Creating an Alert

How to:

To facilitate the creation and scheduling of Alerts, the Alert Assist tool guides you through a series of windows that complete the following tasks:

If you are logged on to Managed Reporting as a Managed Reporting developer, you can access Alert Assist through a Published Content or Private Content folder or subfolder within the tree.

When you use InfoAssist through the browser to create an Alert test, a subset of the tabs and options is available, because the Alert test is used only to state the conditions or rules, of the test. Users do not see this report. This is a simple report that states the selection criteria and includes an ON TABLE HOLD command.

When an Alert test is evaluated and the result is true, a report (the Alert result, which is the second report that you create) is run. This is the report that users see. Therefore, you can add styling to this report. More options are available in InfoAssist when you are creating an Alert result.

When you create an Alert result report, it is not shown to the Managed Reporting end user by default, since all content is Private by default.


Top of page

x
Procedure: How to Create an Alert in the Browser

When you select a new Alert from the BI Portal or BI Dashboard, the WebFOCUS Alert Assist tool opens for the creation of components. Alert Assist is a Bindows™ application that is launched in a separate browser window.

The browser tab uses the generic name Alertn, where n is an index number starting at 1. All subsequent Alerts increase by 1. If you save the Alert, the dialog box is automatically set up with this generic name. However, you can change the name as desired.

As you use Alert Assist to create reports, you may see messages that state Report Saved. Your changes to the report have been saved, but they are not written to the WebFOCUS Repository until the Alert is saved. If you exit Alert Assist before you click Finish, the Alert is not saved.

The following steps provide options for accessing Alert Assist from a browser to create an Alert.

  1. Sign on to the BI Portal, and expand the tree to show the folders and subfolders.
  2. Right-click a folder or subfolder, select New, and then select Alert from the menu.

    The Tool Setup dialog box opens, as shown in the following image. It provides options for selecting a Reporting Server and Application Paths.

    Tool Setup dialog box

    Note: User access to the Tool Setup dialog box to specify Reporting Server properties is controlled by a WebFOCUS security privilege. For information on WebFOCUS security privileges, see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.

  3. Select a Reporting Server and Application Paths when not using the default Reporting Server specified in the WebFOCUS Client configuration or the default application path for that Reporting Server, and click OK.

    The WebFOCUS Alert Assist opens.

  4. Right-click the Test node in the Alert Assist main window, and click New, as shown in the following image.

    New option

  5. Select one of the following options:
    • WebFOCUS Test. Allows you to create a new report in a scaled-down version of InfoAssist. Proceed to step 6.
    • Test for File Existence. Allows you to select an existing report. Proceed to step 9.

    Note: The scaled-down version of InfoAssist is used to create basic TABLE requests with HOLD (not PCHOLD FORMAT) statements. It generates procedure syntax that is written to the Alert the same way as in earlier WebFOCUS releases. The Edit option on the ribbon allows you to open the editor and manually enter the procedure code or edit existing procedure code. When the test is saved from the editor, the syntax needs to be validated as having an ON TABLE HOLD statement, a prerequisite for an Alert test.

  6. When you select WebFOCUS Test, InfoAssist opens. Select a Master File from the Select a data source dialog box.
  7. Create your report as desired, and then save it.
  8. Close InfoAssist to return to Alert Assist. Proceed to step 11.
  9. When you select Test for File Existence, type the full path to the file accessible to the Reporting Server that you want to check exists. Do not use a file name or folder path that includes spaces.

    Testing a folder for existence is also valid. Type the full path to the folder accessible to the Reporting Server. If the file is located, the Alert is triggered (true) and the Alert result report is run. Proceed to step 11 to create the Alert result.

  10. Click OK to save the Alert test.
  11. Right-click the Result node in the Alert Assist main window, and click New, as shown in the following image.

    New Option

  12. Select one of the following options:
    • New Report. Allows you to create a new report, chart, document, or dashboard, using the full version of InfoAssist. Proceed to step 13.
    • Existing Report. Allows you to choose from the existing reports in the tree. Proceed to step 15.
  13. If you select New Report, the Master File dialog box opens. Select a Master File.

    InfoAssist opens and you can create the report that will be run when the Alert test is triggered (true).

  14. Save your report, and close the InfoAssist window to return to Alert Assist. Proceed to step 19.
  15. If you select Existing Report, when the Open dialog box appears, as shown in the following image, select a report you are authorized to run from the tree.

    Open Dialog Box

  16. Click Open.

    The Open dialog box closes and the selected report appears under the Result node.

  17. Select Save from the Alert Assist menu. The Save As dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

    Save as Dialog Box

  18. Type the Alert Title, and click OK.

    Note: The default value for Title is Alert1.

  19. Close Alert Assist to return to the BI Portal.

    The Alert result is automatically run if the Alert test report is triggered (true). If you are authorized to schedule reports for distribution, you can optionally schedule the Alert. If you would like to schedule the Alert, proceed to step 20.

  20. Scheduling Alerts in the browser invokes the ReportCaster Basic Schedule tool. In the tree, right-click the Alert, and then from the context menu Schedule option, select how the Alert report will be distributed when the Alert test is triggered (true). The following image shows the Email schedule option selected.

    Email schedule option

    The ReportCaster Basic Scheduling tool opens in a new browser window, as shown in the following image. For more information on the Basic Scheduling tool and distribution options, see the ReportCaster manual.

    ReportCaster Basic Scheduling Tool

  21. If your Alert uses parameters, select the Parameters ribbon option to review and specify parameter values. Ensure that you have the correct Path, Procedure, and Server Name. For more information on specifying parameter values when scheduling a report procedure (FEX), see the ReportCaster manual.
  22. Click Alert.

    The Alert Options dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

    Alert Options dialog box

  23. Select one of the following Alert Options:
    • Automatically Reset. This option continues to run the schedule at the specified time and checks to confirm that the Alert test is no longer true before the Alert test is evaluated again. It is best to use this option when you do not want to receive the Alert result again until after the exception condition has been addressed and occurs again. For example, when the quantity in inventory is greater than 20,000, the Alert is triggered. You do not want to receive the report again until after the inventory is less than or equal to 20,000 for all products and then goes back over 20,000 again.
    • Continue After Alert. This option continues to run the schedule at the specified time and distribute the report each time that the Alert test is true. It is best to use this option when you want to be notified at the interval specified in the schedule that the Alert test is true.
    • Deactivate Schedule After Alert. This option deactivates the schedule after the Alert is triggered. The schedule has to be activated again for the Alert test to run after the Alert is triggered. It is best to use this option for one-time Alert tests. This is the default value.
    • Delay. This option is best used when you want to allow a specific period of time to address the Alert test but want to be notified again if the Alert test has not been met. You can restart the Alert after a maximum of 99 hours, days, weeks, months, or years.

    As you complete the creation of the schedule, remember to consider the burst option to distribute specific report values, instead of the entire report. When a report is burst, the distribution information must be provided in a distribution list, distribution file, or dynamic list for email distribution and an access list for library distribution. The email and library distribution options are the most effective for Alert reports because of the push versus pull notification through email. For more information on using the burst option in ReportCaster, see the ReportCaster manual.

  24. Click Distribution and specify the destination information for where you want the report to be distributed. For more information on specifying schedule distribution information, see the ReportCaster manual.
  25. Select the Properties tab and type a title and summary for the scheduled report.
  26. Click Recurrence and specify when and how often to run the schedule.

    For more information on Recurrence options, see the ReportCaster manual.

  27. Click Save and Close.

    The schedule report now appears in the tree, as shown in the following image.

    Schedule Report in Tree


WebFOCUS