Scheduling a report

You schedule a report to run it at a later time or at a recurring date and time.

If you no longer need a schedule, you can delete it. You can also disable it without losing any of the scheduling details. You can then enable the schedule at a later time.

If you want, you can change the current schedule owner by changing the credentials for a scheduled entry. For more information, see Taking ownership of a schedule.

Before you begin

To use this functionality, you must have the required permissions for the Scheduling capability. You can see which capabilities are available with your assigned license role in the topic Default permissions based on licenses.

To schedule a report, you also require the following access permissions for any data sources used by the report:

  • dataSource - Execute and Traverse

  • dataSourceConnection - Execute and Traverse

    With only Execute access, you are prompted to log on to the database.

  • dataSourceSignon - Execute

To schedule reports to run in the restricted CVS, PDF, XLS, or XML output formats, you require the generate output capability for the specific format. For more information, see Report formats in the Administration and Security Guide.

To set priority for an entry, you must have the required permissions for the Scheduling priority secured feature. For more information, see Capabilities.

Procedure

  1. Click the report's Action menu icon the Action menu icon, and then click Properties.
  2. In the Properties pane, click the Schedule tab, and then:

    • Click Create schedule.

      Schedule tab showing the Frequency section
      Tip: Available options change with each selection. Wait until the pane is updated before you choose additional settings.
  3. In the Frequency section, specify when and how frequently the report runs:

    • Select the Type of time unit to measure the interval between meetings.

      Type field options in the Frequency section
      Tip: Try selecting different Type values and then watch how the other fields change. For example, selecting Daily, Weekly, or Monthly allows you to select a Repeat every integer. You can therefore choose an interval which is a multiple of the time unit that you chose, for example, every 3 weeks.

    • If you are selecting a Type value of Monthly, expand this bullet.

      • Frequency section showing Type of Monthly and the Schedule by field set to Day of the month

        Select Day of the Month in the Schedule by field so that you can choose, for example, Repeat every 3 months on the 15th of the month (see figure above).

      • Frequency section showing Type of Monthly and the Schedule by field set to Day of the week

        Select Day of the week in the Schedule by field so that you can choose, for example, Repeat every 3 months on the 3rd Monday of the month (see figure above).

    • If you are selecting a Type value of By trigger, expand this bullet.

      Frequency section with By trigger selected in the Type field and a text box to enter the trigger name
      Tip: If a report is scheduled by a trigger, it can run only if you have already set up a trigger occurrence. For more information, see Set Up a Trigger Occurrence on a Server.

      In the field pictured above, enter the name of the trigger occurrence, for example, trigger.bat.

  4. If you want to select a daily frequency for your scheduled entries:

    • Select the Daily time interval check box.

      Daily time interval section with Repeat every 2 Hours between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM selected
      Tip: Specify the frequency and the period during the day in which the report runs. For example, every 2 hours between 10:00 AM and 10 PM (see figure above).

      We recommend that you select an hourly frequency that divides evenly into the 24-hour clock. This ensures that your report runs at the same times each day. If you select an hourly frequency that does not divide evenly into the 24-hour clock, your report runs at different times on subsequent days.

  5. If you want to set the time period within which the first and last runs of the report will take place:

    • Scroll to the Period section.

      Period section with Start set at 2020-09-01 at 10:00 AM and End set at 2020-09-30 at 10:00 PM
      Tip: In the example shown above, the first report run will occur on September 1 at 10:00 AM and the last report run will end on September 30 at 10:00 PM.

      Set the date and time for both the start and the end of the period.

      If you don't enter anything in the Period section, by default the period begins as soon as you save the schedule and there is no end date.

  6. If you want to change the credentials or priority of the schedule:

    • Click the Advanced section.

      Advanced schedule options section
      Tip:
      About the Credentials field
      Credentials show the current schedule owner. If you are not already the schedule owner, you can click Use My Credentials and make temporary changes to the schedule.
      For more information, see Taking ownership of a schedule.
      About the Priority field
      If you are assigned the Scheduling Priority capability, you can select a priority from 1 to 5 for the scheduled entry to run. Priority 1 runs first.
      For more information, see Changing the entry run priority.
  7. To see the default format, delivery method, and language of your report:

    • Click the Options tab.

      Options tab showing default selections
      Tip:
      The default options are displayed:
      • Format: HTML only, accessibility support disabled
      • Delivery: Save report only
      • Languages: English only

    • Did you notice the Summary pane?

      Summary pane, using natural language to describe selections in real time
      Tip:

      As you build your schedule, the Summary pane on the right of your window uses natural language to describe all of your selections in real time.

      At any time, you can click Reset default options to clear the options that you set on every tab.

  8. If you want, change the Format options:

    • If you select HTML format, you can click Edit options.

      HTML options section
      Tip:

      If you want to drill up and down in a report or drill through to other reports, you must select the Enable selection-based interactivity check box. However, if your report is very large, you may want to deselect the check box to shorten the time that it takes the report to run.

    • If you select PDF format, you can click Edit options.

      Figure 1. PDF options - part 1
      PDF options section - part 1
      Tip: You can create a password to add extra security to your report. This is in addition to the permissions that users are granted by their capabilities.
      Figure 2. PDF options - part 2
      PDF options section - part 2
      Tip: You can limit the types of changes that other users can make to the report.

    • If you select the Enable accessibility support check box.

      Figure 3. PDF options - part 1
      Enable accessibility report option
      Tip: You can make your report output accessible. Accessible reports contain features, such as alternate text, that allow users with disabilities to access report content using assistive technologies, such as screen readers.

      In IBM® Cognos® applications, you can create accessible output for reports, jobs, steps within jobs, and scheduled entries in PDF and HTML.

      Accessible reports require more report processing and have a greater file size than non-accessible reports. Consequently, making reports accessible can have a negative impact on performance.

  9. You can change the Delivery options:

    • If you want to save the report in Cognos Analytics, you have two options.

      Save delivery option
      Tip:
      • Save report. This option is selected by default.
      • Save as a report view. Unlike saving the report, you can change the name or destination folder of the report view. A report view uses the same report specification as the source report, but has different properties such as prompt values, schedules, delivery methods, run options, languages, and output formats.

        Creating a report view does not change the original report. You can determine the source report for a report view by viewing its properties. The report view properties also provide a link to the properties of the source report.

    • If you select Send report by email and then click Edit details.

      Send report by email window
      Tip:

      An email window appears, in which you can enter recipients' names, if you have permission. Otherwise, you can choose your email recipients from your local LDAP directory. If your directory is very large, you can use search, filter and sort functions to quickly find your recipients.

      After you enter your message, and you have the correct permissions, you can attach the report output to the email. Or you can add a link that your recipient can click to see the report.

    • If you select Send report to mobile device.

      Send report to mobile device window
      Tip:

      This option is available only to users of Cognos Analytics on Demand or Cognos Analytics on Cloud Hosted.

      Similar to the email option, you can find your recipient in the Directory. When the report is run, it will be sent to the mobile device of the recipient via Cognos Analytics for Mobile.

    • If you select Print.

      Print section
      Tip: It may be convenient for you to have a printed copy of a report.

      You may need to review a report when your computer is not available, or you may need to take a copy of a report to a meeting.

      To print reports, you must have the Generate PDF Output capability.

      Select a printer from the list or enter a valid printer name, location, or address and then click Add.

    • If you want your output in languages other than English (the default).

      Languages section
      Tip: Start typing the name of the language in the Languages field. A dynamic list of languages appears, from which you can select the one you want.
  10. If your report has prompts:

    • Click the Prompts tab and then click Set values.

      Prompt window showing a date prompt
      Tip: In the example Prompt window shown above, the p_Date parameter prompts for a date value.
  11. Click Save.

Results

A schedule is created and the report runs at the next scheduled time.