Tag Archives: Scheduled Reports
Report Preferences

It’s Your Preference – 1 of 3 – Reports

January 18, 2012 by Arlene 0 Comments

Maintenance Connection’s System Preferences are a great way to tailor the system to meet the unique needs of your organization. Once the focus on system set up has passed, these valuable preferences can be overlooked. To refocus attention on this feature, we are publishing an “It’s Your Preference” Blog Series to highlight popular settings in three areas. In this first post we will cover several helpful Report Preferences. In the next two posts in the series, we will review the preferences available to tailor the appearance of the printed work order and purchase order.

Report Preferences

To access Report Preferences, select Tools->Preferences from the Menu Bar, and then select the Report Folder. Since several preferences are repair center based (the ones that do not display a globe), these settings can be unique for each repair center as needed. In the following example, the XYZ University has defined their report preferences, some of which are unique for their “Athletics” Repair Center.

Return Path for Bounced Email: This preference allows you to list a specific individual to receive messages from bounced emails. Listing “SENDER” will result in the individual sending the report receiving the “bounce” notification.

BCC/CC Email List for All Outgoing Emails: These preferences define the email address of any individual who should be copied (or blind copied) on reports sent via email. Listing “SENDER” will result in the individual sending the report receiving a copy (or blind copy).

Email Address FROM/FROM NAME: These preferences determine the Email from Name (and Address) that is used when a report is manually emailed (using the Email Button on the Report Preview Window). If a value is not set, the email address of the logged in user will be used.

Number of Lines Per Report Section: This preference determines the default number of rows (records) that will be displayed before another “report section” is generated. Records included in the same section are displayed on a single HTML Page, allowing you to scroll down to view other records without moving to another section using the control available on the Report Preview Toolbar. This preference is set to 1000 records by default. If you would like to have more records displayed on a single “HTML Page” to avoid navigating to different sections, you may wish to increase this value (e.g. to 2000). It should be noted, however, that there are performance implications to increasing this value, as the system must retrieve and present more data at once.

Replacement/Additional Logo for Reports: The logo preferences allow you to have a logo displayed on reports that is different from the one displayed on your MC Home Page (or in addition to). This setting is often used when a different logo is desired for a particular repair center’s reports. In the following example, XYZ University uses a different logo to display on reports generated by the “Athletics” Repair Center:

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Report Features – 3 of 3

July 21, 2011 by Arlene 0 Comments

In this last blog in the series on Report Features and Tips, we will review the options available to automate the distribution of scheduled reports. Report scheduling is used for many purposes including weekly status updates for shop supervisors, expiration reminders (e.g., for licenses or certifications), and executive/management updates. Reports can be scheduled on a wide variety of intervals:

Note:  Only customers that have the MC Agent Service can use this scheduling feature. Also, if the Schedule Tab is not displayed, you may be a member of an access group that does not have access to this feature.

To schedule a report for automated distribution:

  • Access Report Setup for the report on which automation will be scheduled.
  • Select the Schedule Tab. The Email Sub-Tab will be selected by default, allowing you to specify email instructions.
  • To define automated generation and distribution, change the Email Schedule Dropdown Control to “On“. The remaining controls on the page will display.


  • Select the desired frequency from the Frequency dropdown controls. For example, to schedule a management report for distribution the first of each quarter you could select: “Every 3 Month(s)“.
  • In the Begin On dropdown controls, specify the first date you would like this report to be sent. In our example, you could select “10/1/2011“, as this is the next date that corresponds to the first of a calendar quarter.
  • Specify the Attachment Type. For most reports, the HTML option is preferable. The XML and CSV options are most often used when reports are to be opened in Excel or another software system.


  • The “Do not send if report returns no records” option is especially valuable for conditional notifications. For example, you could send a license expiration report only if there are individuals with licenses expiring or a list of work orders pending approval only if there are work orders in this state.
  • In the Email Recipients area, you can directly enter the email addresses of the individuals who should receive this report, separated by commas. Alternatively, if email addresses are already defined for these individuals in their Labor or Requester Records, it is best to add the addresses using the Add Button.
    • Click Add and the Select Recipients Dialog will display.
    • Change the dropdown control at the top of the page to locate the desired individual(s), typically “Labor“.
    • All individuals of the chosen type will be displayed. Those with valid email addresses specified will be selectable.
    • Select the individuals that you wish to receive this report.
    • Click Apply when finished.


       

  • In the area on the right of this page, specify the Email Address and Name that should appear on the email that distributes the report. It should be noted that a default value for “new reports” can be specified in System Preferences.


Click Apply when finished and the MC Agent will prepare and distribute the report to specified recipients on the next scheduled date.

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