Report scheduling

Reporting Services Scheduling enables you to create an instance of a report at regular intervals and automatically distribute the newly published report using email, report lists, printer, or network drive. To schedule a report, you must own the report or have permission to schedule it.

Reporting Services delivers system variables and enables you to create custom variables and apply those variables to schedules. When you apply variables, you further simplify generating reports containing parameters that change regularly. For example, you could define a variable called Current Period and assign a default value of Quarter 1. You can then add this variable to parameters on multiple schedules. You can then change the Current Period default value to Quarter 2, and any report schedules that use this variable will automatically use the Quarter 2 value.

The Schedule function also enables you to attach several schedules to one report. This lessens the number of reports that you must create and maintain. You can write one report and use schedules to output multiple variations of the report.

Here are some examples of when you would attach several schedules to a report:

  • Certain users require the report delivered to a printer or to a network drive.
  • Certain users require the report delivered to their email accounts as a link. Other users require the report delivered to their email as a .PDF attachment.
  • Executive users require an abbreviated report containing quarterly earnings shortly before the end of the quarter.

    The same report must be run weekly and monthly. To do this, you can add different schedule parameter values.

    The same report must be run for different areas of the organization. To do this, you can add report attributes to the schedule.

Modifying a schedule

After you create a schedule, you can:

  • Set up bursting and distribution information.
  • Modify default permissions.
  • Assign or modify report users and groups.
  • Modify parameters.
  • Add and modify attributes.

See Creating and maintaining a report schedule.

Parameters added to the schedule modify the existing Crystal report's parameters. When you publish a Crystal report into Reporting Services, Reporting Services retains all of the parameter information that you set up on the report. However, when you add or modify additional parameters to the report, it saves the changes to the report that you published into Reporting Services, only. Reporting Services does not write any additions or modifications back to the original Crystal report file that reside outside of Reporting Services.

You can append the existing filter, or you can choose to override it. When you write a filter statement, you must use Crystal Report's syntax. For more information about writing valid Crystal filter statements, see the Crystal Report user documentation.

Any parameters or filters that you added to the published report are displayed in the Schedule Options Parameters and Filters screen. Use this screen to specify the parameters and filter values. Reporting Services defaults these values when it runs the scheduled report.

Rerunning failed schedules

In Job Scheduler Settings, the Retry schedule on error feature is added. By default, this feature is disabled. In the Job Scheduler Settings general properties, select the Retry schedule on error check box to automatically enable this feature. Unlike other changes to the Job Scheduler properties, this change does not require restarting the WebSphere.

You can configure retries on schedules. Retry count specifies the number of retries the report schedule can make after the report schedule fails. By default, Retry count is set to 1. Retry Interval in Sec specifies the number of seconds for the length of interval for each retry. By default, Retry Interval in Sec is set to 10 seconds.

Note: If Retry schedule on error is enabled, a failed schedule runs again after 10 seconds but only retries running the schedule once.

Schedules and instances

When you publish a report you can use the Schedule option to refresh the data in the report as required. A new instance of a scheduled report is created and saved to the History List each time the scheduled interval passes. Only the most recent instance of the report is available at the top level of My Reports. Previous instances are stored in the report's History List.

When you select a scheduled report in My Reports you see the latest instance of the report, assuming it ran at least once. Data is not refreshed for the report when you view it, thus improving performance. Non-scheduled reports must refresh before viewing thus degrading performance.

Note: To reduce system load, consider attaching a schedule to a report that would not otherwise be scheduled. This ensures that the report always has a latest instance and data refresh is avoided.

My Reports enables users to select reports and optionally refresh the data if they have the security to do so.

When you save a report in Crystal Reports, you have the option to save the report data with the report. If you use this option, and no other instances have yet been created using the schedule or export features, the saved data is displayed when you select View Latest Instance. If you do not use this option, and no other instances have been created through scheduling or exporting, the report must refresh data when you select View Latest Instance because no data exists in the report.