The Report Scheduler allows you to be able to schedule one or more User Reports to be delivered via email, sent as a web request, or placed directly on the server file system on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly cadence.
To create a new Report Schedule, click the
on the Report Schedules tab at User Report screen either the System Level or Company Level.
Populate the details of the report schedule:
Description – This field is optional, but helps signify the difference between all schedules in the list and is highly recommended. (ex: Monthly Relocation Reporting)
Inactive - All newly-created Report Schedules are defaulted to inactive. In order for schedules to execute as expected, the check mark needs to be removed from this box and the Report Schedule with all required fields and User Reports attached should be saved.
Range of Recurrence
Start Date – This is the date the report scheduler will begin to execute the schedule as long as it is active. If the date is in the past, then the schedule will execute based on the next time the frequency is to occur (ex: Today is 01/15/2016. Schedule is set to run every month on the first of the month. In this case, the next time it would run is on 02/01/2016).
No End Date – If selected, this schedule will run forever until it is deleted or set to inactive.
End By – If selected, the schedule will run until the date specified in the date field.
Recurrence Pattern
The Recurrence Pattern section helps you set the frequency of how often the schedule will be executed.
Schedule Recurrence – sets how often the schedule will execute and be emailed to recipients.
Schedule Execution Time – sets the time of day that the report schedule will execute each recurrence based on the Start Date and Schedule Recurrence (ex: 08:55). Note that time is displayed in a 24-hour format for the Scheduled Execution Time, but if cultural settings on the browser for a user are set to display time in a 12-hour format, it will display once executed in that format in the Execution History (i.e. 22:30, also known as 10:30 PM for users of the 12-hour clock format)
The Schedule Recurrence choices include:
Minutes – Allows scheduling reports at intervals of at least 5 minutes (rounds to whole numbers).
Hours – Allows scheduling reports to run every set number of hours, with a minimum interval of 1 hour.
Monthly - If you enter a recurrence pattern with a day that does not exist for the month, it will default to the last day of that month (ex: the 31st day of every 2 months = if month has a 31st, send on 31st, if month has no 31st, send on last day of month). A zero (0) is not allowed to be entered in the recurrence field.
Yearly - can be on a specific day of a month by choosing the On selection (ex: January 31st) or on a specific day of the month that could change each recurrence by using the On the selection (ex: 2nd Wednesday of June). A zero (0) is not allowed to be entered in the recurrence field.
Delivery Options
The Delivery Options section is where you select the final destination of generated reports.
Recipient email addresses will be entered as well content that supports the reports on the schedule. A password is to be set here if reports have been password protected (i.e. Password Protect tick box is checked in the User Reports section of the Report Schedules).
From – This drop down allows the user setting up the schedule to designate the email address from which the reports email will be sent. It defaults to the System Default, which is set up as a System Preference, or Other Email Address can be selected to enter any valid email address.
To, Cc, Bcc – Recipients email addresses can be entered into these three fields to be included each time the schedule executes. You can add multiple recipients in the To, Cc, Bcc address fields using a comma (,) or semicolon (;) as the separator.
Subject – An email subject line is suggested so that recipients of the reports email understand its purpose (i.e. Monthly Expense Reports).
Body – This provides the recipients with a context of the attached reports. This could be a list of the reports with a description or information from a manager to lower-level managers about assignments/relocations each time the schedule executes.
Password – A password can be manually entered/edited or auto-generated by clicking the [Auto Generate Password] button. This will apply to reports that are selected to be password protected in the User Reports section. If the Password field is configured as encrypted and a user without decryption rights to the field is editing the schedule, the field will be hidden from the user. Edit the user's security role to view the password field.
File System
This will deliver the generated reports directly to the server file system to be access later via an SFTP connection. Please see your Equus Client Account Manager to enable direct File System access as well as setup a SFTP connection for your company.
Export Directory Relative Path – This specifies the folder path for the generated report(s). The default configuration when the ‘Export Directory Relative Path’ is blank is to have the files be placed in the E:\SFTPRoot\WEBSITE\Export where WEBSITE is the tenant being worked on. For example, if you add a value into the path, such as “Documents”, then the file(s) would be sent to: E:\SFTPRoot\WEBSITE\Export\Documents. Be aware that file system path restrictions apply so known invalid characters (such as “$”, “#”, or “..”) will be stripped from the path at execution.
Encryption Configuration – This is where the encryption method is specified for the generated report(s). Encryption is strongly recommended. Please see your system administrator to add your own encryption keys to the system.
Password – A password can be manually entered/edited or auto-generated with
. This will apply to reports that are selected to be password protected in the User Reports section
Web Request
Target URL – Specifies where the Web Request will be sent (e.g., https://api.example.com/path).
Webhook Profile – Select a profile from the dropdown. Details on Webhook configuration can be found in the Equus Platform API Webhook Guide.
Note - Users must have the appropriate security role permissions to access and configure the Web Request delivery option. Without the required rights, this option will not be available in the Report Scheduler settings.
Contact your Equus Representative for assistance in configuring this option.
User Reports
User Reports added to a schedule will be generated upon schedule execution and sent to recipients. Each time the
is clicked, a new line will appear to add an additional User Report.
All system-level and company-level User Reports that a user has access to will be available to be selected from the User Report type ahead search drop down list. When a user report is selected, a link icon is displayed beside the name. Clicking on the link redirects the user to the selected User Report in a new tab.
Each User Report can be output with a different display name under the Output File Name. Note that for both Email and File System delivery methods, file system naming restrictions apply based on your environment and invalid character (such as “$”, “#”, or “..”) are either blocked upon save or stripped at execution time.
Be cautious with your User Report names - If no Output File Name is specified then the User Report name will be the file name. So if you attach a User Report with the company’s name in the title, and you don’t set an Output File Name, it will be displayed as the User Report file name when it is attached to the email. A date format and or time format enclosed in curly brackets can be provided as part of the file name (such as {yyyyMMdd hh:mm:ss tt}).
A {hh:mm:ss} will output a 12 hour time output
A {HH:mm:ss} will output a 24 hour time output
A {ddmmyyyy} date format will output the months as minutes
A {ddMMyyyy} date format will output in months
The user can also choose from multiple Delivery Format including PDF, Excel, Excel (.xls), Excel Data (.xls) CSV and a special “Export” option. These are the same output types that are included when running User Reports manually. Note that the “Export” option required specific setup steps in the user report definition before it can be used.
As mentioned, each report has the ability to be password protected, by selecting the checkbox to Password Protect. A password must be included for any reports that have this option selected. Please see Password above in the Delivery Options section for more information.
When using Web Request, the User Reports Grid changes:
The Output File Name, Delivery Format, and Password Protect fields are hidden.
A new Object Name field is used to define the JSON object name in the request payload.
Things to Note
Below are the security configurations on the Security Role Maintenance screen for a user to create a Report Schedule, the user must have rights to the Report Schedules tab of the System Reports (system level) and/or Reports (company level) screen.
These rights can be added via the Role Maintenance screen at the System Level. Within Role Maintenance, add rights to the following screen names as appropriate:
Report Scheduler Configuration – Company
Report Scheduler Configuration – System
Report Scheduler History Details – Company
Report Scheduler History Details – System
To enable the File System delivery method add rights to Report Scheduler – File System Delivery Type.
Other security rights, such as for Data Sensitivity, are also taken into account when creating or editing a schedule. All User Reports that a user has access to at a system level for report schedules will show in the drop down of reports available to add. At a company level only reports for that company plus system-level reports will show based on security access unless a user is limited by Data Sensitivity.