Report Parameters available on Emailed Report

[gats1527]

WE have a report with prompts that we want to schedule and send to a list of users but when they receive the email with a link to the report, we need to have the parameters made available.

Thoughts?

[MFGF]

WE have a report with prompts that we want to schedule and send to a list of users but when they receive the email with a link to the report, we need to have the parameters made available.

Thoughts?

Include them as layout calculations in the page header of the report, maybe?

MF.

[gats1527]

not sure that will work.  the prompts I currently have work they way I want them too when you run the report from Cognos Connection but just want those same options to be available when I email the report.  Trying to avoid having all the users access the Cognos Connection site to run the report.

[MFGF]

not sure that will work.  the prompts I currently have work they way I want them too when you run the report from Cognos Connection but just want those same options to be available when I email the report.  Trying to avoid having all the users access the Cognos Connection site to run the report.

Hi,

If you schedule and email reports, you are emailing links to the pre-rendered report outputs the schedule is creating. Your users are not going to run the report (and thus interact with prompts) when they follow the link - they are going to view the rendered output the schedule created - with whatever prompt values were defined for the schedule. You can show these values using layout calculations in the report output.

If you want the users to run the report, you wouldn't schedule it - you'd just email them a link to the report. Scheduling will run the report and generate outputs, but it doesn't sound like that's your requirement here?

MF.

[gats1527]

Would I be able to email link to the report from the scheduler?

[AnalyticsWithJay]

Would I be able to email link to the report from the scheduler?

Yes. Simply select the "Include a link to the report" check box instead of the attach the report option.

[MFGF]

Yes. Simply select the "Include a link to the report" check box instead of the attach the report option.

But this link would take you to the rendered report output...

[AnalyticsWithJay]

But this link would take you to the rendered report output...

Correct. I'm confused on the requirement here  ;D

gats1527, are you looking to e-mail a link to the report, and also include the parameters that were selected to generate this report? Is it a rendered output that you want? Or do you want the report to run?

[Mimo91]

WE have a report with prompts that we want to schedule and send to a list of users but when they receive the email with a link to the report, we need to have the parameters made available.

Thoughts?

Hi,

I believe your requirement is to run a report from email link.

Lets consider the name of the report you want to send is Original Report.

For allowing user to select the values for Prompts at run time, you have to create another report (for example Dummy Report) using the same package used by Original Report.

1. Before creating that, go to Cognos Connection and click on "Set Properties" option for Original Report.
2. Click on "View the search path, ID and URL" from the opened window.
3. Copy the "Default action URL" and keep it for future reference.

4. Now create the Dummy Report and in the body of that, write the e-mail body (using normal text items) you want to send.
5. Drag one Hyperlink from toolbox panel in the report body.
6. Select the Hyperlink from report body and change the followings from the properties panel.
   1) Change the Text to the original report name (here Original Report)
   2) In the URL section, provide the copied Default action URL of the original report.

7. Save the Dummy Report.

8. Go to Cognos Connection and schedule the Dummy Report at the required time and frequency.
   1) While scheduling, check the "Send a link to the report by email" box and there,
   2) Provide the email ids to which you want to send the mails.
   3) Change the Subject line as required.
   4) Leave the mail body blank.
   5) Check Attach the report option.

9. When the scheduler will run, user will get a mail, containing the text written in Dummy Report and a link to run the Original Report.
10. When user will click on the link, it will redirect them to the prompt page (or login page, where they have to provide user id and password, then prompt page will come).
11. From the prompt page user will be able to provide values for the prompts and in report, data will be filtered based on those.