AX1673
You can combine web report processing with the File Collect feature to create and deliver "report books". For example, you may have three different reports that you want to process by region, then you want to collect the output into region-specific report books to deliver to each regional manager.
This process works as follows:
- You set up multiple Web Report Processing tasks in Scheduler to process the web reports and save the output to a designated location. The output can be PDF or Excel.
- You set up File Collect in a separate spreadsheet utility to collect the output from the Web Report Processing tasks. This configuration specifies:
- The type of files to collect, PDF or Excel.
- The source folder(s) from which to gather the files to collect.
- The file filter to specify the files to collect.
- The file name of the output file, and the file type if applicable—PDF files can only be collected as PDF, but Excel files can be collected as either PDF or Excel.
- The delivery method of the output file—save only, email only, or save and email—as well as the output folder and email settings (as applicable).
- Optional common files to include in each output file, such as a cover page.
- Optional multipass column to perform the file collect operation iteratively over a dimension
- You set up a File Processing task in Scheduler and configure it to run the File Collect report utility. Typically all of the tasks would be in a single Scheduler job, so that the Web Report Processing tasks are run first, then the File Processing task runs afterward to perform the final collect operation.
File Collect is an option of File Processing. It can be used to collect any PDF or Excel files, regardless of how they are generated. For more information on how to configure file collect, see the File Collect documentation.
The following example shows a Scheduler job with three Web Report Processing tasks and one File Processing task. The three Web Report Processing tasks are used to process three different web reports by region and then save the output files to a designated folder in the Axiom repository.
Example Scheduler job with multiple Web Report Processing tasks
The File Processing task is used to run the File Collect report utility once all of the Web Report Processing tasks are completed. Note that the File Processing task simply points to the spreadsheet report that contains the File Collect configuration; the settings are not defined within the Scheduler job.
Example Scheduler job with File Processing task to run the File Collect operation
The following screenshot shows an example of how the File Collect settings could be configured within the spreadsheet report. The File Collect operation will be performed using multipass processing by region. The file filter will collect all files in the source folder location based on the current pass region name, then save and email the output file. The email address and file name settings use a formula with a GetCurrentValue function in order to dynamically set the email address and file name for each pass.
Example File Collect configuration to collect the PDF output into a PDF report book
