Print Reports

[About Using IFS Enterprise Explorer Clients] [Extracting Information in IFS Enterprise Explorer]

Usage

The Print dialog is used to print a report, with required formatting options.

Functionality of the print dialog

Report

• The report list view displays all the reports selected for printing. More than one report can be selected for printing at once.
• You can set the print options individually or collectively for each report being printed. If the select All check box is unchecked, option changes apply only to the currently selected report. Otherwise, the changes apply to all reports shown in the print dialog.

Options

• You can select a language and number date format etc and the layout for each report.

Output

Printer

• The printer to which the report should be sent is selected here. By default it selects NO_PRINTOUT logical printer when the Print checkbox is not checked .
• If the user checks the Print.. check box then any logical printers configured for the selected report or default physical printer is listed for selecting.
• The Print checkbox is profiled, so that the same check/uncheck selection is preselected when the user comes to the print dialog the next time.
• If the user selects a logical printer then the print request is sent to the logical printer via the IFS Extended server.
• If the user checks the Show all printers check box then all physical and  logical printers available are shown in the printer drop down list.
• The Print to file option allows to save the report in the local disk, depending on the layout type. E.g. PDF format if the layout is Report Designer layout, CSV format if the layout is a CSV plugin layout.
• A user can also change the number of copies printed and page range to be printed etc.

Send E-Mail to..

• If the user checks the Send E-Mail to check box then the report will be e-mailed to the particular address.
• The checkbox is profiled, so that the same check/uncheck selection is preselected when the user comes to the print dialog the next time.

When Report is Printed...

• You can specify which actions need to be taken once report is printed.
• When preview button is clicked the report can be previewed through the respective default viewer which is configured in the OS. The user will be prompted for a viewer if no such default viewer is found. By choosing this option a user can preview PDF, CSV, XML, Excel etc. reports.
• When OK is clicked a print request is sent to the server.
• If the selected printer is a logical printer then the print request is directed to a report formatter at the server, which in turn send the generated report to a Print Agent to be printed through the mapped physical printer which the logical printer is mapped to.
• If the selected printer is a physical printer, or a file, then the report is prepared at the server. Then it is sent to back to the client, which in turn directs it to the physical printer or a file on local disk.
• Depending on the layout type selected, the user has the ability to print the report in PDF, CSV, Excel, XML etc. format.

Effect from Report Rules.

Report rule engine is a functionality in which we can define a set of rules for a report. By defining rules we can set common or default behavior for report printing. Rules will be processed when the report is about to be printed and the result of the rule processing is a set of settings which should be used for printing.

Report Rules

Report rules define a set of conditions for Operational reports. A report rule is specified for a particular report. When a report is selected for either printing or scheduling, the result of processing any rules attached to that report defines mandatory, preset or default settings for printing.
There are two types of settings which are applicable for the Client.

• Mandatory settings
• Preset settings.

Mandatory settings
If a setting set by a rule is mandatory then in the print dialog that setting will be preset and value cannot be changed by the user. The control which is connected to that setting will be disabled.

Preset settings
If a setting set by a rule is a preset setting then that setting will be preselected in the print dialog. This will be the most ideal setting to be used. But user has the option to change the setting if necessary.

Therefore, if you encounter any situations where some settings are disabled or default values are preset the most likely cause is, a rule is applied for that report. For reports where a rule is applied, a message is displayed at the bottom of the print dialog. This message could be coming from the rules itself or in its absence a default message is shown. If no rules are applied for the selected report then no message is displayed.

Activity Diagrams

To Extracting Information in Enterprise Explorer

Activities

See Order Reports for more information.