Blackout dates are enforced during schedule creation and at run time:

• When creating or editing one of the date fields in a schedule, ReportCaster dynamically checks the first upcoming date on which the schedule will run to ensure that this date has not been blacked out. If there is a conflict with the date, an error message appears and the schedule cannot be saved until the conflict is resolved by either changing the schedule date or by not blacking out the date.
• At runtime, each schedule is checked against the list of blackout dates. If a blackout date has been defined for the scheduled date, the schedule will not run. If notification is enabled, a notification is distributed indicating that the schedule did not run because of a defined blackout date.

Note: Schedule Blackout Dates for a specific user include the global blackout dates and the blackout dates assigned to the group(s) to which the user belongs.

The extract option allows you to save existing schedule blackout dates in a text file to use as reference documentation or as a schedule blackout dates import file. The extract utility generates an extract file that includes a comment line with information about the extract followed by a list of the extracted blackout dates. The date format is the same as that in the import file (YYYYMMDD). Extracting blackout dates can be done through the ReportCaster Schedule Blackout Dates user interface or the Extract Utility (in either silent or interactive mode).

The default name of an extract file is rcbdextract_GroupName_YYMMDD_HHMMSS.txt, which includes the group name, and date and time stamp, as follows:

• GroupName is either Global or the name of the group from which the dates were extracted.
• YY is the year.
• MM is the month.
• DD is the day.
• HH is the hour.
• MM is the minute.
• SS is the second.

The following is an example of an extract file:

#ReportCaster Schedule Blackout Date Extract created
#070208 180618 by admin for date range:(All)
#Dates extracted from Group: Sales_NE
20070101
20070115 Martin Luther King Day
20070125
20070219
20070220
20070221
20070222
20070223
20070226 Winter School Break Begins
20070227
20070228
20070301
20070302 Winter School Break Ends
20070425

Trace information is written to the ReportCaster Servlet trace file.

To access the Schedule Blackout Dates graphical user interface, click the Schedule Blackout Dates link on the ReportCaster Development and Administration Interface, shown in the following image.

The Schedule Blackout Dates interface opens to a calendar of the current year, the group drop-down list in the top left corner is selected with Global, and the global schedule blackout dates are shaded gray in the calendar. The following image shows an example of an initial view of the Schedule Blackout Dates interface.

As a ReportCaster Administrator, you can define site-wide (global) schedule blackout dates, as well as blackout dates for any group in the system. The group drop-down list provides a selection all applicable groups including Global.

As a Managed Reporting Group Administrator with schedule privileges, you can set and manage blackout dates for only those groups that you administer. The group drop-down list provides a selection of applicable groups. Global schedule blackout dates are available for viewing only. For details on configuring a Managed Reporting Group Administrator, see the Managed Reporting Administrator’s Manual.

Note: Global schedule blackout dates apply to all users and are, therefore, included with the group-specified blackout dates for a group.

When you select a group from the drop-down list, the calendar refreshes and displays the selected group blackout dates, which are shaded in yellow, along with the global blackout dates, shaded in gray.

When defining schedule blackout dates, you can only flag a date as available or unavailable. By default, all dates are available. Any day can be both a group and global schedule blackout date. Calendars are only applicable for the year they are defined. If you define dates only for 2007, when 2008 arrives you must set the blackout dates for the new year. Any date can be both a global and a group-specific blackout date.

If a blackout date was defined through a file import and that date included a description, you can view that description by positioning the cursor over the date in the calendar. Updates to a description are made in an import file, which is brought into the Schedule Blackout Dates through the Import Utility.

Note: Non-administrators can view the information in the Schedule Blackout Dates interface, but they cannot define blackout dates.

The options available from the Schedule Blackout Dates user interface are:

• Group drop-down list. Appears in the top-left corner. Allows you to select specific groups to administer.
• Year Display. Appears in the top-right corner. Allows you to select a calendar year.
• Save. Saves changes to blackout date selections.
• Refresh. Refreshes the view to show the most current blackout dates.
• Import. Opens the Import Blackout Dates utility from which you can import a file that contains blackout dates.
• Extract. Opens the Extract Blackout Dates utility from which you can extract all or selections of the existing blackout dates and save them in a file.
• Close. Closes the Schedule Blackout Dates interface.

The following procedures explain how to define, import, and extract schedule blackout dates using the Schedule Blackout Dates interface.

You can run the Import and Extract Utility in silent mode in a Windows or UNIX environment using a customized .bat file or UNIX script. The following procedures describe how to import and extract schedule blackout dates using the utility in silent mode.

You can run the Import and Extract Utility in an interactive mode in a Windows or UNIX environment using a customized .bat file or UNIX script. The following procedures describe how to import and extract schedule blackout dates using the utility in interactive mode.