Creating Report RequestsMost end users create report requests, run and distribute reports, and view reports using Report Manager on the Web in the PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture. This chapter is written for developers who use the Windows environment to perform the same tasks. This chapter describes how to:
Create report requests.
Run reports.
Work with report instances.
See Also
Running PS/nVision Reports on the Web
Creating Report RequestsThis section describes how to:
Create requests.
Open existing report requests.
Delete report requests.
See Also
Creating RequestsAccess the Report Request dialog box by selecting nVision, Report Request.
Before you can run a PS/nVision report, you must create a corresponding report request. Each report request is a collection of report-specific information such as request name, report title, associated layout, scope, and so on. In a report request, you can use the Scope feature to create multiple instances of a report from a single request.
Use this dialog box to enter information about the report you’re running, such as what layout to use, what time period to report on, and where to store the reports. This information makes up a report request, which you can save and reuse.
Note. Excel does not support the following characters in its file names: < > ? [ ] : | or *. PS/nVision has an additional restriction of not allowing the characters of / \ “ or ‘ in report names and not allowing % or a space at the beginning of report names.
While you run the report, its layout file is opened in read-only mode to protect the layout from accidental changes while the report runs. To modify the layout file, open the layout from the nVision menu or from the Open Layout button on the NVSUSER homepage.
Note. Report requests created in PS/nVision for Windows are public. If you want to create secured report requests, you must use PS/nVision on the web, where requests are secured by default.
Request ID
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Request Name |
Enter a name to identify your report request. By naming and saving report requests, you can retrieve all the information of a report request the next time you run the report. You can use the %RID% variable within a layout to display name of a report instance. |
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Report Title |
Enter a description to describe your report request. Use the %RTT% variable within a layout to display this title on a report instance. |
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Requesting Business Unit |
Enter the business unit that the report belongs to. You can retrieve data for this business unit alone or for several business units. Use the %RBN% variable on your layout to show the description of the requesting business unit on a report instance. To show the value of the requesting business unit, use the %RBU% variable. |
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Layout |
Select the report layout (the XNV file) to use for this report. The directory for saving layouts is found in Configuration Manager on Windows and in Process Scheduler Configuration file on Web. Use the %LYN% variable on your layout to show the layout name on a report instance. |
Most report layouts enable you to create multiple instances of a report using a single report request. For example, you might run three instances of an expense report that differ only in the division they report on.
Note. If you enter a list of values in any template field, make sure to use a semicolon to separate each item.
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Select a scope definition to specify the data each report instance includes and how many instances PS/nVision creates. For example, you can select a scope to create multiple instances of a report based on specific values for a field, such as instances for business unit, department, or product. Use the %SCN% variable on your layout to show the scope name on the report instance. If you create multiple report instances, you must ensure that each instance has a unique directory or file name, or each new instance will overwrite the previous one. Use variables in the Directory Template and File Template fields to have PS/nVision generate directories or names on each instance it creates. For example, if you’re running a report for multiple business units, you can have the business unit appear as part of the file name, or you can opt to save each instance into a different directory. |
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Enter a directory name from the nVision report server for your instances. Use variables to create unique directory names. If a directory does not exist, PS/nVision creates one. If this field is blank, PS/nVision on Windows uses the directory specified in the Report Instance path setting in Configuration Manager. PS/nVision on the Web uses the path specified in Process Scheduler Configuration file. For example, you can use \\<servername>\Directory 1\Directory 2, but you have to make sure all the subdirectories under the servername (which comes from the combination of directory template and file template) are accessible from your client machine. Examples: Q:\Reports\%SFV%-%RID%.htm C:\%FY4%%RTT%\ Include the %BUV% and %APA% variables to yield directories that indicate the business unit and as of accounting period for which the report was produced. Example: C:\User\nVision\%BUV% and %APA% This creates a directory for each business unit and as of date combination. |
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Enter the file name to give report instances. You can include PS/nVision to dynamically create file names at runtime. The %RID% variable instructs PS/nVision to use the Request Name value as the file name, with the appropriate extension according to your output format. Use the %IFN% variable to use the file name in the layout. If this field is blank, PS/nVision uses the layout name as the default file name. For example: expense.xls %RID%.htm %FY4%%RTT%.xls The instance counter variable %ICT% causes each instance to be consecutively numbered. For example, for a report named OPSUM, the file template %RID%%ICT% creates files named OPSUM1.XLS, OPSUM2.XLS, and so on for each instance generated by this report request. |
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Enter an alternate language code for automatic translation on the report instances. This is available only if alternate language design features are included in the layout design. If you are applying a scope to the report request, you can enter a string containing one or more PS/nVision variables (like the File Template and Directory Template fields). For example: ENG %DES.DEPTID.LANGUAGE_CD.LANGUAGE_CD% |
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Enter a list of email addresses or use variables to specify who receives report instances. There is no default for this template. You must have values in this field if your output type is EMAIL, or the instances will not be sent. If you use role or users in your email templates, the email addresses associated with these users are entered into their user profiles in Security. You can enter up to 254 characters in this field. If you have a long list of email addresses, use the role or user variables. To enter a list of email addresses, make sure to use a semicolon to separate each address. For example: [email protected];[email protected] %DES.DEPTID.EMAILID.EMAILID% R:Manager ;U:SMITHJ Note. If you want to email a multi-tab spreadsheet or a spreadsheet with an image (a graph, pivot table, or an embedded image), you must run the report with an output type of .XLS or distribute it through the Web using Report Manager. Images that are attached to a spreadsheet cannot be emailed in .HTML format. |
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Enter a description of the report instances for identification in Report Manager, or use variables to create the descriptions dynamically. For example: Stmt. Rev & Exp or Vacation Register %SFV% |
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Enter user Ids, role Ids or variables to give specific users access to report instances in Report Manager. To authorize a user ID, enter a U followed by a colon before the user ID. To authorize a role, enter an R followed by a colon before the role ID. If this field is blank, the report is automatically distributed to the user running the report. For example: R:VP1 U:SMITHJ %DES.DEPTID.OPRID.OPRID% |
Set the reporting period for this report. Many report layouts associated with PeopleSoft Financials applications report on data over a given accounting period, such as the current quarter or year-to-date. PS/nVision uses the main as of date to determine the meaning of any TimeSpans used in the layout. The date you choose is compared to the calendar to determine the current period, and TimeSpans are then evaluated relative to that period. Available options are:
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Today’s Date |
Select to use today’s date. |
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From Business Unit Table |
Select to use the date as specified on the business unit table. |
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Specify |
Select to specify another date for the report. |
Options
Use these options to specify trees that are in effect as of the reporting date by selecting Use Main As Of Date. Or you can specify a different date and use a set of trees in effect on that date. For example, you may have a reporting structure set to go into effect in three months (remember that trees are effective-dated). You can choose to run the report using the new tree structure by specifying the future effective date of the new tree.
Use this option to specify the maximum processing time for this process. The system will kill the process if processing exceeds this time. The default value is specified in the Process Definition. If a nonzero value is specified in the report request, that value is used—if the report request's value is zero, the value from the Process Definition is used. If no value is specified in the Process Definition, a default value of 15 minutes is used.
See Also
Applying Scopes to Your Reports
A report scope allows you to create multiple instances of a report using a single report layout and report request. Using a scope, each report instance is generated with data specific to an individual field value (such as a business unit or department) or to a group of values (such as a tree node summarizing all sales departments). In this way, each report instance can share the same layout, while containing data unique to these field values.
For example, if you have a report request with a scope that produces one income statement for each division in the company, you could use a scope variable in the Email template to have each divisional report emailed to that division's VP. Or you could make each VP's report available in Report Manager by using a scope variable in the Security template.
Scope variables are used in the Email and Security templates the same way that you use them to create unique file names with the File template or directory names with the Directory template in your report request. The Scope Descriptive Variable (%DES%) is used to select a related field value from the Scope Value table or the Tree Node table. You can use values for email addresses, user Ids, or role Ids. The general syntax of the %DES% variable is:
%DES.[scope field].[detail field].[node field]%
Note. The %DES% variable requires the associated field value be in the same table that the scope is based on.
Opening Existing Report RequestsAccess the Open Report Request dialog box.
To open an existing report request:
Click Open on the Report Request dialog box.
Enter a business unit.
Click Get List to see a list of requests in the list box.
After you click the Get List button, if the Report Request list is too long to scroll through, enter a partial report name and click Get List again.
Click a report request and click OK, or double-click a report name in the list.
The Open Report Request dialog box closes and the report request information appears in the Report Request dialog box.
Deleting Report Requests
Select nVision, Report Request.
Open the report request you want to delete.
Click Delete.
Running ReportsThis section describes how to:
Run a report from a report request.
Run a report from the NVSUSER homepage.
Understanding Running ReportsAs PS/nVision runs the report, it does the following:
Creates a copy of the layout for each instance of the report.
Calls the database to extract information defined in the layout of the report, replacing the selection criteria with specific values.
Examines the report request, scope, and accounting calendars to transform PS/nVision variables into values.
Excel then performs the calculations you entered on the layout. The finished report—a normal Excel spreadsheet—appears on your screen. This spreadsheet is also saved in the directory you specified.
If you produced multiple instances of a report, each instance is saved in the specified directory and all but the last instance is closed, to save Excel memory.
Running a Report from a Report RequestWhen you run a report from the Report Request dialog box, PS/nVision opens the layout for you, checks the detail values and trees that you’ve specified as valid, extracts the data from your database, and enables Excel to run its functions.
To run a report from the Report Request dialog box:
Select nVision, Report Request from the menu.
The Report Request dialog box appears.
Open or create a new report request.
Modify the report request as necessary.
To save any changes, click Save.
When you run the report, the dialog box closes and unsaved changes are lost.
Click Run.
Note. To run the last opened report request, select nVision, Run Current Report. The report request last opened in the Report Request dialog box runs automatically.
Running a Report from the NVSUSER Homepage
There are several ways that you can run a report from the NVSUSER homepage. If you have a report layout open on your screen, click the run current report button. The report runs and the results appears on your screen.
To run a report from your Preferences list:
From the NVSUSER homepage, select any number of report requests from your Report Request list.
Click the arrow buttons to move the reports to other positions in the queue, if necessary.
Click Run Report(s).
The reports are run in sequential order from top to bottom.
See Also
Setting Report Request Preferences
Working With Report InstancesAfter running a report, the last report instance created remains open. If other report instances were also created, you can select File, Open to review those reports. For reports you view frequently, you can create buttons in the NVSUSER homepage to open these report instances. NVSUSER also displays a list of files in the View Reports list. This list comes from the directory that you specify in Configuration Manager.
The layout upon which a report instance is based is never modified when the report is run. You can return to the layout by selecting it from the Window menu, or, if PS/nVision is not open, selecting nVision, Open Layout.
You print a report instance just as you would print any other Excel spreadsheet, by selecting File, Print. If you select the Printer as your output type when you request the report, your reports are printed as they are generated.
See Also