Viewing a Log Report

From the Schedules window in the ReportCaster HTML User Interface, you can view one or more log reports for a schedule by performing the following steps:

In the Schedules window, select the schedule(s) for which you want to view the log report(s).
Note: To select multiple schedules, use the Shift key and Control (Ctrl) key as in a standard Windows interface.

The following image shows the East Coast Sales and Sales schedules selected in the Schedules window.

Click Log.
The following image shows the ReportCaster Web Page Dialog box that opens, with the Selected Schedule check box active and checked and the Last Executed option selected.

To switch from the schedule you selected to viewing information about all of your schedules, uncheck the Selected Schedule check box. If you want to change your selection criteria, click Cancel and select another schedule from the list.

Select one of the following options:
- Last Executed. Produces a log report containing the most currently run process for the selected schedule(s) or for all schedules (if you did not select a schedule). This is the default option.
- All Executed. Produces a log report containing all run processes for the selected schedule(s) or for all schedules (if you did not select a schedule).
- Date Executed. Activates the Start Date and Start Time fields.
If you have selected the Date Executed option, proceed to the following step. Otherwise, proceed to Step 6.

In the Start Date field, specify the date on which you want the log report to begin. The report displays all processes for the selected schedule (or schedules) that were run on or after the specified Start Date. You can select a Start Date from the pop-up calendar, or you can accept the default Start Date, which is the current date.

In the Start Time field, specify a start time for the Start Date by using the drop-down lists. The default value for the Start Time is 1:00 AM.

Click OK to view the log report.

The Job Process Log Report opens.

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Example: Reading a Log Report

The log report displays information according to your specifications in a separate browser window. One log record is produced for each scheduled job run in the specified time frame. The following image provides an example of a typical log report.

If you chose to view log reports for multiple schedules, the Job Process Log Report contains a log record for each schedule you selected. The following images shows an example of a log report for multiple schedules.

The log report first lists the job description for the record, which is the unique description identifier that you specified when you created the schedule. Underneath the Job Description, the left column of the log report includes the following information:

User. ReportCaster user ID, indicating the owner of the schedule.
Procedure. Unique key generated by ReportCaster that identifies a specific execution of a scheduled job.
Schedule ID. Unique key generated by ReportCaster that was assigned to the job when it was scheduled.
Start Time. Date and time the job started running.
End Time. Date and time the job finished running.

In the second column, the log report specifies messages consisting of the following:

General information, such as the method of distribution for a particular job (for example, e-mail distribution).
Processing information, indicating that the request started, distribution was successful, and the request was completed. Processing information also includes reasons why a request failed, such as the unavailability of a data source.

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Reference: &ECHO and -TYPE Support in Log Reports

Values from &ECHO variables and –TYPE commands in WebFOCUS procedures appear in log reports. The &ECHO variable displays command lines as they execute in order to test and debug procedures. The -TYPE command enables you to comment and evaluate your code for informational and debugging purposes. For example, if the following procedure is scheduled using ReportCaster, it may produce a log report similar to the example that follows this procedure.

-SET &ECHO=ALL;
-TYPE Country Sales and Growth 
-TYPE Parameter RATE is passed into report to forecast potential sales growth
TABLE FILE CAR
HEADING
"Sales Growth Forecast using Rate: &RATE "
SUM SALES AS 'Sales' 
COMPUTE GROWTH/D12.2 = (SALES * &RATE) + SALES; AS 'Sales, Forecast' 
BY COUNTRY AS 'Country'
END

The following image shows an example of the log report.

Note: For more information about &ECHO variables, see Testing and Debugging a Dialogue Manager Procedure in the Developing Reporting Applications manual.

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Reference: Considerations When Viewing a Log Report

When viewing a log report, be aware of the following considerations.

Task and Report Names:

The ReportCaster Log references Managed Reporting folders and FEXes by their names and not their descriptions.

E-mail Addresses:

ReportCaster cannot validate e-mail addresses since e-mail validation is performed by the mail server. The log report will include any e-mail addresses validated by the mail server and returned to ReportCaster.

Burst Reports:

If a valid burst value is omitted in a Distribution List, Distribution File, or Dynamic Address List, ReportCaster treats the blank value as if it is a valid burst value, and no entries indicating a blank burst value appear in the log file. This will significantly reduce the size of the log file, particularly when the database contains many values for the primary field and only a small subset of those values are burst.
If a burst value is specified in a Distribution List, Distribution File, or Dynamic Address List and it is not found in the database, the following message appears in the log file:
```
Burst Value: value is not in the database.
```
When a report is successfully burst, the log file will include the following message for each burst value:
```
FILE filename SUCCESSFULLY DISTRIBUTED TO destination FOR burst value.
```

Unavailable Options:

When schedules with unavailable Task Types or distribution methods are not permitted to run, error notification is triggered and information is included in full and brief notifications and in the log report that your ReportCaster Administrator or the owner of the schedule must change the unavailable Task Types or distribution methods in the schedule.

When schedules with unavailable Task Types or distribution methods are permitted to run, normal job execution occurs and a message appears in the log report indicating that your ReportCaster Administrator is allowing existing schedules using the unavailable Task Types or distribution methods to run.

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Reference: Troubleshooting ReportCaster Log Reports

If you do not receive a log report because there is an insufficient amount of memory available, this may be because the report is too large or you have too many windows open. Information Builders recommends closing all windows and attempting to run the log report again. If you are still unsuccessful, rerun a schedule that successfully created a log report. If you are successful in running the log report, this confirms that the original log report that did not run was too large to be processed. Contact your ReportCaster Administrator to help you troubleshoot this issue.