Running reports

Users can run simple reports with a few parameters on an ad-hoc basis because they require less performance overhead. However, in larger environments where the volume of report requests is greater and more complex, you should schedule reports to run during off-peak hours to avoid system performance bottlenecks.

When a system administrator enables a report for the SSP, users can run it from the Reports menu in the SSP without using the Admin Portal. Users can run reports on demand and are displayed in PDF format by default.

Consider these points when deciding whether to schedule reports or execute the reports on demand:

  • The number of variations of a single report required

    For example, you may need a weekly report sent to supervisors across 100 stores parameterized by teams. This report requires significant processing time and is best scheduled during off-peak hours.

  • The volume of data produced by a report

    Some reports require aggregated data from a large number of tables in the database. These reports usually require greater processing overhead and time. The less complex the report, the less data is required.

  • The use of real-time information versus historical information

    For example, you might want an Employee Overtime report from the past week only. This report should be scheduled.

Handling background report delivery failures

When you select Email report as attachment to run a report in the background, the request is placed in a processing queue. If the queue reaches its maximum capacity, the report cannot be scheduled or sent immediately, and the system displays this notification:

"The email cannot be sent because the application has reached the limit for COGNOS_WATCHER_QUEUE_SIZE. You can proceed by either running the report on-demand OR increase the value for the COGNOS_WATCHER_QUEUE_SIZE configuration key up to the allowable limit."

You can use the following configuration settings to address this error:

  • Increase COGNOS_WATCHER_QUEUE_SIZE to allow more report email requests to wait in the processing queue. Consider increasing this value if the queue reaches capacity during periods of high report activity.
  • Review COGNOS_WATCHER_RETENTION_MINUTES to determine how long the application waits for a report to complete before canceling the request and sending an email notification to the user.
  • Increase COGNOS_WATCHER_MAX_THREADS to allow more report email requests to run concurrently. Consider increasing this value if users frequently receive messages indicating that the report service is busy. This key is only accessible to Infor. Contact Infor support to change this value.