Setting Output Options

Access the Output page (Select Reporting Tools, and then BI Publisher, and then Create BIP Report Definitions, and then Output.)

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Create BIP Report Definitions-Output page (RTF template). You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Field or Control	Description
Format Type	Dynamically lists the available output formats based on the template type.
Enabled	Select specific values to limit the output choices for the user at runtime.
Default	Select a default format type. This value appears at runtime on the prompt or run control page. It specifies the output format that the system uses if no other value is fed into the BI Publisher engine.
Location	Select one of the following locations: Any indicates that the user can select the output location at runtime. Email indicates that the output goes to email. Note: The users defined in the distribution list must have a valid email address defined in the user profile. If Allow viewer assignment at report runtime is selected, you can enter additional email addresses at runtime. File writes the output to the file that you indicate in theOutput Destination field. Printer indicates that the output goes directly to a printer. Specify the printer destination for the output in the Printer field. This field is available only when the output location that you select is Printer. Printer is a valid selection only when PDF output format is enabled. Web indicates that the output goes to a web report repository that is accessible by the Report Manager. Select the folder for the output from the Report Manager Folder Name lookup. This field is available only when the output location that you select is Web. This is the default location used at runtime if no location is selected. Window indicates the output will be posted, like Web output, to the report repository and then streamed to the browser window, the same way scheduled query runs to Window. Note: Window output is supported for scheduled and non-bursted reports only. Users building a custom process request page should check for the bursting field name (BurstFieldName) in the ReportDefn class before issuing a process request.
File Name	Specify a file name template that gets translated at runtime to a physical file name. This field accepts a combination of output variables and plain text. Output variables are enclosed within percent signs (%) and used as part of the descriptive report name visible in the Report Manager or on the BIP Report Search page. The following variables are supported. %ASD% inserts the as of date. %RID% inserts the report ID. %BTV% inserts the burst field value. %LAN% inserts the report translation language. %field% where field is the name of a field from the XML data that lies below the first repeating field. For example, if you want the employee ID value to appear in the file name, you would use %EMPLID%. Note: %field% variable is only supported for Report Definition where bursting is enabled, and only burst key candidates on the bursting page are eligible. See Setting Bursting Options For example, if you have a report CERTIFICATE that is burst by STUDENT_ID, you can use the file name to provide more details: If no file name is specified, the report description will use the report name, such as CERTIFICATE[2916]-CERTIFICATE.HTM. If a file name of LOCATION %TRAINING_LOC% %END_DT% is specified, the report description will include the variables, such as CERTIFICATE[2916]-LOCATION BOSTON 2009–03–13.HTM. If a file name of %STUDENT_NAME% is specified, the report description will include the variables, such as CERTIFICATE[2916]-LEE,JAMES.HTM. Note: If you leave the File Name field blank, the system uses the report ID as the file name. For bursted report, burst value can be used as file name if set programmatically through the ReportDefn class property UseBurstValueAsOutputFileName. The ReportFileName can also be set programmatically as a property of the ReportDefn class. If a ReportFileName is set either in PeopleCode or on the page, it overrides the UseBurstValueAsOutputFileName property.

Note:

The BI Publisher report definition output options are reflected in the output type and output format prompts on the Process Scheduler Request page only when the application process that runs the report is assigned the process type of BI Publisher.

Output Format Options

The output options are based on the template type as shown in this table:

Template Type	Output Options
RTF	.pdf, .html, .rtf, .xls (html)
PDF	.pdf
E-Text	.txt
XSL	.pdf, .html, .rtf, .xls (html)

Printing BI Publisher Report Output

PeopleSoft applications support batch printing BI Publisher reports directly from a server using several output formats such as HTML, PCL, PDF, PS, RTF and XLS.

Bursted reports are sent to a single printer, but as multiple print jobs

Users can print BI Publisher reports from process scheduler, query report scheduler, or PeopleCode.

Note the following points when printing reports in Microsoft Windows:

BI Publisher functionality uses the Copy DOS command to print reports from Microsoft Windows:
```
copy  file-name  printer-name
```
For printing in Microsoft Windows the printer must be shared in a windows print server and the printer name has to be specified in UNC format:
```
\\server-name\printer-name 
```

Note the following points when printing reports from Unix, GNU, and Linux environments:

BI Publisher functionality uses the “LP” command in Unix, GNU, and Linux environments:
```
lp -c –d  printer-name  file-name
```
For Unix and GNU environments, the printer can be local or in a network, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be in a print server.

See Setting Up BI Publisher Running Reports Using PeopleCode Running Reports in Process Scheduler Using RTF Templates