /ibi_html.

Using the GRAPH FILE Command

Most TABLE requests can be converted into GRAPH requests by simply replacing the TABLE FILE command with the GRAPH FILE command. The only limitations are those inherent in the nature of the graphic format. When a TABLE request is converted in this manner, the various phrases that make up the body of the request determine the format and layout of the graph. The type of graph produced by a GRAPH FILE request depends on the display command used (SUM or PRINT), and the sort phrase(s) used (ACROSS or BY).

The internal graph engine used by WebFOCUS has been integrated into the ReportCaster Distribution Server. This means that when the data for the GRAPH FILE request is sent back to the ReportCaster Distribution Server, it will create and distribute the graph. When using the GRAPH FILE command, you must include SET GRAPHEDIT=SERVER syntax to return data to the ReportCaster Distribution Server. Bursting is supported and is performed on the second BY field in the GRAPH FILE request.

Example:

Creating a Report That Displays Output as a Pie Graph



Example: Creating a Report That Displays Output as a Pie Graph

You can use Graph Assistant to create a report that displays output as a pie graph:

SET LOOKGRAPH=PIESET GRAPHEDIT=SERVERSET GRID=ONSET BARNUM=ONSET 3D=OFFSET VERO=ONGRAPH FILE CENTHRSUM EMP_COUNTACROSS PLANTON GRAPH SET GRAPHSTYLE *..........ENDSTYLEON GRAPH SET STYLE *ENDSTYLEEND

The following pie graph output can be distributed by ReportCaster:


Distributing a Graphic in a PDF Report

Distributing a Graphic in a PDF ReportYou can distribute a graphic in a PDF report using ReportCaster by performing the following steps:

1. Windows: Perform manual configurations based on your WebFOCUS environment.

UNIX: Export the DISPLAY and IBIJAVAPATH variables.

OS/390: This feature is not supported on OS/390 platforms.

For more information about these steps, see the WebFOCUS and ReportCaster Installation and Configuration manual for your platform.

2. Create the GIF file (in a temporary directory on the WebFOCUS Reporting Server) and then insert the GIF file in the header or body of a PDF report. For more information, see the Creating a Graph chapter in the Creating Reports With WebFOCUS Language manual.

3. After the GIF image is created and embedded into a PDF report, and you have saved the PDF report as a Managed Reporting Standard Report, you can distribute it using ReportCaster. Be sure to use the PDF report format when creating the schedule.

Financial Modeling Language

The Financial Modeling Language (FML) is used for creating, calculating, and presenting financially oriented data such as balance sheets, consolidations, or budgets. These reports are distinguished from other reports because calculations are inter-row as well as inter-column.

The following guidelines must be followed when scheduling Financial Modeling Language (FML) reports that use the POST and PICKUP commands. Separate the POST and PICKUP steps into two procedures:

• POST is required to save the results of the FML report. The POST command should be used within a pre-processing step. The ON TABLE HOLD syntax must be included in a POSTed report to not generate a report during pre-processing execution. This procedure must reside on the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.

• PICKUP is required to retrieve POSTed data. It is the procedure to schedule. This procedure may reside on the WebFOCUS Reporting Server, in a Managed Reporting Repository, or in a local application.

Note: Bursting an FML report is not supported since there is no BY field.

Example:

Using the POST Command in an FML Request

Using the PICKUP Command in an FML Request



Example: Using the POST Command in an FML Request

The following code creates an FML report and POSTs two tag rows to the LEDGEOUT workfile. This procedure must reside on the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.

FILEDEF LEDGEOUT DISK D:\IBI\LEDGEOUT.DATDEFINE FILE LEDGERCUR_YR/I5C=AMOUNT;LAST_YR/I5C=.87 * CUR_YR - 142;END

TABLE FILE LEDGERSUM CUR_YR LAST_YR FOR ACCOUNT1100 LABEL AR POST TO LEDGEOUT OVER1200 LABEL INV POST TO LEDGEOUT OVERRECAP CA=R1 + R2; AS 'ASSETS'ON TABLE HOLDEND

Example: Using the PICKUP Command in an FML Request

The following code retrieves the POSTed data from the LEDGEOUT workfile and uses it in the RECAP calculation. The output from this procedure will be distributed by ReportCaster.

FILEDEF LEDGEOUT DISK D:\IBI\LEDGEOUT.DATDEFINE FILE LEDGERCUR_YR/I5C=AMOUNT;LAST_YR/I5C=.87 * CUR_YR - 142;END

TABLE FILE LEDGERSUM CUR_YR LAST_YR FOR ACCOUNT1010 TO 1030 AS 'CASH' LABEL CASH OVERDATA PICKUP FROM LEDGEOUT ARAS 'ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE' LABEL AR OVERDATA PICKUP FROM LEDGEOUT INVAS 'INVENTORY' LABEL INV OVERBAR OVERRECAP CUR_ASSET/I5C = CASH + AR + INV;END


Using the &&KILL_RPC Flag

Using the &&KILL_RPC FlagThe &&KILL_RPC flag is a ReportCaster amper variable that you can use in a pre-processing procedure when you want to stop ReportCaster processing and not execute the scheduled procedure based on a condition. The condition may be the existence of a data extract, or a restriction on the days that schedules are allowed to run. The code to evaluate the condition can be a combination of Dialogue Manager and FOCUS supported by the WebFOCUS Reporting Server. The &&KILL_RPC amper variable must be set using Dialogue Manager.

The following sample code has been set up to run as a pre-processing procedure. It will stop a request if today’s date is in a list of holiday days.

-*-* TEST TODAYS DATE AGAINST A CALENDAR OF BUSINESS EXCEPTION DAYS-* The assumption here is that the dates in the data file are in -* ascending orderFILEDEF HDAYRCLB DISK C:\IBI\APPS\MIPS\HDAYRCLB.DAT-RUN-*-SET &TDAYX = &YYMD;-SET &&KILL_RPC = ’N’;-*-*set PREV_DATE to some value that will cause the first IF to continue -* the loop-SET &PREV_DATE = 00000101;-REPEAT DATELOOP WHILE &&KILL_RPC NE ’Y’;-READ HDAYRCLB &FILEDATE.I8-SET &&KILL_RPC = IF &TDAYX EQ &FILEDATE THEN ’Y’ ELSE ’N’;-IF &PREV_DATE GE &FILEDATE THEN GOTO ENDME;-SET &PREV_DATE = &FILEDATE;-DATELOOP-ENDME

The following information displays in the Job Process Log Report. Note the “Executing pre-execution RPC 1” and “User termination via KILL_RPC flag” entries.



Limitations for Using WebFOCUS FeaturesDue to ReportCaster’s complex internal processing, there are limitations for using WebFOCUS features. The following features are not supported in scheduled procedures:

• PCSEND - WebFOCUS reporting feature to store report sections in different files.

• Multiple TABLE or GRAPH requests with HTML format. Internally, these are multiple HTML documents. Only the result of the first TABLE or GRAPH request (without a HOLD or SAVE command) will be distributed. In order to distribute a graph, you must use the GIF, JPG, PNG, or SVG format.

• MORE - This command is used to concatenate data sources.

The following WebFOCUS features are not available with ReportCaster because they require distribution of multiple files, or integration with Web server components:

• OLAP - Only entire reports or burst report sections are distributed. OLAP capability requires authentication and connection to the WebFOCUS components on the Web server.

• On-demand Paging - Only entire reports or burst report sections are distributed. WebFOCUS Web Viewer is not available when distributing reports using ReportCaster. On-demand Paging is available when the report is sent to the user through the WebFOCUS Client on the Web server. In this case, the report output is cached, and the first page of the report is sent to the user's browser along with WebFOCUS Web Viewer.

Known Issues When Using WebFOCUS CommandsThis table describes known issues when using the following commands in procedures scheduled using ReportCaster.

Command Known Issue Solution

&DATE The following message displays in the log file when you have a pre-execution procedure that attempts to SET the EDAPATH and perform a computation on a field that originated from &DATE:

No report for ReportCaster to distribute

Use the &YYMD amper variable instead of &DATE.

ON TABLE SUMMARIZE

Is ignored when used with ACROSS and COMPUTE in a TABLE request with multiple verbs.

Do not use this syntax with multiple verbs.


Note: For more information about these commands, see the Creating Reports With WebFOCUS Language manual.

TABLE

MAINTAIN

In SQL Server, do not use a field named USER. USER is a reserved word. TABLE and MAINTAIN commands fail if a field name of USER is referenced.

Change the database field name to USERID.

FORMAT YYM and FORMAT YM

Do not display values on MVS. Set DATEDISPLAY=ON.

SUBTOTAL Always retrieves the GRAND TOTAL unless ON TABLE NOTOTAL is used. Therefore, when it is used with burst values it distributes the GRAND TOTAL for the last burst value.

Use ON TABLE NOTOTAL when using the SUBTOTAL command.

-INCLUDE Cannot create report output that would result in more than one report to distribute, as ReportCaster can only accept a single answer set.

Use with procedures that HOLD or SAVE output. You can use StyleSheet (.sty), Cascading StyleSheet (.css), or GIF (.gif ) files with -INCLUDE.

Use the compound report feature.

-EXIT

-QUIT

These commands should not be used within a procedure you schedule, since they will terminate the internal session that is executing the scheduled job. When the internal session is terminated during the execution of a scheduled job, the report output may be successfully distributed. However, the log information for the execution of the schedule cannot be processed.

Use Dialogue Manager commands to branch to a label located at the end of your procedure. This will enable you to implement your application logic, and permit ReportCaster to both run any post-processing procedures specified and process the log information.

Command Known Issue Solution


Index
&&KILL_RPC flag B-14
Symbols

&&KILL_RPC flag B-14

A

Access Lists 1-1, 5-2creating 5-2deleting 5-5editing 5-5

ALPHA format A-2

amper variables B-14

ampersands B-2editing WebFOCUS procedures with B-2

Analytical Users 1-1

B

burst values 2-3, 2-7

bursting reports 2-1, 2-6 to 2-8, 3-8, B-10

C

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) B-4

cc mail considerations 3-16

changing passwords 4-18

coding requirements 3-11

COMMA format A-3

creating Execution IDs 4-16 to 4-17

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) B-4

CTRAN subroutine B-3

D

data visualization B-9without WebFOCUS B-10

Dialogue Manager B-14

display formats A-2

displaying report output B-11

distributing gif images in a PDF report B-12

distributing graphics B-12

distributing reports 1-1, 3-9by e-mail 3-9 to 3-10, 3-13 to 3-14, 5-1by fax 3-13to Managed Reporting 3-18 to 3-19to printers 2-5, 3-17to the Report Library 3-20

distribution file names 3-11, 3-14, 3-17

distribution lists 1-1, 2-1 to 2-2creating 2-2, 2-5deleting 2-7editing 2-6, 4-5, 4-7

distribution methods 1-2

distribution options 3-9

Distribution Server B-10

Distribution tab 3-9

DOC format A-4

Drill Through feature 5-10

drill-down reports B-4

dynamic tables of contents B-7

ReportCaster End User’s Manual I-1

Index

E

editing WebFOCUS procedures B-2with a single quotation mark B-2with an ampersand B-2

e-mail 3-9, 3-13, 3-16inline reports 3-13

e-mail attachments 3-14

EXCEL 2K format A-5

EXCEL 97 format A-5

EXCEL format A-4

Exchange Mail Server considerations 3-16

Execution ID 3-7

Execution IDs 4-15creating 4-15 to 4-17deleting 4-15, 4-18updating 4-15

EXL2K FORMULA format A-6

external distribution file names 3-14, 3-17

F

faxing reports 3-13

Financial Modeling Language (FML) B-12PICKUP command B-12POST command B-12

FML (Financial Modeling Language) B-12PICKUP command B-12POST command B-12

format of scheduled output in ReportCaster A-2

G

GIF format A-7

gif images in a PDF report B-12

Graph Assistant B-11

GRAPH FILE command B-10

GRAPH requests B-10

group folders 1-3

H

Help option 1-3

HTML format A-8

HTML reports B-4, B-7adding dynamic tables of contents B-7

HTML tables of contents B-7

HTML User Interface 1-1, 1-3, 4-1

-HTMLFORM command B-5saving reports with B-6

I

inline e-mail reports 3-13

J

Job Process Log Report B-14

Job Process Log Reports 4-6reading 4-9viewing 4-6 to 4-7, 4-11

JPG format A-8

L

Library Access Lists 1-1, 5-2creating 5-2deleting 5-5editing 5-5

Library Content interface 5-6 to 5-7

log file messages 4-9

Log File option 1-3, 4-6

log files 4-9messages 4-9purging 4-12

I-2 Information Builders

Index

log reports 4-6, 4-9, B-14reading 4-9viewing 4-6 to 4-7, 4-11

M

Managed Reporting 3-18 to 3-19

My Reports 1-1 to 1-2

N

navigating sort groups B-7

notification options 3-24

P

passwordschanging 4-18

PDF Drill Through 5-10

PDF format A-9

PDF reports B-12

PICKUP command B-12in FML requests B-13

pie graphs B-11

PNG format A-10

POST command B-12

printers 2-5distributing reports to 2-5, 3-17

PS (PostScript) format A-10

R

Report Caster Scheduling Wizard 1-1 to 1-3, 3-1 to 3-2

report formats A-1 to A-2

Report Information window 3-5

Report Library 3-20, 5-1Access Lists for 5-2viewing content in 5-6 to 5-8

ReportCaster Console options 4-14 to 4-15Execution ID 4-15Status 4-14

ReportCaster Distribution Server B-10

ReportCaster HTML User Interface 1-1, 1-3, 4-1

reports 2-1, 3-1bursting 2-7 to 2-8, 3-8distributing 2-7, 3-9, 3-17 to 3-18scheduling 3-1tracking 4-6

S

schedules 1-2 to 1-3creating 1-3, 3-1 to 3-2deleting 1-3, 4-5editing 1-3, 4-2 to 4-3purging 4-12

Scheduling Wizard 1-1 to 1-3, 3-1 to 3-2

Settings window 3-24

single quotation marks B-2changing to double quotation marks B-3editing WebFOCUS procedures with B-2

sort groups B-7

sort phrases B-10

Status option in ReportCaster 4-14

SVG format A-11

ReportCaster End User’s Manual I-3

Index

T

TABLE requests B-10

tables of contents (TOCs) B-7distributing with ReportCaster B-8

TABT format A-11

TOCs (tables of contents) B-7distributing with ReportCaster B-8

W

WK1 format A-12

WP format A-12

X

XML format A-13

Z

z/OS UNIX system 2-5, 3-19

I-4 Information Builders

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ReportCaster End User’s Manual DN4500591.0904Version 5 Release 3

Reader Comments

Information Builders, Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2898 (212) 736-4433

ReportCaster End User’s Manual DN4500591.0904Version 5 Release 3

WEBFOCUS - ReportCaster End User’s Manual

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