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BiLog: Reporting….Cairn Rocks…Email URL Extension

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BiLog: Reporting….Cairn Rocks…Email URL Extension

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image  Have you ever encountered or built a cairn?   Cairns are stacks or formations of rocks that you can often see on hiking trails or parks.  Some believe they are used as trail markers, while others state they are artistic monuments celebrating nature.  I saw a number of cairns while taking a break from teaching a course in Arizona last week, and added my own interpretation while heading back from Squaw Peak Trail.

 As I thought about this week’s blog – I couldn’t help but think back to those really cool cairns and how they relate to what we’ve done in the 7.5 release with reporting.  Like a cairn, we are continually building up the foundation with thorough and well researched placements.

 One of the New 7.5 features added to the reporting foundation is the ability to email a report to a url.   Our users had requested this functionality for lengthy reports, which generated large file sizes.   Sometimes, a client’s smtp server prevented these reports from being emailed due to their large file size.   Therefore, a solution was required to enable scheduled reports to be accessible to a url – regardless of their file size.

 Additionally, reports can often contain secure data – whether it is information on GL Accounts, labor rates or subcontractors costs.  Therefore, it was paramount that we enable the report data to be controlled and secured.  Because of this security requirement, the report url will reside within a new application in Maximo, called the Report Viewer Application.

 Users can continue to schedule and email reports in xls and pdf file attachments to both Maximo and Non-Maximo users.   However, with the new functionality, they can additionally specify to email a report to a url.    When these scheduled reports have been completed, the user will receive an email – but instead of receiving a pdf or xls file in the email – he will receive a url.

 When he clicks on the url, it will take him to Maximo where he will sign in, and then be directed to the Report Viewer application.  From there, he can download, open or save his report in pdf or xls format.  Again, because report security is a driving requirement of this functionality, only Maximo users can receive reports in the url format.

The REPORTOUTPUTCLEANUP  cron task is used to clear out the report entries on a configurable basis – whether that is once a week – or once a month.   Additionally, this functionality enables persistent reports to be retained in the database for that configurable time period.   To find out more information on this functionality, reference the V7.5 Report Feature guide available here

 Our cairn of reporting continues to be carefully built with the 7.5 Release, and with the sky as the limit……what functionality rocks would you like to see in the next releases????  

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ibm11128951