Cisco Customer Response Applications Historical Reports User Guide (3.0)
Scheduling Historical Reports
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Scheduling Historical Reports

Scheduling Historical Reports

Scheduling a historical report means instructing the Cisco Customer Response Applications (CRA) Historical Reports client to automatically generate the report at some time in the future. Although you can schedule a report to generate once, the report scheduling function is particularly useful for preparing reports that you require regularly. For example, you can schedule an Agent Detail Report to generate every Monday at midnight and an Agent Summary Report to generate on the first Sunday of every month at noon.

When you schedule a report, you perform these general steps:

1. Choose general settings for the report, including the name of the report, whether to include charts, and whether to save (export) or print the report.

2. Choose detailed settings for the report, if necessary, including a sort method and a filter parameters.

3. Choose scheduling settings, including how often and when the report is generated.

4. Save the scheduling information.

The following sections include these topics:

Information in Scheduled Reports

Table 5-1 shows the types of schedules that you can specify for historical reports and the information that is contained in each type of report.

The time and date for data in scheduled reports is always the time and date of the Cisco CRA server.


Table 5-1: Historical Reports Schedules and Data
Schedule Type Recurrence Options Information Contained in the Report

Daily
  • Every day (Sunday through Saturday)

  • Every weekday (Monday through Friday)

  • Every n days (for example, every 3 days)

Note   A report that is scheduled to recur every weekday will run every Tuesday through Saturday so that it can include information for Monday through Friday.

A daily report always contains data from 12:00 midnight (0000) to 11:59:59 p.m. (1159:59) for the day before the report runs. For example, a daily report that runs on Tuesday will contain data for the preceding Monday.

Weekly
  • Every week on a certain day (for example, every Monday)

  • Every n weeks on a specific day (for example, every two weeks on Friday)

A weekly report always contains data from Sunday at 12:00 midnight (0000) to Saturday at 11:59:59 p.m. (1159:59) for the week before the report runs, regardless of the day of the week on which the report runs. For example, a weekly report that runs on Monday, on Wednesday, or on Friday will contain data for Sunday through Saturday of the previous week.

Monthly
  • Every month on a specific date (for example, the 15th of every month)

  • Every month on a certain day (for example, the first Friday of every month)

Note   If a monthly report is scheduled to run on a date that does not occur in some months, for example the 30th or 31st, the report will run on the last day of a month that does not contain the date.

A monthly report always contains data from the first day of the previous month at 12:00 midnight (0000) to the last day of the previous month at 11:59:59 p.m. (1159:59). For example, a monthly report that runs on any day in February will contain data for all of January.

Once

Any single date and time that you specify

A report that runs once contains data for the date and time range that you specify.


Recommendations for Scheduling

When a scheduled report generates, it can use significant resources on the Cisco CRA server. To help keep the server running most efficiently, schedule reports to generate at times when the Cisco CRA server is least busy, for example, late at night or early in the morning.

The Scheduler

The CRA Historical Reports client includes a program called the Scheduler. A Scheduler resides on each client computer and performs these functions:

  • Maintains information about each schedule, including when each schedule should execute and what information the scheduled report should contain

  • Executes schedules at their scheduled times, based on the time and date of the CRA Historical Reports client computer

The Scheduler runs automatically and unattended in the background on the Cisco CRA Historical Reports client computer. It will not affect other activities that you perform on the client computer. The Scheduler should always be left running, even when you exit the CRA Historical Reports main window. If the Scheduler is not running when a schedule should execute, the schedule will not execute.

If a schedule does not execute because the Scheduler is not running, the Missed Report dialog box appears when the Scheduler restarts. For more information, see the "Handling Missed Schedules" section.

You can control the Scheduler using the Scheduler icon, shown in Figure 5-1. This icon appears in the status area on your Windows taskbar.


Figure 5-1: Scheduler Icon


To verify that the Scheduler is running, right-click the Scheduler icon and look at the Run Scheduler option in the Scheduler menu. If Run Scheduler is dimmed (that is, unavailable), the Scheduler is running.

To start the Scheduler, right-click the Scheduler icon and choose Run Scheduler. Or, choose Start > Programs > Cisco CRA Historical Reports > Cisco CRA Historical Reports Scheduler.

To stop the Scheduler, right-click the Scheduler icon and choose Stop Scheduler. The Scheduler remains loaded, but it will not execute schedules.

To exit the Scheduler, right-click the Scheduler icon and choose Exit. The scheduler unloads and will not execute schedules.

Note   If you change the system time on the Cisco CRA Historical Reports client computer, stop and then restart the Scheduler that is running on that computer.

General Settings for Scheduled Reports

General settings for scheduled reports include:

  • Name of the report to schedule

  • Whether to include charts with the report

  • Whether to print the report or export it to a file

You can return the report settings you choose for a scheduled report to their default values at any time by clicking Reset in the CRA Historical Reports main window.

If you have saved report settings in a Report Settings file, you can load the Report Settings file and use it as a basis for a scheduled report. See the "Saving and Loading Report Settings" section for information about saving and loading a Report Settings file.

If you have already made settings for a report in this Cisco CRA Historical Reports session, any information that you entered in the general or detailed fields for that report appears in those areas when you schedule reports. In addition, if the report is set to occur once, date and time information that you entered when you set up the report appears in the Cisco CRA Historical Reports Schedule menu. You can use the information that appears in the general and detailed fields and in the Schedule menu as a basis for your scheduled report, or you can click Reset to return the report settings their default values.

Related Topics

Choosing the Report to Schedule

To choose the report that you want to schedule, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1   In the Cisco CRA Historical Reports main window, click the Schedule Future Reports, Including Repeat Reports radio button.

Step 2   Click the General tab, if it is not selected already.

Step 3   Click the Report Type drop-down arrow to view a list of available reports, and then choose the report that you want to generate.

Now you can specify whether to include charts with the report, choose whether to print or export the report, and choose detailed report settings. You also must choose schedule settings before the schedule will execute.

Related Topics

Including Charts with a Scheduled Report

Each historical report can contain one or more charts that summarize information in the report. If you want to include charts with a scheduled report, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1   In the CRA Historical Reports main window, click the Schedule Future Reports, Including Repeat Reports radio button.

Step 2   Click the General tab, if it is not selected already.

Step 3   Check the Include Charts in Report check box.

If you do not want to include charts, uncheck this check box.

Now you can choose whether to print or export the report, and choose detailed report settings. You also must choose schedule settings before the schedule will execute.

Related Topics

Choosing Whether to Print or Export a Scheduled Report

When a schedule executes, the Cisco CRA Historical Reports client either prints the report or exports it (saves it in a file). After choosing this setting, you can choose detailed report settings. You also must choose schedule settings before the schedule will execute.

Related Topics

Printing a Scheduled Report

Scheduled reports print on the default printer that has been designated for your computer. To print a scheduled report when it generates, click the Export Type drop-down arrow in the CRA Historical Reports main window and choose Export to Printer.

Now you can choose detailed report settings. You also must choose schedule settings before the schedule will execute.

Related Topics

Exporting a Scheduled Report

The Cisco CRA Historical Reports client saves scheduled reports in files. You can view, print, and manipulate the data in these files with other programs. Unless you have changed the defaultExportPath parameter in the hrcConfig.ini file, the Cisco CRA Historical Reports client stores these files on the client computer in the Cisco CRA Historical Reports\Reports directory, which is under the directory in which you installed the Cisco CRA Historical Reports system. (By default, the system installs in the Program Files directory.) By default, the client saves scheduled reports in a PDF (Portable Data Format) file. Also by default, the client gives saved reports a descriptive file name that indicates the name of the report, its language, its date and time of creation, the login identification of the user who scheduled it, its scheduled recurrence, its date range, and the format of the file. If desired, you can specify another format, location, and file name. (If you change the file name, the client automatically adds descriptive information to the new file name when it creates the file.)

When you specify that a generated report is to be saved, you can designate any of the formats shown in Table 5-2.


Table 5-2: Formats for Exported Historical Reports
Format Extension that the System Adds to the File Name Description

Acrobat Format (PDF)

.pdf

Portable Document Format file that can be read with Adobe Acrobat Reader

Comma-separated values (CSV)

.csv

Comma-separated text file

Excel (XLS)

.xls

Microsoft Excel file

Rich Text (Exact) Format

.rtf

RTF file that can be opened with Microsoft Word

XML

.xml

Extensible Markup Language file


To save a scheduled report in a file when the report runs, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1   Make sure that Export to File appears in the Export Type field in the CRA Historical Reports main window. If Export to File does not appear, click the Export Type drop-down arrow, and then choose Export to File from the list that appears.

Step 2   If you want to change the default format, location, or file name for exported files, click Export Location.

(The Export Location button appears as "..." in the window.)

The Save As dialog box appears. The Cisco CRA Historical Reports client will add information to the default file name shown in the File Name field when the report is generated.

Step 3   If you want, make changes in the Save As dialog box as follows:

  • To change the location, use the Save In drop-down arrow, the Folder Name pane, or the Save In tools to specify the directory in which to save the exported report.
  • To change the file name, enter the new name in the File Name field, or click the drop-down arrow and then choose it from the list of existing names. If you specify a file name that includes an extension shown in Table 5-2, the system will create a file in that format, regardless of the format that you select in the Save As field.
  • To change the format, click the Save As Type drop-down arrow, and then choose the format in which you want to save the report.

Step 4   Click Save.

Now you can choose detailed report settings. You also must choose schedule settings before the schedule will execute.

Related Topics

Detailed Settings for Scheduled Reports

When you use detailed report settings, you can cause scheduled reports to include only specific information or to display information in a particular order. Detailed report settings include a sorting method and a filter parameter.

Detailed settings are optional. If you do not choose a detailed setting, the report will contain all relevant information presented in a default order.

To specify a sorting method and a filter parameter for a scheduled report, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1   In the Cisco CRA Historical Reports main window, click the Generate and View Historical Reports radio button.

Step 2   Click the Detailed tab.

Step 3   Choose detailed settings just as you do when you generate a report. See the "Detailed Report Settings" section for complete instructions.

After choosing these settings, you must choose schedule settings before the schedule will execute.

Related Topics

Choosing Schedule Settings

After you choose general and detailed settings for a report, you are ready to choose schedule settings. You can make changes to any of the report settings later if you want.

When you choose schedule settings, you specify:

  • How often the schedule executes

  • Date and time range of schedule recurrences (if the schedule is to execute more than once)

To choose schedule settings, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1   In the Cisco CRA Historical Reports main window, click the Schedule Future Reports, Including Repeat Reports radio button.

Step 2   Click the General tab, if it is not selected already.

Step 3   Click Change.

The Cisco CRA Historical Reports Schedule window appears, as shown in Figure 5-2.


Figure 5-2: Cisco CRA Historical Reports Schedule Window

1

Occurrence options
2

Occurrence frequency
3

Range of recurrence options



Step 4   In the Occurs area, choose how often the schedule executes, as explained in Table 5-3.


Table 5-3: Scheduling Settings for Historical Reports
If You Want the Schedule to Execute This Often Click This Radio Button Then Perform These Actions

Every day

Daily

Click the Every radio button, and then enter 1 in the Every n Day(s) field.

Every specific number of days (for example, every 3 days)

Daily

Click the Every radio button, and then enter the number of days in the Every n Day(s) field.

Every weekday (Monday through Friday)

Note   This report will run every Tuesday through Saturday so that it can include information for Monday through Friday.

Daily

Click the Every weekday radio button.

Every week on a certain day (for example, every week on Friday)

Weekly

Enter 1 in the Every n Week(s) On field, and then click the radio button for the desired day.

Every specific number of weeks on a certain day (for example, every 2 weeks on Monday)

Weekly

Enter the number of weeks in the Every n Weeks(s) On field, and then click the radio button for the desired day.

Every month on a specific date, (for example, the 15th of every month)

Monthly

Click the Day n of calendar month radio button. Then enter the date in this field, or you can click the drop-down arrow and click the scroll arrow to display the date that you want and then click the date. (If you enter a date that does not occur in some months, for example 30 or 31, the system will use the last day of the month for months that do not contain the date.)

Every month on a certain day (for example, the second Friday of every month, or the last Sunday of every month)

Monthly

Click the The number day of calendar month radio button. Click the drop-down arrow in the first field and choose the number of the day. Then click the drop-down arrow in the second field and choose the name of the day.

One time

Once

In the Report Start Date and Report End Date fields, specify the dates and times of the first and last data that you want to include in the report.


Step 5   Set Range of Recurrence options as follows:

For a schedule that is set to occur once, choose these settings in the Range of Recurrence area:

  • In the Start Date field, specify the date that you want the schedule to execute.
  • In the Start Time field, specify the time that you want the schedule to execute.

For a schedule that is set to occur daily, weekly, or monthly, make these settings in the Range of Recurrence area:

  • In the Start Date field, specify the first date on or after which you want the schedule to generate.
  • In the Start Time field, specify the time at which you want to execute the schedule when the schedule occurs.
  • Specify how often you want the schedule to recur:
    • If you want the schedule to recur indefinitely, click the No end date radio button.

    • If you want the schedule to recur a specific number of times, click the End after radio button and enter the number of occurrences in the End After field.

    • If you want to specify the last date of a range during which you want the schedule to execute, click the End by radio button and enter the date in the End By field.

Step 6   Click OK to save your schedule settings.

Related Topics

Saving a Schedule

After choosing general, detailed, and schedule settings, you are ready to save the scheduling information. When you save scheduling information, the system stores the information you have specified as a schedule in the Scheduler database.

To save a schedule, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1   In the Cisco CRA Historical Reports main window, click Schedule.

The Report Scheduled Successfully dialog box appears.

Step 2   Click OK.

Related Topics

Viewing and Deleting Schedules

To see a list of schedules that are stored in the Scheduler, choose Settings > Scheduler from the Cisco CRA Historical Reports main window, or click the Scheduler tool. The Scheduled Reports window appears.

To exit the Scheduled Reports window, click Close.

The Scheduled Reports window lists each schedule stored in the Scheduler. It displays each schedule on a row and arranges information about each schedule in the columns shown in Table 5-4.


Table 5-4: Schedule Information
Column Description

Report Name

Name of the scheduled report

Date Created

Date and time that the schedule was created

Recurrence Type

How often the schedule executes

Export Type

Printer, or format of the export file

Apps Server

IP address or host name of the Cisco CRA server that contains the Cisco CRA databases

Schedule Description

Detailed description of the schedule


To expand a column if you cannot see its entire contents, drag the left or right border next to its title.

Related Topics

Arranging the Order of Display

When you open the Scheduled Reports window, the window displays schedules in alphabetical order by Report Name. You can change the display order by arranging the schedules in ascending or descending order by the information displayed in any column.

To change the order of displayed schedules, click the desired column name. The schedule appears in ascending alphabetical or numerical order by the information in that column. Click the same column name again to display the information in descending order.

For example, to display the list of schedules in the order that each schedule was created, click the Date Created column title. Similarly, to display schedules by recurrence type, click the Recurrence Type column title.

Deleting Schedules

When you delete a schedule, the schedule is permanently removed from the Scheduler and will no longer be run.

To delete a schedule, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1   From the Scheduled Reports window, click anywhere in the row that contains the schedule you want to delete.

An arrow appears to the left of the name of the report, indicating that the schedule has been selected.

Step 2   Click Delete.

The Confirmation dialog box appears.

Step 3   Click OK to permanently delete the schedule.

If you decide not to delete the schedule, click Cancel instead.

Handling Missed Schedules

In order for a schedule to execute:

  • The Cisco CRA server on which the Cisco CRA databases reside must be running.

  • The computer on which Cisco CRA Historical Reports is installed must be running, and the Scheduler must be running on that computer.

If schedules do not execute because the server is not running, you can generate the reports manually when the server is running again.

If schedules do not execute because the Scheduler is not running, the Scheduler will identify missed schedules. When the Scheduler restarts, the client computer will display a dialog box that shows the number of missed schedules and asks if you want to execute missed schedules. Click YES to execute missed schedules, or click NO to continue without executing the schedules. If you click Yes, the reports that generate will depend on the parameters specified in the Sch.ini configuration file and the scheduling options for the reports.

For example, assume that you have set up a schedule to run daily, and that the schedule has no end date. In addition, assume that five of these schedules were missed, and that the Sch.ini file instructs the system to execute up to three missed daily schedules. When you execute missed schedules, the system will generate the three most recent daily reports.

As another example, assume that you have set up a schedule to run weekly and to end after four occurrences. In addition, assume that all of these schedules were missed, and that the Sch.ini file instructs the system to execute up to three missed weekly schedules. When you execute missed schedules, the system will generate three of the missed weekly reports. The first report will be the one that was scheduled to be the final report. The other reports will be the two previous reports.

Related Topic