Bursting a Report

In this section:

Reference:

Instead of distributing an entire report from a scheduled report procedure (FEX), you can use the ReportCaster burst feature to break the report into sections to be distributed separately to the same or different destinations. Bursting enables you to target relevant sections of a report to individual users. Each report section is saved to a separate file.

If you are distributing a burst tabular report, the burst value is determined by the first BY field. If you are distributing a burst graph report, the burst value is determined by the second BY field. The burst value is automatically determined by the internal matrix, which is a memory area that stores each database field value and calculates values referenced by the TABLE or GRAPH request.

You can send several report sections to one recipient by specifying the destination of that recipient (email addresses, FTP server locations, and files or printers) for each section you want to send. You can also send several report sections to one destination. The burst values you specify in the Distribution List must exist in the data source you are reporting against.

Note: If you want to burst a report, you must enable the bursting option within the Task for a schedule. The burst values specified in the Burst Value column in the Distribution List are ignored unless the Task specifies to burst the report.


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Example: Specifying Burst Values in a Distribution List

You can specify sort field burst values and destinations (email addresses, FTP, or printers) when creating or editing a Distribution List. The following image shows burst values and the destination email addresses specified in the Distribution List window.

distribution list

Using the primary sort field values (Northeast Sales, South Sales, and Midwest Sales), the email address of each representative is associated with the relevant sales report data. Since Chuck Hill needs only the data for the Northeast branch, the sort value Northeast is listed in the Burst Value column and is associated with his email address in the E-mail column.

However, Tom Gregory works in both the Midwest and South regions. Since he requires data for both regions, his email address is listed in the E-mail column twice, next to a Burst Value column entry for each region.

Note: You can click on a column heading to sort the data in that column.

Tip: You can specify multiple email addresses on a single Address line. For details, see Specifying Multiple Email Addresses.


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Reference: Considerations When Distributing a Burst Report Using FTP

When distributing a burst report using FTP, consider the following:


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Bursting Guidelines and Limitations

This section provides detailed information to assist you in defining burst values.

When a schedule task specifies to burst a report procedure (FEX), all data values generated for each burst section are returned to the Distribution Server.

The following are guidelines and limitations that apply to the burst feature:


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