Report Distribution Manager

NOTE: Reports can only be emailed in batches. A report Email batch may contain one or more reports.

Report Email Batches may be created from the Report Manager (Reporting>Reports) OR the Report Distribution Manager (Reporting>Report Distribution). The procedure is the same:

1. From the Report [Distribution] Manager right-click on the Report Email Batches folder.

2. Click the New option from the popup menu. The Create Report Email Batch window will open. 

3. Under the General tab, enter a Code and Display name to identify the Report Email Batch being created.

4. Click the Output tab and click the Type: drop-down box to select the Type of file desired for the Report Email Attachment.



Then click OK.

To add reports to the batch:

1. Right click on a report in the Installed Reports or Saved Reports folder
2. Click to select Copy To
3. Then click to select  Report Email Batch.

The Copy window will open, and a list of existing Report Batches will be displayed in the navigation pane of the window.

4. Click on the Batch name; then click the OK button to add the report to the Batch.

 Customizing Batch Report Filter Settings

After Reports have been copied to a specific Report Batch, their filter settings can be customized for that specific batch.

To customize report filters for a report in a Report Batch:

1. Navigate to the Report Distribution Manager (Reports > Report Distribution).
2. Click to select the desired Report Batch from the list of Report Email Batches displayed in the Navigation pane. A list of the associated reports (Report Code and Display name) will be shown in the right-hand display window.
3. Select the desired report from the list. A list of recipients will be displayed below report list.
4. Right-click the selected report. A popup window will appear.
5. Select Properties from the popup window options. The Report Properties window will open.
6. Click the Filters tab and then click the desired individual Filter buttons to access filter options for each. For more information, see the Setting Report Filters topic.
7. When all desired filters have been selected, click the OK button to save the custom filter settings and exit the Report Properties window.

The Report Distribution Manager facilitates automated distribution of Report Batches via Email. A predefined set of reports can be forwarded to any number of Email recipients automatically. An Email Wizard (accessible via a button icon from the Report Distribution Manager) provides a user-friendly interface for scheduling batch delivery.

NOTE: Beginning with EnergyCAP Release 6.0, the Report Distribution Manager functionality was enabled for web reports as well as LAN reports.

This is the process in a nutshell:

1. The Report Email Batch(es) must be created. 
2. Reports must then be added to the Batch. Individual reports in the batch may be customized with any desired filter settings applicable for that batch.
3. A Distribution List must be created. 
4. Email addresses of list recipients must be added to the Distribution List.
5. The Distribution List(s) must be linked to the desired Report Batch, and delivery of the Report Batch(es) must be scheduled via the Report Email Setup Wizard (see below).

NOTES:

• The reports are sent as individual Email attachments. An accompanying Email text can also be defined.
• Distribution Lists are groups of Email recipients. Each list may contain any number of recipients.
• An external “report task” program allows the report Email batches to be emailed to the associated Distribution Lists automatically. This rpttsk.exe file must be set up by your IT department to run as a regularly-scheduled task. See Configuring rpttsk.exe for the Report Email Groups.
• Report view permissions for report recipients who are NOT EnergyCAP Contacts can also be preset to a defined portion of the facility or cost center tree.

To navigate to the Report Distribution Manager:

1. Select Reporting from the vertical navigation menu.
2. Click the Report Distribution icon.

Scheduling Delivery of Report Email Batches

 NOTE: As part of the process for scheduling delivery of Report Email Batches, ask your system administrator to set up the rpttsk.exe file to run as a Windows scheduled task. 

After an Email batch has been created, delivery can be scheduled using the Report Email Wizard. To run the Wizard:

1. Navigate to the Report Distribution Manager in EnergyCAP (Reporting>Report Distribution).

2. Select a Report Email Batch from the Report Email Batches navigation tree.

3. Click the Email Wizard button.This will open the Report Email Setup Wizard window.

1. (OPTIONAL) If desired, Change the Report Batch Code or Description by editing the fields provided.
2. Click the"+" button to schedule an Email Distribution for that Batch. The Distribution List Setup window will open. 

1. In the Distribution List: dropdown field, select the Email group containing the recipients who should receive the Email Report Batch.
2. In the Email Frequency: dropdown field, select the Distribution Frequency (Daily, Monthly, Quarterly, Weekly).
3. In the Next Send: dropdown tab, select the next Send Date for the Report Email Batch.
4. In the From Name: field, enter the name of the sender.
5. In the From E-Mail:  field, enter the name of the sending e-mail address.
6. In the Enter notes ... text box, add any text to be included in the body of the Email.
7. When finished, click OK. The new Distribution schedule will appear in the Setup Wizard list box.
8. Click OK again to exit the Report Email Setup Wizard.

Emailing a Report Email Batch immediately:

 To email a Report Email Batch immediately:

1. Navigate to the Report Distribution Manager (Reporting>Report Distribution).
2. Open the Report Email Setup Wizard by clicking on the batch to be e-mailed and then clicking the Email Wizard button from the Report Distribution Manager title bar.
3. Select a Distribution List. from the available lists in the Report Distribution Manager hierarchy.
4. Click the Email Now button.

The report Email batch will be Emailed the next time the external “report task” program runs.

NOTE: The Email column of the wizard contains an asterisk when the report is in the queue to be Emailed (see below).

Placing a Report Email Batch on Hold

 To temporarily put a report batch ‘on hold’ to suspend delivery:

1. From the Report Distribution Manager, click on the desired batch and then click the Email Wizard button. The Report Email Setup Wizard window will open.
2. Select a Distribution List from those associated with the batch..
3. Click the Hold button. The Hold column in the Report Email Recipients list of the wizard will display an asterisk when the batch is on hold for a particular Email group.
4. To cancel the Hold, select/highlight the Distribution List from the Report Email setup Wizard and click the Hold button again. The asterisk in the Hold column will be removed, and the Email delivery schedule will be resumed.

NOTE: The Hold applies to a Distribution List; if multiple delivery frequencies are selected for the same list in the same batch, the Hold will affect all deliveries.

Removing Contacts from a Distribution List

 It is possible to:

• Remove either an individual contact from a Distribution List, or
• Remove all contacts from a Distribution List

To remove one contact from the List:

1. Select a Distribution List from the reporting tree.
2. Right-click a Contact from the list and choose Remove Contact from Distribution List.The Contact will be removed.

 To remove all contacts from a Distribution List:

1. Right-click the Distribution List. A popup menu will appear.
2. Choose Remove all Contacts from Distribution List. The Confirm window will appear.
3. Click Yes to remove all Contacts. Or click No to Cancel the action and exit the Confirm window. 

Editing a Distribution List Contact

 To edit the properties of a Distribution List Contact: 

1. Select a Distribution List.
2. Right-click a contact and choose View/Edit Contact’s Properties. This will open the Person Properties window.
3. Edit the information as necessary. Then click OK to save the changes.

Viewing Report Batches for a Distribution List Contact

 To view the reports for a Distribution List Contact:

1. Navigate to the Report Distribution Manager (Reporting>Report Distribution).
2. Select/highlight a Distribution List from the center navigation pane.
3. Right-click a Contact from the list; then click View Email Reports for Contact from the popup menu options. The Report Information window will open, displaying a list of the reports the selected contact is currently scheduled to receive via Email.
4. When done, click OK to close the Report Information window.

1. Navigate to the Report Distribution Manager (Reporting > Report Distribution).
2. Right-click on Distribution Lists and click New Distribution List from the popup menu options. 
   
   
   
   The New Distribution List window opens.

3. Input a name (ID) for the Distribution List in the field provided. Then click OK. The new list will be added to the available Distribution Lists, and can be accessed from the Navigation Tree in the Report Distribution Manager.

Report Batches can be e-mailed using Distribution Lists created in the EnergyCAP Distribution Manager. Two types of recipients can be added to Distribution Lists:

• Contacts defined in EnergyCAP (Setup > Contacts > People tab) or
• Other recipients via a .csv file import of required recipient data (see below).

Adding an existing EnergyCAP contact as an Email recipient:

1. Right-click on a Distribution List previously created.
2. Choose Add an Existing Contact to Dist List from the popup menu options.
   
3. The Add a Contact to Distribution List window will open. Any contacts which are already not on the Distribution List AND which have a business Email address defined in their Contact Properties will appear in the list.
4. Click the checkbox in front of each Contact that should be added to the selected Distribution List When done, click the Add button. All checked names will be added to the Distribution List, and the Add a Contact to Distribution List window will close.

NOTE: Only ‘People’ Contacts (Setup>Contacts>People tab) with a Business Email address configured will be shown in the Add a Contact … window. Vendor and Customer e-mails will not appear in the list.

Adding a contact to EnergyCAP ‘on the fly’ from the Report Distribution Manager:

1. Right-click on an existing Distribution List.
2. Click Create a New Contact and Add to Dist List from the available popup menu options.
   
   
   The Create Person window will open.
   
   
3. From the Create Person window, click the Full Name button to open the Full Name window and input the Contact name. Then click OK.
4. After the name has been assigned, click the Contact Info tab and assign the person a Business Email address. ! Make certain to select Business Email from the drop-down list of Email address options! Then click OK. The new contact will be saved and assigned to the currently-selected Distribution List. Any previously-created Report Email Batches using that distribution list will now include the new Contact.

Adding non-Contact recipients to the Distribution List:

Create a .csv-format import file with the recipient information, as follows:

The file must consist of five columns with no header row

• Column 1: first name (required)
• Column 2: last name (required)
• Column 3: Email address (required)
• Column 4: Topmost Place Code (optional)
• Column 5: Topmost Cost Center Code (optional)

SAMPLE .CSV FILE FORMAT FOR EMAIL RECIPIENT IMPORT FILE

NOTES: Columns 4 and 5 may be left blank to grant the recipient all permissions. If column 4 or column 5 is left blank, the recipient will be granted permission to view information from the respective Topmost Cost Center/Place in the organization.

Importing .CSV file e-mail information to a Distribution List

Once the file has been created, import the recipient(s) to the Distribution List as follows:

1. Right-click the Distribution List to which the non-Contact recipient(s) should be added.
2. From the popup menu, click Add Recipients Distribution List via File Import. The Information window will open, displaying the currently-required file format and data requirements.
3. Click OK. The Open window will permit selection of the import file.
4. When the file has been selected, click the Open button. The Contact Group E-Mail List Import window will open.
5. Preview the list of recipients to be imported. If the list is acceptable, click OK. Or click Cancel to abort the import process and return to the Report Distribution Manager.

NOTE: There are two ways that EnergyCAP handles the import of a recipient that already exists in the Distribution List:

• If the recipient to import already exists as a Contact in EnergyCAP, the original contact will remain unaffected and a new version of the contact will be created with the information in the import file. In this situation, the individual would receive a duplicate Email.
• If the recipient to import already exists as an imported Email batch recipient, then the original recipient will be overwritten with the information in the current import file

Rpttsk.exe is a separate software application that is maintained in the EnergyCAP installation folder. It has its own software interface, but can also be executed via a DOS command line. When being used with Report Email Batches, it is typically run as a Windows scheduled task (see Windows documentation for more information on setting up Scheduled Tasks).

1. Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and browse to the EnergyCAP application Folder (usually C:/Program Files/EnergyCAP Enterprise).
2. Double click on rpttsk.exe. The Report Email Setup and Testing window opens. 
   
   
3. Input information in the fields provided, per the notes below.

• SMTP Host: (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Input the user domain (such as mail.domain)
• SMTP Port: Input the computer default port for SMTP communication (usually 25; the Port # may be different when SSL is used)
• SMTP User Name: Input the domain User Name (usually the user’s e-mail name)
• SMTP Password: Input the domain User Password (usually the user’s e-mail password)
• SMTP SSL Checkbox: Check if SMTP server supports Secure Socket Layer protocol
• Start TLS Checkbox: Check if SMTP server supports Transport Layer Security protocol
• Test E-mail Address (to:) Input an e-mail address to test current configuration settings. This will only be used when the Test mail Settings button is clicked.
• DataBase: Input the datasource name (the database selected during EnergyCAP logon).
• ECAP User: Input the EnergyCAP Login User Name.
• ECAP Password: Input the EnergyCAP Login User Password.

4. After entering the above information, perform the two tests below:

• Click the Test DB Connection button to test the database connection. If successful, the Connected window will be displayed. Click OK to close the Connected window.
• Click the Test Mail Settings button to test the SMTP settings. If successful, the Success! window will be displayed. Click OK to close the Success! window.

5. After both tests have been performed successfully, click Save Settings. The current configuration will be saved to the RptTsk.ini file in the EnergyCAP installation directory.
6. When done, click Close to close the Report Emailer Setup and Testing window.

NOTES: 

Once configuration information has been saved, saved settings for rpttsk.exe will be automatically used by a windows scheduled task when using the following command:

rpttsk -a

To override the saved settings, specific command line settings can be used. Click the Command Line Settings button from the Report Emailer Setup and Testing window for more information.

The DataBase name needs to match the ODBC setting in EnergyCAP.

Click the Command Line Settings button to open the Usage window with current information regarding rpttsk switches.

Running rpttsk for multiple databases

Organizations managing multiple EnergyCAP databases will find it helpful to set up a batch file with separate lines in the query for each managed datasource. An example batch file format is included below:

NOTES: This batch file needs to be edited before using. Replace CAPS variables with YOUR ACTUAL VALUES. Each line pertains to one database. The -a switch at the end will run the Report Distribution manager for all distribution lists in that database.

This file should either be executed from the EnergyCAP installation folder, OR EnergyCAP's rpttsk should be in your system's PATH variable.

rpttsk.exe -u USER -p PASSWORD -d ODBC_DATASOURCE_NAME_DB1 -a

rpttsk.exe -u USER -p PASSWORD -d ODBC_DATASOURCE_NAME_DB2 -a

rpttsk.exe -u USER -p PASSWORD -d ODBC_DATASOURCE_NAME_DB3 -a

rpttsk.exe -u USER -p PASSWORD -d ODBC_DATASOURCE_NAME_DB4 -a

rpttsk.exe -u USER -p PASSWORD -d ODBC_DATASOURCE_NAME_DB5 -a