The Automation-Editor

The "automation" means all automatic tasks which can be extecuted in the background within instantOLAP. The following types of tasks are available:

The mailing of reports as an email in the PDF format ("Send task")
The export of reports as a PDF file or Excel file in the local file system of the server ("Export task")
The execution and saving of reports within the repository as a Snapshots which can be viewed in the Web-Frontend afterwards ("Save task")
The execution of reports to fill the caches in order to speed up the following executions of reports ("Touch task")

These tasks are summarized in "Cronjobs". A Cronjob is a group of tasks which are executed under a certain user's account and with a certain language at freely definable time-patterns.

Opening the editor

They can open the Automation editor using the context menu of a directory.

Open the context menu of a directory with the right mouse button and use the menu item "Edit automation..". Alternatively you can also use the menu item "Edit..." to open the Info-editor and change from there to the Automation editor using the tabulator "Automation".

The Automation editor is split into parts: On the left all cronjobs and their tasks are displayed in a tree-like structure. On the right the selected cronjob or task with all its details is displayed and can be also edited there.

Creating new cronjobs

Before you can create tasks for the automation, you need a cronjob which you can create with the button "Add cronjob" in the tool bar of the editor.

After using the button a new cronjob appears in the tree representation and the data of the job is displayed at the right side. A cronjob contains the following elements:

Active: This checkbox determines whether a cronjob is active and its tasks (depending on the given time pattern) are executed.
Cron-Pattern: The cron-pattern determines, how often and when a cronjob is executed. The pattern contains single parts for the month, the day or weekday, the hour and the minute.
User and password: Cronjobs must be executed under a certain user's account to determine the access-rights for the execution of the tasks. Also, the used account can influence the contents of the results, e.g. if parts of the used dimensions are visible only for certain users. If you define no user, the reports are executed under the anonymous "guest" account.
Language: The language under which the queries will be executed. This can influence the queries, e.g. the formatting of the numbers may be different. If no language is defined the cronjob will be executed with the servers default language.

Creation of a Send task

A Send task sends the report results in the PDF format to one or more several EMail addresses.

You can create a new send task with the button "Add send-task" in the tool bar. After pressing the button, a new send task will added to the currently cronjob created and the data of the task will become visible at the right side of the editor. If no cronjob exists when adding a new task, a new one will be automatically created.

For a send task you can edit the following properties:

Active: This checkbox determines whether the task is executed when the owning cronjob is executed.
Query: For a send task you must determine which query should be executed and sent. Here you can select a single report out of all reports (which are available in the current directory or a subdirectory of it) in a Drop-Down list.
Iteration: Optionally you can execute and send a report several times, always with another selection. With this property you can define a formula which e.g. has a set of products, weeks etc. as a result. Then this report is executed once for every element of the formula result.
On assertion only: If the used report contains a traffic light analysis, you can use the result of this analysis to control the sending of a report. If this checkbox is activated, the report is only sent if the traffic light analysis signals an exception in the report (thus if a red, green or yellow cell appears in the result).
Topic: Here you can define the optional topic for the generated mail. If your define no topic, then the system will generated one automatically.
To: In this list you can define a number of receivers (their EMail addresses) which should receive the generated emails. If you want to define more than one receiver, then specify only one receiver per row in the edit field.

Creation of a save-task

A save task saves a report as a snapshot in the repository of the server. A snapshot is a XML file which contains the result of a report execution and can be viewed in the Web-Frontend of instantOLAP. Also, a snapshot can still be exported, e.g. into the PDF format, by the user.

Use the button "Add save task" to create such a task. After the creation it will be added to the currently selected cronjob and the properties of the task are displayed on the right side of the editor and can be edited. If no cronjob exists when adding a new task, a new one will be automatically created.

For a save task you can edit the following properties:

Active: This checkbox determines whether the task is executed when the owning cronjob is executed.
Query: For a save task you must determine which query should be executed and saved. Here you can select a single report out of all reports (which are available in the current directory or a subdirectory of it) in a Drop-Down list.
Iteration: Optionally you can execute and save a report several times, always with another selection. With this property you can define a formula which e.g. has a set of products, weeks etc. as a result. Then this report is executed once for every element of the formula result.
On assertion only: If the used report contains a traffic light analysis, you can use the result of this analysis to control the saving of a report. If this checkbox is activated, the report is only saved if the traffic light analysis signals an exception in the report (thus if a red, green or yellow cell appears in the result).
Filename: If you define no filename in this field, it is generated automatically with a timestamp. Then every execution of this task will create a new file and no existing one will be replaced. You can use this to historize reports. If you specify a filename, the result is saved with this name and will replace a existing file with every execution of the task.
Add result extension: When this switch is activated (which is the default) the server will automatically add the extension ".result" to the saved file. Deactivate this switch if you want to save files into a different format, e.g. when using a stylesheet to transform the file to another export format. Then you can define the extension in the filename.
Apply stylesheet: When this switch is activated the server will transform the result of the query using the stylesheet referred in the query.

Creation of an export task

An export task saves the result of a report as a PDF file or an Excel-Workseet at the filesystem of the server.

Use the button "Add export task" to create such a task. After the creation it will be added to the currently selected cronjob and the properties of the task are displayed on the right side of the editor and can be edited. If no cronjob exists when adding a new task, a new one will be automatically created.

For a export task you can edit the following properties:

Active: This checkbox determines whether the task is executed when the owning cronjob is executed.
Query: For a send task you must determine which query should be executed and be exported. Here you can select a single report out of all reports (which are available in the current directory or a subdirectory of it) in a Drop-Down list.
Iteration: Optionally you can execute and export a report several times, always with another selection. With this property you can define a formula which e.g. has a set of products, weeks etc. as a result. Then this report is executed once for every element of the formula result.
On assertion only: If the used report contains a traffic light analysis, you can use the result of this analysis to control the export of a report. If this checkbox is activated, the report is only exported if the traffic light analysis signals an exception in the report (thus if a red, green or yellow cell appears in the result).
Format: With this drop-down box you can determine the file format of the exported report. You have the choice between the the formats "PDF" and "Excel" here.
Filename or folder: For an export you must determine in which directory the exported file will be created or under which filename it will be saved. If you specify a directory here, the filename is generated automatically (with a timestamp), and with every export a new file will be created. If you specify a filename here , the report is saved using exactly this name and previous files are replaced with every export.

Creation of a touch task

A touch task is a very simple task with which just executes a report. A touch task is used to fill the caches of a model by a report execution (e.g. at night) in order to speed up reports, because the required for a report will then be available with the first access of a user.

Use the button "Add touch task" to create such a task. After the creation it will be added to the currently selected cronjob and the properties of the task are displayed on the right side of the editor and can be edited. If no cronjob exists when adding a new task, a new one will be automatically created.

For a touch task you can edit the following properties:

Active: This checkbox determines whether the task is executed when the owning cronjob is executed.
Query: For a send task you must determine which query should be executed. Here you can select a single report out of all reports (which are available in the current directory or a subdirectory of it) in a Drop-Down list.
Iteration: Optionally you can execute a report several times, always with another selection. With this property you can define a formula which e.g. has a set of products, weeks etc. as a result. Then this report is executed once for every element of the formula result.

Editing existing tasks

You can edit existing cronjobs and tasks by selecting them in the tree representation on the left side. Then the data of the job or tasks is displayed at the side of the editor and can be edited.

Moving tasks

The order of the cronjobs and tasks also determines the order of their execution.

If you want to change the order of the executions, you can use the arrow buttons in the tool bar of the editor.

Select the entries you would like to move in the tree representation and use these buttons. Then the entries (and their execution order) are moved within the list.

Deleting rules

Existing rules can be deleted using the button "Delete selected items". First select the entry to be deleted in the tree representation and then use this button. Then the task or the Cronjob is deleted.