Published Reports

Following sections provides help for creating, saving, publishing and managing published reports.

Contents

• Manage Published Reports Folder in Report Manager
• Basic Data for Published Reports in IFS EE
• Create a Report to Publish
• Save a Report in Report Manager
• Define and Publish a Report in IFS EE
• Access a Published Report

Manage Published Reports Folder in Report Manager

Before you can manage and save reports as a published report, the Published Report folder in Report Manager must have been created. Check the Configuration of Report Manager in the installation section for more information >>.

A report publisher can create subfolders in the Published Reports directory and create a folder structure to arrange reports as required. This is recommended if the number of published reports is high.

To manage published reports in Report Manager:

1. In Report Manager, open the Published Reports folder and click New Folder. Specify the name of the folder and give an appropriate description. The security settings for a new created folder will be inherited from the top folder by default. E.g., all report users that have permission to view the Published Reports folder, will also have permission to view reports saved in the subfolders.
   The name and description of an existing folder can be modified through the General Properties page of the folder.

When saving a report as a published report, it can be saved in the Published Reports top folder or in any of the subfolders.

Basic Data for Published Reports in IFS EE

When defining a published report as a Quick Report in IFS EE the report must be connected to a quick report category and a quick report type. The report publisher defines the report categories needed for published reports. If the number of published reports are high it is recommended to save the report in categories that will facilitate for the report viewers to locate the reports.

To add a quick report category in IFS EE:

1. In IFS Enterprise Explorer, to to Solution Manager/Administration/Quick Reports Categories page.
2. Select Quick Report Administrator, right-click, and then click Add Category, see figure 1.
3. Type an appropriate report category name. To distinguish the Microsoft published reports from other Quick Reports, it can be advisable to start the report category name with MS or BI. Quick report types are system defined. Quick report type MS_REPORT need to be used for published reports.
   
   
   

   Figure 1, Add a Report Category
    

Create a Report to Publish

To create a report to publish:

1. Go to IFS Enterprise Explorer. In Business Reporting & Analysis/My MS Reports page, click Report Builder to start Microsoft Report Builder 3.0 and create a blank report.
2. Create a data source and a data set as mentioned in Data sources and Datasets section.
3. Create a report in Report Builder by using tables, charts and etc. Refer to Getting Started section and the example reports described under Report Design to create the report of your requirements.

Save a Report in Report Manager

You need to have report publisher permissions to be able to save the report in the Published Report folder.

To save a report in Report Manager

1. Click Report Builder and then click Save As.
2. Select Recent Sites and Servers. Select or enter the name of the report server and select the Published Reports folder to save the report. Type a name for the report and click Save. A report can also be saved in a subfolder to the Published Reports folder.

Define and Publish a Report in IFS EE

To define and publish the report in IFS EE you must have permissions to Administer Quick Reports in Business Reporting & Analysis node:

1. In IFS Enterprise Explorer, go to Business Reporting & Analysis/Administer Quick Reports/Quick Reports page or go to Business Reporting & Analysis/Administer Quick Reports/Create New Quick Report.
2. Click New.
3. Enter a Report Title, select MS_REPORT as Type and a Category. Open the Add Report Reference dialog by clicking the button next to the Report Reference field. Add a value to the Report Reference by choosing a report in the dialog. Note that the file extension is excluded in the Report Reference. You may also add any comments to the report in Comments. The Presentation Object will get automatically generated when you publish the report.
   
   
   

   Figure 2, Quick Report definitions for a published report.

   
   
4. Click Save.
5. For end users to execute the report they must be granted access to the report. One way to do this is to click on the Publish link in the report detail header, see figure 2. For more information on granting permission to reports and other ways to publish reports check the IFS Applications Technical documentation.

Access a Published Report

An published report can be accessed either by quick report type or by quick report category.

To access a published report by quick report type:

1. In IFS Enterprise Explorer, go to Business Reporting & Analysis/Explore Quick Reports/By Types page and click on MS_REPORT.
2. All created and published report will be available on the right pane. Right-click on the report you want to view and click View Quick Report, see figure 3.
   
   
   

   Figure 3, select a published report to view.

   
   
3. The selected report will be opened.