User reports administration

In the Administration Console, you can work with user report definitions and files.

About user reports

In the User Reports Administration section of the Administration Console, you can:

Create user report definitions that can be run using the RUR (Run User Report) function from the command-line interface, the desktop client, or the web client.
Create and manage user report files. Assign them to one or more report definitions.
View, edit, and delete existing user report definitions and user report files.

To set up user reports, you need the ADMIN_REPORTMAN privilege.

To run user reports, you need the PRODUCT_RUN_REPORT privilege.

To open User Reports Administration, go to Database Management > User reports administration. For details, see User Reports Administration window.

User report definitions

A user report definition enables you to produce a custom report that you can run using the Dimensions CM RUR command.

A user report definition consists of:

Attributes that identify the operating system of the machine running Dimensions CM and the scope of the report.
A user report file that contains the commands for executing the report.
Up to seven optionally defined parameters, displayed as prompts if the user runs the RUR command in interactive mode.

User report files

A user report file is any executable file that contains statements or commands that run as part of a user-defined report.

For example, the user report file could be a Bourne-shell script for UNIX systems or a DOS batch file for Windows systems. For each report definition, you must select one main (default) user report file to run the report.

Auxiliary files

The main user report file may also include the names of files that supply auxiliary specifications. For example, an auxiliary file could contain SQL statements to be executed or operating system commands to be executed as a subroutine. You can include as many nested auxiliary files as needed, referring to them as simple file names in the current working directory, rather than including a unique location or pathname. You must add all auxiliary files to Dimensions CM as user report files and assign them to the same report definition as the main user report.

When a user runs a report, Dimensions CM retrieves all the report files assigned to the report definition from the database and executes the main report file. Any auxiliary report files included in the main report file are also executed.

Product-range parameter

The product-range input parameter is a string of up to 10 characters, and it can be one of the following:

A single specific product-id in the database.
A string that can represent one or more product-ids in the database, specified using wildcard characters. An underscore(_) matches any single character, and a percent sign (%) matches any number of characters (including zero) in a product-id.

Example: A string of % alone matches all product-ids in the database. A string of _ _ _ _ _ matches all product-ids that are five characters long.

Roles for running reports

When you run the RUR command, Dimensions CM checks the value that the user selects or enters for the product or product range. Dimensions CM verifies the following:

The product range value matches at least one actual product ID in the base database.
The product is not $GENERIC, as you cannot run reports against the $GENERIC product.

If any of these checks fails, Dimensions CM issues an error and does not produce the report.