Purpose of the document:
This document is prepared to make the new user of BI Launch Pad comfortable.
Introduction:
Using this document, we will understand that how to schedule any Business Object report (like Crystal Report, Webi Report, Analysis View Report etc.) using BI Launch Pad in a required format.
Using BI Launch Pad we can publish any Business Object report in any available format (like PDF, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word etc.)
Prerequisites for Scheduling a Business Object Report:
So to publish any Business Object report the BI Launch Pad is required. Then run that tool and it will show you the below mentioned Login Screen.
Here you have to enter the login credentials i.e. user name along with the system (like: Development, Quality or Production System) and password according to authentication type as:
Windows AD (your Citrix Login password or Windows Login password)
SAP (SAP system password like development, quality or production)
Enterprise and LDAP (Never Used)
After login into the launch pad on the Home Tab you can see the various updates about the reports that like the earlier executed reports, reports from your inbox, the alerts etc.
Panels of the Document Tab:
On the Document Tab you will find various tabs on the left hand panel:
My Document
Folders
Search
“My Documents” tab:
If you drill down into this tab then under My Favorites you can store or see the saved reports.
These reports only be viewed by and you others cannot see these reports.
“Folders” Tab:
In this tab when you drill down into the folders and sub folders then you will see the global reports according to various categories like BI(like Cost,Finance,Marketing etc.),BW(like Tax, Technical Content,HR etc.), Client Applications, Operations etc.
According to the categories you can select the Business Object reports and publish them.
“Search” Tab:
Using this tab you can directly search for any report in Launch PAD
Scheduling of Business Object Report:
So in the folder tab select the report that you want to publish from respective category folder and start scheduling it.
To schedule a report when you click on any folder then it’s inside reports will appear on the center portal.
When you open the intended report then do right click on it and select the “Schedule” option.
Then use the following tabs as per your requirement:
Instance Title:
Using this tab you can confirm/edit the report title that you want to publish.
Recurrence Tab:
Using this tab you can select that when the report should be publish like daily, weekly, monthly etc.
Prompt Tab:
Using this tab you can schedule the report as per the prompt.
Here the prompt is appearing for Posting Date, so click on ‘Modify’.
Then select the Start and End value using this icon.
Format Tab:
Using this tab you can select that in which format the report should be publish.
It has many options to select the format of the report. We selected Adobe Acrobat to publish the report in PDF format.
Caching Tab:
This option will help to select the report to preload the cache with when scheduling in various formats.
Events Tab:
Here we can select the events from the Available Events box and send it to the Events to wait for box.
You can also select the scheduled events from the Available Schedule Events box and sent it to the Events to trigger on completion. Now this selected even will trigger when the report gets published successfully.
Scheduling Server Group Tab:
Here you can select the server according to these three categories:
Use the first available server: If the report is not specific to Server or Group then by default we select this option to publish the report.
Give Preference to the servers belonging to the selected group: To publish the report for an intended group select the group from the list and launch pad will give preference to the server to publish that report.
Only use servers belonging to the selected group: If you want to publish the report for a specific selected group then using this option select the intended group from the list and the server will be restricted.
Destinations Tab:
Using this tab you can select the various destination where the report will go after publish. It has various options like BI Inbox, Email FTP server etc.
Default Enterprise Location: Using this option the report will get published into the default location of the enterprise like any default folder into the enterprise.
BI Inbox: Using this option we can select the recipients from the Group List and Group Hierarchy.
If you check the box for “Keep an instance in the history” then you can see the complete scheduled history about the report into the launch pad.
Target Name: Here you can give specific target name using drill down on option the “Use Specific Name” option or else it is being set on option “Use Automatically Generated Name”.
Send To: Here you can set the option using which you can send the report.
Copy option helps you to send the report as a copy to the recipient in the intended format like CSV, PDF etc.
Shortcut option helps to send the report in a shortcut format like a link or path using which you can open the report in a specified location.
Email: Using this option you can mail the published report directly to the intended recipient along with the text and the subject just like sending the
report as attachment using a mailbox.
FTP Server: Using this option you can publish the report on a server and you have to fill the required details of that server here like Port, Host, User name, Password etc.
Using option “Using Specific Name” option you can mention the specific id, Owner, User Name etc. as a file name.
Otherwise Launchpad choose the option of “Use Automatically Generated Name” for file name.
File System: To use this option you should know some details like User Name, Password, and Directory etc.
File Name: Using option “Using Specific Name” option you can mention the specific id, Owner, User Name etc. as a file name.
Otherwise Launchpad choose the option of “Use Automatically Generated Name” for file name.
After applying all these settings click on the Schedule tab. Then the below mentioned history sheet of that report will appear.
When the scheduling of report started then it’s status would be “Pending”. But after few minutes it will be changed and it becomes “Success”.
It means that the updated report is now ready to view.
Then click on this report and check the report into the PDF format.
Now the report will looks like:
- SAP Managed Tags:
