Scheduled excel report (as an attachment) ends up being sent as an html file

[jarecki]

Hi,

I have set up a report schedule in COGNOS Connection  to save the report output as an Excel Single Sheet format, with the file to be attached to an email to a list of recipients.  The report runs fine, it saves itself within COGNOS Connection as an excel format. But when the recipients open up their email, the report is an HTML attachment.  I have tried :

1. Creating a new schedule with a new version of the report.
2. Changing the run options with Design Studio
3. Changing all properties associated with the report so that it runs as an Excel Single Sheet.

... but no luck.   Any ideas out there ?   Thankyou in advance.

[avitabj]

Hi!  I use "Excel 2000" and it gives me a spreadsheet (.xls) plus a .html file.  I am able to open the .xls ok. 

hth...jean

[cogman]

Hi,

I have set up a report schedule in COGNOS Connection  to save the report output as an Excel Single Sheet format, with the file to be attached to an email to a list of recipients.  The report runs fine, it saves itself within COGNOS Connection as an excel format. But when the recipients open up their email, the report is an HTML attachment.  I have tried :

1. Creating a new schedule with a new version of the report.
2. Changing the run options with Design Studio
3. Changing all properties associated with the report so that it runs as an Excel Single Sheet.

... but no luck.   Any ideas out there ?   Thankyou in advance.

The report is saved in .mht formart.Download the file to destop and goto properties of the file and choose to view with excel.The file opens in excel formet.  ;D

[jarecki]

thanks all, will try these options.

J

[TEVAMANA]

Hi,

There are multiple versions of Excel output for backwards compatibility reasons:

CSV - raw data, no formatting, only possible with single Query reports. Delivered in email as a .CSV file.

Excel 2000 Single Sheet - all report pages rendered to one Excel 2000 worksheet. Delivered in email as a .HTML file.

Excel 2002 - each report page is rendered to its own Excel 2002 worksheet, in a single Excel 2002 workbook. Delivered in email as a .MHT file.

The Excel types are delivered via email as .HTML and .MHT files (supported Excel file types) instead of .XLS files for several reasons:

- The .XLS format is proprietary to Microsoft.

- .XLS files are prone to macro viruses and as such are blocked by many email servers.

- Using HTML/MHT files (supported Excel file types) permits users without Excel installed locally to view the files as well as those who have Excel available, thus potentially increasing a report's target audience. 

Therefore, you should not be expecting .XLS files in the emails, instead you should be getting .HTML or .MHT files depending on which version of Excel you selected (HTML for Excel 2000 and MHT for Excel 2002). Cognos 8 uses a Microsoft-supplied open document standard that effectively embeds the Excel format into an HTML or MHT document.

For the .HTML email attachments, users can simply double-click the HTML and open it in Internet Explorer. Subsequently, they can go File --> Edit with Microsoft Office Excel.  Alternatively, you can save the email attachment and give it an XLS extension.

For .MHT email attachments, users can open these  directly in Excel.  By default Windows may associate .MHT files with Internet Explorer, but you can change this:

1) Save the .MHT file locally to your machine.
2) Right-click on the file and ensure the you are on the General tab.
3) Where it says Opens With, click Change
4) Select Microsoft Office Excel from the list

By going through the above four steps users will then simply be able to double-click on the .MHT files to open these in Excel.

Now, you can generate files with xls extension:

The advanced parameter below was recently added to ReportNet 1.1 MR4. This is set by the Server Administrator in the Report Server advanced properties and forces ReportNet to change the file extension on single sheet HTML and MHT format files to .xls file, and to set the MIME type to Excel.

RSVP.FILE.EXTENSION.XLS = TRUE

Steps:
For ReportNet 1.1 MR4 and Cognos 8.1 MR1
Open Cognos Connection.
Click Tools menu in the portal and select Server Administration.
Select the Configure tab
Select the Set Properties button on the toolbar across the top of the window (the icon looks like a hand holding a piece of paper)
Select the Settings tab
Find the property named Advanced Settings, and click the Edit... link
In the first empty set of boxes, type in the parameter name RSVP.FILE.EXTENSION.XLS and set the value to TRUE.
Press OK.
Restart the service.
For Cognos 8.1 MR2 and Cognos 8.2

Open Cognos Connection.
Click Tools menu in the portal and select Server Administration.
Check the services box and select Batch Report Service.
Click the Set Properties button on the right-hand side (the icon looks like a hand holding a piece of paper)
Select the Settings tab
Find the property named Advanced Settings, and click the Edit... link
In the first empty set of boxes, type in the parameter name RSVP.FILE.EXTENSION.XLS and set the value to TRUE.
Press OK.
Restart the service.
Notes: 

       If this does not work, verify that there are no trailing spaces or anything else added within the Advanced Settings configuration.

       In some cases, this may result in improved usability as Windows/Email readers will open Excel as the default application for these files.

       This does not change the files to binary XLS - they are still in HTML and MHT format. This switch is applied globally to all reports, and not on a report by report basis.  As the multiple file HTML file depends on the file extensions, this is not applied to them.

       Some Email readers and some versions of Excel will fail when this is used as the files are really still HTML and MHT files, and these applications have issues with those formats. In that case, do not use this switch.

Regards,
Tevamana

[jarecki]

Tevamana,

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply ... :)

J

[bhaskara]

Hi,

I have similar issues like below.
Scheduled excel 2007 report output (as an attachment) not delivered to the recipients but excel 2002,PDF,CSV type of reports delivery working fine.

[CyMPu4Ka]

Hi everyone!

Can you help me with a question about the "RSVP.FILE.EXTENSION.XLS" parameter.
I can't understand how does it work. Does it change extension only for e-mail or change extension at all for reports output?

We work in Cognos BI 10.2.2. We need .xls extension reports output to upload it in another system. So we can't choose Excel 2007 because it have .xlsx extension. And when we choose Excel 2002 we have a .mht called .xls.

I thought that "RSVP.FILE.EXTENSION.XLS" parameter can help me with this problem, but it doesn't work. And now I haven't any ideas what to do.