Frequently Asked Questions: Reports

The following are a series of frequently asked questions about reports.

What reports are available?

The system gives you visibility into system management and execution through a variety of reports and reporting features. While you are working in various parts of the system, you can generate reports about pertinent activities, such as performance statistics, document activity, registrations, and more.

From Operations > Reports, you can work with report configurations that provide visibility into business processes, EDI transactions, translation maps, and more. You can use the report wizard to run reports on demand, or you can set up schedules and business processes to run reports automatically. You can customize report configurations by saving your parameter settings under a new name or as a version of an existing report. Each report configuration is saved in the system as a versioned resource so you can run it later, either on demand or from business processes and schedules.

Is the name of a report the same as the name of the report configuration or the report schedule?

The name of a generated report is based on the report configuration name followed by the format extension:RPT_[configuration name].[format extension]

For example, if the report configuration name is Acme and the report is generated in PDF format, the report name is RPT_Acme.PDF. The name of the generated report is listed in Process Data and can be used for reference in Process Data.

If you set up a schedule for a report, the system creates a business process that is stored separately from the configuration. The business process is named using the report name followed by scheduleBP.

Can I schedule reports through the Reports Service?

Yes. The Report Service requires that the report configuration already exist, that you specify the name of the report configuration, and that you specify the format of the report.

Can I import or export report configurations?

Yes. The system also allows you to export report configurations from one system and import them into another system. This feature allows you to configure reports in a test environment and import them into your production environment.

Additionally, once you export a report configuration, you can open it in another viewer, which enables you to view and print the report.

Can I use other software to work with reports?

Yes. You can export a report so that you can open it in another viewer or print it.

What do I do if the report is blank?

If you are generating reports and they are either blank or are missing information, check with your system administrator to determine the tracking level that is configured in your /install_dir/properties/enveloping.properties.in file.

If the tracking level is set to improve performance, this may have a negative impact on reporting capabilities.

How can I view Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters in a report PDF?

If you are viewing PDF reports that contain Chinese, Japanese, or Korean (double-byte) characters, and the characters are either blank or are missing information, do the following:

  1. Add the following files from the iText library to the classpath of IBM® Sterling B2B Integrator:
    • iTextAsian.jar
    • iTextAsianCmaps.jar
  2. Download the Adobe Reader Asian font pack from the Adobe web site.
  3. In the report.properties.in file in the properties subdirectory of your installation, do the following:
    • Set the Global.reportFont.[font style].pdfFontName property to the appropriate font name in the Adobe Reader font pack (for example, pdfFontName=STSong-Light).
    • Set the Global.reportFont.[font style].pdfEncoding property with an appropriate encoding for that character set (for example, pdfEncoding=UniGB-UCS2-H).
    • Set the Global.reportFont.[font style].isPdfEmbedded property to false.
  4. If you need to export your report to other formats, set the Global.reportFont.[font style].pdfFontName property to the appropriate TrueType font name installed on your operating system, or use the FONT_MAP export parameter.
  5. After you update the report.properties.in file, run the setupfiles command.

The following example shows how to change the properties in the report.properties.in file.

Global.reportFont.Core.Normal.fontStyle=Arial
Global.reportFont.Core.Normal.size=10
Global.reportFont.Core.Normal.isBold=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Normal.isItalic=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Normal.isUnderline=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Normal.isStrikeThrough=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Normal.pdfFontName=[appropriate 
font name in the Adobe Reader font pack],1
Global.reportFont.Core.Normal.pdfEncoding=[appropriate 
encoding for the character set]
Global.reportFont.Core.Normal.isPdfEmbedded=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Bold.fontStyle=Arial
Global.reportFont.Core.Bold.size=12
Global.reportFont.Core.Bold.isBold=true
Global.reportFont.Core.Bold.isItalic=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Bold.isUnderline=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Bold.isStrikeThrough=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Bold.pdfFontName=[appropriate 
font name in the Adobe Reader font pack],1
Global.reportFont.Core.Bold.pdfEncoding=[appropriate 
encoding for the character set]
Global.reportFont.Core.Bold.isPdfEmbedded=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Error.fontStyle=Arial
Global.reportFont.Core.Error.size=12
Global.reportFont.Core.Error.isBold=true
Global.reportFont.Core.Error.isItalic=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Error.isUnderline=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Error.isStrikeThrough=false
Global.reportFont.Core.Error.pdfFontName=[appropriate 
font name in the Adobe Reader font pack],1
Global.reportFont.Core.Error.pdfEncoding=[appropriate 
encoding for the character set]
Global.reportFont.Core.Error.isPdfEmbedded=false

Why are .ttf files generated in the tmp directory, and can I delete them?

When you generate a report from Operations → Reports in PDF format, the system uses Jasper Reports, which creates .ttf files to ensure accurate font display in your reports.

Each report generation creates 14 .ttf files, stored in the temp directory. These files are not deleted automatically and can accumulate over time, especially if the reports are generated frequently or the system is restarted, with each instance creating an additional 14 files.

You can delete these .ttf files to effectively manage your disk space.