Adding a report

About the example report

This section provides an overview of the sample telephone bill report that will be added to the system.

A telephone bill report typically contains hundreds of pages of line data. The report is logically segmented into statements. Users search for statements using a date and any combination of account number and customer name. The line data will be formatted into pages and the appearance of the output will be enhanced with images and fonts.

Most queries about a statement occur in the first sixty days after it is mailed to the customer. Little or no activity occurs a year after a statement is generated. For legal reasons, statements are kept for five years. The system must maintain index information in the most efficient way possible.

Two groups of users need to access the telephone bill reports. The customer service department is responsible for handling queries from customers. They answer questions about the statements, attach annotations to statements, and reprint statements. As part of a customer self-service initiative, Customer XYZ is permitted to access the system and retrieve and view their statements.

The basics

In general, here is how you work in the OnDemand Administrator client to add a report to the system:

1. Choose a library server. On the left side of the main window, click the name of the library server on which you want to define the report.
2. Select the area. First expand the areas of the library server. Double click the server name or click the + (plus) to the left of the server name. Then select the area.
   When you define a report to the system, you typically add an application group, an application, and a folder.

   • The application group identifies database and storage management information.
   • The application identifies viewing, indexing, loading, and printing information.
   • The folder provides users the ability to search for, retrieve, view, and print report data.
3. Pick one of two ways to add an application group, an application, and a folder. For example, use one of the following methods to add an application group:
   • Add a new application group. From the File menu, select New Application Group to open the Add an Application Group dialog box.
   • Copy an existing application group. In the Name list, point to the application group that you want to copy and click the right mouse button. Select Copy from the pop-up menu to open the Add an Application Group dialog box. The fields in the dialog box contain information copied from the application group you selected. At a minimum, you need to change the Name (application group names must be unique to the library server).
4. Define the properties of the application group, application, and folder.
5. When finished, add the application group, application, and folder by clicking OK in the add dialog box.

About the application group

Before adding the application group, review the database and storage management requirements.

Database requirements

Database requirements can be grouped in two categories: database tables and the database fields.

Database tables

• Index data is stored in table spaces
• A database table contains index data from one or more reports
• Data is managed by Content Manager OnDemand
• An annotation field is not required in the database
• The date field is the segment field for the application group

Database fields

• Three database fields: account number, customer name, and report date
• Account number is the index, data type string, 16 bytes. However, plan to store only 13 bytes in the database, removing the - (dash) characters from the account number string.
• Customer name is a filter, data type string, 30 bytes
• Report date is a filter, data type date

Storage management requirements

Adding the application group

Use the New Application Group command to add the application group. First, point to Application Groups and click the right mouse button. From the pop-up menu, select New Application Group to open the Add an Application Group dialog box.

The pages of the Add an Application Group dialog box organize information about the application group into sections. The tabs show which page you are on: General, Message Logging, Storage Management, Permissions, Field Definition, Field Information, and Advanced Index Information.

Application group - General page

Start by completing the General page.

1. In the Name field, type the name of the application group.
2. In the Description field, type up to 120 characters of descriptive information about the application group.
3. Based on the database requirements, accept the recommended defaults for the rest of the fields on the General page. (You can click Advanced to see the other options.)

Application group - Message Logging page

1. Select the Message Logging tab to specify the types of application group messages that you want Content Manager OnDemand to save in the system log. You can use the information in the system log messages to generate system usage reports.
2. Select Retrieval, Database Queries, and Server Printing. Clear all of the other check boxes.

Application group - Storage Management page

1. Select the Storage Management tab to provide information that Content Manager OnDemand uses to manage data stored in the application group.
2. From the Storage Set Name list, select the name of the storage set that the system will use to maintain the report in cache storage and in archive storage. The storage set was added to the system in "Adding a storage set and storage node". The storage set can contain one or more primary storage nodes. A primary storage node identifies an object server and archive storage node in Tivoli® Storage Manager. The system caches the report on the object server on which the primary storage node resides.
3. Under Cache Data, select Cache Data for __ Days and type 60 in the space provided. The system should maintain the report in cache storage for 60 days. After that time, when a user views or prints the report, the system retrieves the report from archive storage.
4. Under Life of Data and Indexes, select Expire in ____ Days and type 1825 in the space provided. This is the number of days (1825, or five years) that the system should maintain index data, documents, and resources related to the report. After that number of days, the system can delete the report from the system.

Application group - Permissions page

1. Select the Permissions tab to specify the types of report and application group functions that users can perform. For example, you can let users query report data, create logical views, print pages of the report, and maintain the application group. You can specify default permissions and permissions for specific groups and users. By default, the person that creates the application group is given all application group permissions; no other users can access report data or maintain the application group. On the example system, other users obtain permissions from a group. The groups were added in Adding the customer service group and Adding the Customer XYZ group.
2. First, add the customer service group. From the User/Groups list, select +CustomerService.
3. Select the Access check box.
4. Click Add.
5. Next, add the Customer XYZ group. From the User/Groups list, select +CustomerXYZ.
6. In the Annotation area, clear the View check box. The client also clears the Add check box. Customer XYZ users can view, print, and copy documents but do not have permission to use the annotation tools provided by the system.
7. Click Add.

Application group - Field Definition page

1. Select the Field Definition tab to define the database fields.
2. Define three database fields for the sample telephone bill report:
   • Account number
   • Customer name
   • Report date
   To define a database field, type the name of the field in the Database Field Name field and click Add.

Application group - Field Information page

1. Select the Field Information tab to define the attributes of the database fields.
2. First, define field information for the account number field.
   • From the Type list, select Index
   • Type the string length (13)
3. Next, define field information for the customer name field.
   • From the Name list, select custname
   • From the Type list, select Variable
   • In the Length field, type 30
4. Next, define field information for the report date field.
   • From the Name list, select rdate
   • From the Data Type list, select Date
   • Select the Segment check box

About the application

Before adding the application, review the viewing, indexing, loading, and printing requirements.

Viewing requirements

Indexing requirements

Loading requirements

Adding the application

Use the New Application command to add the application. First, point to Applications and click the right mouse button. From the pop-up menu, select New Application to open the Add an Application dialog box.

The pages of the Add an Application dialog box organize information about the application into sections. The tabs show which page you are on: General, View Information, Indexer Information, Load Information, Logical View Fields, Logical Views, and Miscellaneous Options.

Application - General page

Start by completing the General page.

1. In the Name field, type the name of the application.
2. In the Description field, type information about the application.
3. Click Select to open the Application Groups dialog box.
4. From the Names list, select Telephone Bill Reports.
5. Click OK.

Application - View Information page

1. Select the View Information tab to specify information needed by Content Manager OnDemand client programs to display the telephone bill report. This information is also used by the indexing program.
2. From the Data Type list, select Line.

   Even though the report will be stored in the system as AFP data, initially set the Data Type to Line so that a sample of the source data can be processed with the graphical indexer. After generating the indexing parameters, you must reset the Data Type to AFP by selecting CONVERT=YES on the Data Format page of the Indexer Properties dialog box.

3. In the RECFM area, select Fixed. The report contains fixed length records, 133 bytes in length.

Application - Indexer Information page

1. Select the Indexer Information tab.
2. From the Indexer list, select ACIF.
3. Process a sample report using the graphical indexer. In the Parameters Source area, select Sample Data.
4. Click Modify to open the Open dialog box.
5. Select the name of the file that contains the sample report data.
6. Click Open. The client opens the Indexer Properties dialog box to the Data Format page. The Data Format page is where you can specify information that the client uses to read the report into the report window. For example, you can use the Maximum pages to display field to limit the number of pages that the client reads into the report window. Assume that the input report contains thousands of pages. You need only the first 20 pages of the report to define the indexing information. You can select the ____ Pages field and type 20 in the space provided.
7. No changes are required on the Data Format page for the example. However, when processing your own sample data, you must verify the information on the Data Format page; the report data will be displayed correctly only if all the information is correct for the type and format of the input data.

8. Click OK. The client reads the file into the report window.

9. Define the triggers for the report.
   1. Define trigger number one. First, select any blank column in the first record. Click the Add a Trigger button to open the Add a Trigger dialog box.
   2. In the Columns to Search area, select Carriage Control.
   3. Click OK to add the trigger.
   4. Define trigger number two. First, select the string PAGE    1. Click the right mouse button. From the pop-up menu, select Trigger to open the Add a Trigger dialog box.
   5. Click OK to add the trigger.
10. Define the fields for the report.
    1. Define field number one. First, select the string Customer XYZ and enough blank characters to the right of the string to reserve enough space to hold the largest index value (30 characters) the field can contain. (The selected string length guide, which appears above the field, displays the number of selected characters.) Then click the right mouse button. From the pop-up menu, select Field to open the Add a Field dialog box.
    2. From the Trigger list, select Trigger2.
    3. Click OK to add the field.
    4. Define field number two. First, select the string May 11, 2023. Then click the right mouse button. From the pop-up menu, select Field to open the Add a Field dialog box.
    5. From the Trigger list, select Trigger2.
    6. Click OK to add the field.
    7. Define field number three. First, select the string 303-555-1212-95B. Then click the right mouse button. From the pop-up menu, select Field to open the Add a Field dialog box.
    8. From the Trigger list, select Trigger2.
    9. Click OK to add the field.
11. Define the indexes for the report.
    1. First, clear any selected areas of the report. Right-click and select Index to open the Add an Index dialog box.
    2. From the Attribute list, select custname.
    3. In the Break area, select No.
    4. In the Fields list, double-click Field1.
    5. Click Add to add the index.
    6. From the Attribute list, select rdate
    7. In the Break area, select No.
    8. In the Fields list, double-click Field2.
    9. Click Add to add the index.
    10. From the Attribute list, select acct.
    11. In the Fields list, double-click Field3.
    12. Click Add to add the index.
    13. Click Done to close the Add an Index dialog box.
12. In the toolbar, click the Indexer Properties button to open the Indexer Properties dialog box.
13. On the Data Format page, change the Data Conversion field to Yes so that ACIF converts the input line data to AFP.

    When you change Data Conversion to Yes, the OnDemand Administrator client automatically changes the Data Type on the View Information page to AFP.

14. Define the resources for the report.
    1. Click the Resource Information tab to specify the resources required to view the report.
    2. Type the name of the form definition. This is the AFP object that determines how data is placed on a page.
    3. Type the name of the page definition. This is the AFP object that determines other resources required to view a page.
    4. In the Resource File Contents area, select the Form Definitions, Page Segments, and Overlays check boxes. These are the resources that ACIF should collect.
    5. In the Search Paths area, type the full path names of the directories in which the indexing program can locate the resources.
15. Click OK to close the Indexer Properties dialog box.
16. Close the report window, saving the changes.

Application - Load Information page

1. Select the Load Information tab to specify information that Content Manager OnDemand uses to process the index data before storing it in the database.
2. In the Application Group Database Name list, select rdate to specify the format of the date as it appears in the report.
3. From the format list, select %b %d, %Y.
4. In the Application Group Database Name list, select acct. To conserve space in the database, Content Manager OnDemand will remove the - (dash) character from index values before storing the values in the database.
5. In the Embedded field, type the - (dash) character.

Application - Miscellaneous Options page

1. Select the Miscellaneous Options tab to specify client and server processing options for the application.
2. Under Client Options, in the Default Server Printer list, select Customer Service Printer. This is the printer that was defined in Adding a printer.

About the folder

Before adding the folder, review the data access requirements, the types of permissions that should be specified, and the search and display fields that should be defined.

Data access requirements

The folder allows users to access the telephone bill report application group and the telephone bill report application.

Permissions

Who needs access to the folder and what types of permissions do the users need?

• Users in the customer service department can open the folder to search for and retrieve statements.
• Users at Customer XYZ can open the folder to search for and retrieve statements that contain their account number and customer name.
• Define a set of folder fields for the Customer XYZ users. The folder fields will limit access to specific statements.

Search and display fields

Adding the folder

Use the New Folder command to add the folder. First, point to Folders and click the right mouse button. From the pop-up menu, select New Folder to open the Add a Folder dialog box.

The pages of the Add a Folder dialog box organize information about the folder into sections. The tabs show which page you are on: General, Permissions, Field Definition, Field Information, and Field Mapping.

Folder - General page

Start by completing the General page.

1. In the Name field, type the name of the folder.
2. In the Description field, type up to 120 characters of descriptive information about the folder.
3. Select the Display Document Location check box. This provides users with a visual clue about the type of media on which a statement is stored.
4. In the Application Groups list, select Telephone Bill Reports.

Folder - Permissions page

1. Select the Permissions tab to specify the types of folder functions that users can perform. For example, you can let users open the folder, create private named queries, and maintain folder fields. You can specify default permissions and permissions for specific groups and users. By default, the person that creates the folder is given all folder permissions; no other users can open or maintain the folder. On our system, other users obtain permissions from a group. You need to add two groups to the folder. The groups were added in Adding the customer service group and Adding the Customer XYZ group.
2. From the Users and Group list, select +CustomerService.
3. Select the Access check box.
4. Click Add, to add the Customer Service group to the folder.
5. From the Users and Group list, select +CustomerXYZ.
6. Click Add, to add the CustomerXYZ group to the folder.

Folder - Field Definition page

1. Select the Field Definition tab to define the folder fields. Define four folder fields to allow users to search for statements:
   • Account Number, a string field
   • Customer Name, a string field
   • Report Date, a date field
   • Other Information, a text search field
2. Complete the following steps to define a folder field:
   1. In the Name field, type the name of the folder field.
   2. In the Description field, type up to 120 characters of descriptive information about the folder field.
   3. From the Field Type list, select the data type of the field.
   4. Select the Mapping Type. All of the fields in this example use the Single mapping type.
   5. Click Add.

Folder - Field Information page

1. Select the Field Information tab to specify the properties of the folder fields. Using the *PUBLIC identifier, you can specify field information that is used by all users that can open the folder. You can also specify field information for specific users and groups. The public field information will be used unless it is overridden by field information for a specific user or group. For this folder, do the following:
   • Specify public field information. For the Account Number, Customer Name, and Other Information fields, accept the default values. For the Report Date field, you must specify field information.
   • Specify field information for the CustomerXYZ group. For the Other Information and Report Date fields, accept the default values. For the Account Number and Customer Name fields, specify field information.
2. First, specify the public field information for the Report Date field.
   1. From the Name list, select Report Date
   2. From the ID list, select *PUBLIC
   3. Select the Default check box
   4. From the Display Format list, select %b %e, %Y
   5. From the Display Formats list, select %b %e, %Y
   6. In the Interval area, select Last, type a 3 (three) in the entry field, and select Months
3. Next, specify the field information for the CustomerXYZ group. First, make a copy of the folder fields. Click the Permissions tab.
4. From the Selected List, select +CustomerXYZ.
5. In the User/Group Fields area, click Yes.
6. Click the Field Information Tab.
7. Specify the Customer XYZ field information for the Account Number field.
   1. From the Name list, select Account Number
   2. From the ID list, select +CustomerXYZ
   3. From the Default list, select Equal
   4. Clear the Like check box
   5. Select the Default check box
   6. Select the Fixed check box
   7. In the first Defaults entry field, type 1234567890123
   8. Clear the Append check box
8. Next, specify the Customer XYZ field information for the Customer Name field.
   1. From the Name list, select Customer Name
   2. From the Default list, select Equal
   3. Clear the Like check box
   4. Select the Default check box
   5. Select the Fixed check box
   6. In the first Defaults entry field, type Customer XYZ
   7. Clear the Append check box

Folder - Field Mapping page

1. Select the Field Mapping tab to map the folder fields to application group database fields. Content Manager OnDemand uses the values that users type in folder fields to construct queries against the Content Manager OnDemand database.
2. Map the following folder fields to their corresponding application group fields:
   • Account Number to acct
   • Customer Name to custname
   • Report Date to rdate

At this point, the properties of the folder meet the requirements. Click OK in the Add a Folder window. The OnDemand Administrator client adds the folder to the database and returns to the main window.

Summary

The example shows the basic requirements for adding a report to the system. Hopefully the scenario that was described and developed is similar to how you plan to use Content Manager OnDemand at your company. The example should have enough variations to show the flexibility of Content Manager OnDemand to meet a range of business and operational requirements. Of course, there are several tasks that were not shown. For example, logical views of the report were not created. The system log user exit was not explored. And all of the ways to complete a given task or implement a specific requirement were not shown. As with most administrative software, there is more than one way to accomplish a task. The example shows the most straightforward way to get things done with the OnDemand Administrator client.

You can use reference information provided with the product and the online help to find out more about how to use Content Manager OnDemand. If you have questions and can't find the answers, please contact the IBM® support center. IBM also offers classes that further explore how to administer the system. Finally, you can let IBM know how well the information in this book was presented and if you found the book helpful. The section titled How to Send Your Comments explains how to let IBM know.