Define Ad Hoc Report

With M3 Ad Hoc Reporting tool, M3 super users and IT support personnel can create and maintain flexible user-defined report layouts based on the M3 Business Engine database.

With the tool, you can generate reports in an XML format to be consumed by products such as Streamserve or Excel. Other advantages for using the tool include:

Enabling the creation of operational reports and listings direct from the M3 BE application database
Increasing business agility and speed by delivering ad hoc reports on demand
Automatically knowing M3 and respecting user security privileges.

In the M3 Ad Hoc report designer, you can design custom lists by adding virtual fields and preview the result before you generate the report.

A parameter called 'Design tool' in 'Ad Hoc Report Group. Open' (AHS100) controls which M3 Ad Hoc report designer to use to configure a report.

Alternative 0: When selected, 'Information Browser. Open' (CMS100) is used to configure an ad hoc report. You can design custom lists by adding virtual fields and preview the result before you generate the report.
Alternative 1: When selected, 'Ad Hoc Report Designer. Open' (AHS112) is used. In this program, options to open the configurable XML programs are available to configure an ad hoc report. This connects the ad hoc report to the configurable XML programs. Other configurable XML functionalities, such as custom sections, custom subtotal sections, and global sequence number can then be used to configure an ad hoc report. The limitation of 800 positions and 30 columns is also removed.

For every ad hoc report group, there is a number of defined ad hoc reports. Most of the settings are defined on report level. A report can be locked for changes. In a locked report version, filters and other selection parameters are read-only. A new ad hoc report is created in 'Ad hoc Report. Open' (AHS110). When creating a new report, a report text is required.

Parameters to set


Field	The field indicates...
Save report run	...whether the report run must be saved. Alternatives: 1 = Report run is not saved (default value) 2 = Report run is saved 3 = Report run is saved, the previous run is automatically deleted.
Save rep lines	...if all report lines in a specific report run should be saved in a BE table. If saved, the report lines are displayed in 'Ad Hoc Report Run. Display Lines' (AHS300). The lines are displayed in (AHS300) with no possibility to set any filter or selection values. (AHS300) is started from 'Ad Hoc Report Run. Open' (AHS160) through related option 11–'Display Report Lines'.
Report location	...where to send the generated XML file.
Doc location	...the path where a generated document or file is to be placed.
File type	...the file type included in the generated XML file as information. The application that processes the XML file determines whether the information is used. When the 'Design tool' in 'Ad Hoc Report Group. Open' (AHS100) is set to 1-'Configurable XML', the file type is used to determine what type of report will be generated. Alternatives: 1 = PDF is only supported in interfaces, XML and COM. 2 = Excel is only supported in interfaces, XML and COM. 3 = Both is only supported in interface COM.
Interface	...the interface used based on the selected ad hoc report location. This field is only displayed when the 'Design tool' in 'Ad Hoc Report Group. Open' (AHS100) is set to 1-'Configurable XML'.
Archive	...whether the printout should be sent for archiving email information. This field is displayed when the 'Design tool' in 'Ad Hoc Report Group. Open' (AHS100) is set to 1-'Configurable XML'. The email information parameters determine if the information should be included in the generated XML file. If the email information is included, the application used for generating the document determines if the information is used or not.
Job schedule information	...the job schedule information defined per ad hoc report. This is a deviation from the common practice of defining job schedule information per function in 'Job Schedule Function. Open' (SHS030).