This topic describes how to create and monitor pixel-perfect report jobs. You can schedule report jobs to run at defined intervals and deliver reports to multiple destinations.
Navigate to the Schedule Report Job page to schedule a report job.
Use the General tab to enter the general information in the table for a report job.
The Output tab has two regions: Output and Destination. Each scheduled job can have multiple output files with distinct characteristics. Each output file can have multiple destinations.
Enter delivery details in the report’s Destination region to deliver a report to multiple destinations.
Select and define the destination types for your report’s output in the Schedule Report Job page.
Only the destination types configured by the administrator are available for selection. You can add multiple destinations for the report’s output.
| Destination Type | Description |
|---|---|
|
Enter multiple email addresses separated by a comma. Enter any Message text to include with the report. To format the message text, you can use HTML 4 elements such as fonts, lists, table cells, hyperlinks, and embedded GIF images. |
|
| Printer |
Select the Printer Group and the Printer, enter the Number of copies, and select Single sided or Double sided, the printer must support duplex printing for this option to take effect. Optionally select the printer Default Tray from which to print the report, and the Print Range pages. |
| Fax |
Select the Fax Server to deliver the report and enter the Fax Number to which to send the report. |
| FTP |
Skip the username and password fields to use the FTP delivery settings configured by the administrator. Only if you want to override the configuration of the FTP server and use password-based authentication, enter the valid username and password credentials for the FTP server. Specify the following properties:
|
| Web Folder |
After selecting Web Folder , enter valid Username and Password credentials. Remote Directory - enter the directory to which to deliver the document, for example, Remote File Name - enter the file name for BI Publisher to assign to the delivery document on the remote server, for example, myreport.pdf. To assign a file name dynamically using a date expression, see Define a Destination File Name Dynamically with a Date Expression. |
| Content Server |
Select Content Server to limit access to the report on the content server, assign a Security Group and Account to the report. Oracle BI Publisher retrieves the Security Group and Account values from the Administrator specified content server. |
| Document Cloud Services |
Select the ODCS Server and the destination Folder Name. |
Content Server is one of the destination types to deliver your report document. Select the content server where you want the report delivered.
Use the information in this table to enter appropriate values for the Content Server properties.
| Property Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Security Group | (Optional) Select the WebContent Server security group to assign to the report. |
| Account | (Optional) Select an Account within the Security Group to assign to the report.
You can enter values for the following required metadata fields. If you don't enter values for these fields, the values from the default report information apply. |
| Author | (Optional) enter a value for Author. If you don't enter an Author, your user name is used for the Author metadata field on the WebContent Server. |
| Title | (Optional) Type a Title for the report. If you don't enter a Title, the Layout name is used for the Title on the WebContent Server. |
| File Name | Enter the file name to assign to the delivered document on the remote server, for example, myreport.pdf. The File Name field is used as the Native File Name on the WebContent Server. If you don't supply a file name value, the Output name is used. |
| Comments | (Optional) Type a description to include with the document on the WebContent Server. |
| Include Custom Metadata | The Include Custom Metadata option is only available if the data model for the report includes a Custom Metadata component. When you select the Include Custom Metadata option, the delivered document includes the custom metadata fields specified in the data model. |
When you can configure an embedded parameterized report to display online, the parameters display the appropriate values from an analysis or a direct connection to a subject area. When you schedule a an embedded parameterized report, the parameters from the analysis aren't passed to the report. As a result, the report displays default values of the parameters used in the analysis. For a direct connection with a scheduled report, the parameters are passed and the values are displayed correctly in the report.
You can define a schedule for executing a report job.
In the Schedule Report Job page’s Schedule tab, define the when the report is run from these recurrence pattern options.
| Option | Description | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency |
Defines when to run the report job using the scheduler from the Frequency list. |
NA |
| Frequency |
Once |
Use the Run Now option or use the date selector to enter the specific Start date and time |
| Frequency |
Hourly/Minute |
Use the following values:
|
| Frequency |
Daily |
Use the following values:
|
| Frequency |
Weekly |
Use the following values:
|
| Frequency |
Monthly |
Use the following values:
|
| Frequency |
Annually |
Use the following values:
|
| Frequency |
Specific Dates |
Use the Add Date option to specify the date and time to run the job. Add multiple specific dates as needed. |
| Run Now |
This option depends on the selection made from the Frequency options. |
NA |
| Start |
This option depends on the selection made from the Frequency options. Specifies the date and time to start the report job. |
NA |
You can configure email and HTTP notifications.
A notification is a message that a job has finished processing. Oracle BI Publisher supports the following notification statuses:
Report completed
Report completed with warnings
Report failed
Report skipped
Administrator must configure the delivery email servers and HTTP servers in the Administration Delivery Configuration page.
Use the Submit Job dialog to review the confirmation details of the job.
You can create a job from an existing job in the Manage Report Jobs page.
You can create a bursting job if the report is configured for bursting.
You must configure the bursting definition for a report in the report's data model.
You can increment date parameters and dynamically define a destination file name.
You can provide expressions in the report's date parameter fields.
If the scheduled report includes date parameters, when you enter values for the schedule dates, you can't change the date values. Every time a scheduled instance of the report is run, the same date parameters are used. If changing the date parameters is required for each run, you can enter an expression in the date parameter field of the scheduler to calculate the date each time the report job runs.
For example, if you create a schedule for a report that runs every Monday to capture data from the previous week, you need to update the date parameters for the report to increment to the first and last days of the previous week.
Enter one of the following functions using the syntax shown to calculate the appropriate date at the scheduled runtime for the report:
{$SYSDATE()$} - Current date, the system date of the server on which BI Publisher is running.
{$FIRST_DAY_OF_MONTH()$} - First day of the current month
{$LAST_DAY_OF_MONTH()$} - Last day of the current month
{$FIRST_DAY_OF_YEAR()$} - First day of the current year
{$LAST_DAY_OF_YEAR()$} - Last day of the current year
The date function calls in the parameter values aren't evaluated until the report job is processed by the Scheduler.
You can also enter expressions using the plus sign (+) and minus sign (-) to add or subtract days as follows:
{$SYSDATE()+1$}
{$SYSDATE()-7$}
For this example, to capture data from the previous week, each time the schedule runs, enter the following in the report's date parameter fields:
Date From: {$SYSDATE()-7$}
Date To: {$SYSDATE()-1$}
You can set up the date functions as default parameter values in the data model. In this case, every time a user views the report from the report viewer, the date parameter is calculated according to the expression supplied for the default value.
When entering the remote file name for a Web folder or FTP destination, you can enter a date expression to dynamically include a date expression in the file name. The date is set at runtime, using the server time zone.
The date expressions are described in the following table.
| Expression | Description |
|---|---|
|
%y |
Displays the year in four digits: Example: 2011 |
|
%m |
Displays the month in two digits: 01-12 (where 01 = January) |
|
%d |
Displays the date in two digits: 01-31 |
|
%H |
Displays the hour in two digits based on 24-hour day: 00-24 |
|
%M |
Displays the minute in two digits: 00 - 59 |
|
%S |
Displays the number of seconds in two digits: 00 - 59 |
|
%l |
Displays milliseconds in three digits: 000 - 999 |
Use these steps to create a file name that appends a date and a file name that prefixes a date and appends a time.
To create a file name that appends the day, month, and year such as:
myfile_01_11_2010.pdf
Enter the following:
myfile_%d_%m_%y.pdf
To create a file name that prefixes the day, month, and year and appends the hour and minute such as:
01_01_2010_myfile_22_57.pdf
Enter the following:
%d_%m_%y_myfile_%H_%M.pdf
If the file name includes an undefined expression such as my_file_%a%b%c.pdf, the file is created as named my_file_%a%b%c.pdf.