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Creating a Schedule Using the Scheduling Tool

How to:

A report schedule directs the execution of a report. It defines the format that the report output will take and how, when, and where it will be distributed. All options associated with scheduling a report are available in the Scheduling Tool.

This section provides the overall procedure to create a new schedule for a report. Some steps in the procedure contain details on the associated options, while other steps direct you to a separate section that contains detailed descriptions of the options and additional information, such as tips in making a selection.

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Procedure: How to Create a Schedule
  1. Open the Scheduling Tool as explained in About the Single Page Scheduling Tool.
  2. In the Description field at the top of the tool, type a name for the schedule. This field is required.
  3. In the Distribution section, select the method to distribute the report from the Distribute report by drop-down list. The distribution methods are:
    • Email
    • Printer
    • Managed Reporting
    • Report Library

    For options related to each distribution method, see Distribution Options.

  4. Make the following selections in the Frequency section.
    1. From the Run Interval drop-down list, select the time interval that the schedule will use to run the report.

      You can set the interval to run the schedule once, or every specified minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years.

    2. From the Start Schedule options, select the date (from the drop‑down calendar) and time you want the schedule to begin running.

      Note: To change the time setting, select either the hour or minutes and use the arrows to increase or decrease the value.

    3. If applicable, from the End Schedule options, select the date and time you want the schedule to stop running.
    4. If applicable, from the Every option, use the up and down arrows to set the number of times you want the schedule to run for the selected interval, for example, 3 times each month.
    5. Select the remaining options associated with the chosen run interval. For a description of the run interval options, see Frequency Options.
  5. In the Report Options section:
    1. Select the format of the report. The valid formats are AHTML, ALPHA, COM, COMMA, COMT, DFIX, DHTML, DOC, EXCEL, EXL2K TEMPLATE, EXL2K, EXL2K FORMULA, EXL2K PIVOT, EXL97, FLEX, GIF, HTML, HTML ODP, JPEG, PDF, PNG, PPT, PPT Template, PS, SVG, TAB, TABT, VISDIS, WK1, WP, and XML. For information on these formats, see ReportCaster Formats for Scheduled Output.
    2. Select whether or not you want to burst the report.
    3. If needed, change the value of an existing report parameter

      For details on changing a report parameter, see Report Parameters.

  6. In the Notification section, select whether or not you want to send a notification when the schedule runs and under what conditions to send it. The notification options are:
    • Never.
    • Always. Send a notification each time the schedule runs.
    • On Error. Only send a notification when there is an error running the schedule.
  7. In the Advanced Options section, select the following options:
    • Priority Level for the Job. Use the drop-down list to select the priority for running the job, with 1 being the highest priority and 5 the lowest priority. The default priority level is 3.

      The ReportCaster Distribution Server queue sorts scheduled jobs by priority and then by time. If multiple jobs share the same priority and time, ReportCaster arbitrarily schedules the jobs.

    • Enabled. Select this option to activate the schedule to run.
    • Delete this schedule if it is not scheduled to run again. This option is useful for test purposes.
  8. To save the schedule, click Save at the top of the Scheduling Tool.

    The Scheduling Tool validates the fields and displays a status message in a separate window. If the schedule was successfully created, the status message Your Schedule has been created. appears, as shown in the following image.

    If the schedule could not be created, the following message appears in a separate window:

    Please enter valid information in all required fields.

    An alert icon appears next to the field that is invalid, and the field name appears in red. The following image shows an invalid schedule with the Reply Address option appearing in red to indicate this value is missing.

    Re-enter the information in the fields that have alerts and click Save.

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