Define a Run a Report Action

Use the Run a Report Action to run a Report that was created using the Cherwell Report Writer™.

For example, add a One-Step Action to an Automation Process to periodically run a Report of all open Incidents assigned to you, and then print the Report or save it to a file.

You can save the Report to a file or use a printer:
  • On the machine from which the One-Step Action is run.
  • On another machine on the same network.
  • On a machine on a remote network, using Trusted Agents.

Users running the One-Step Action must have permissions to access the file location or printer you specify in any case.

Run a Report Actions that print a Report are supported in the CSM Browser Client and Portal when Trusted Agents are used to run the Actions. Cherwell Software SaaS customers can configure a Trusted Agent to use printers on their remote network; on-premises customers can configure a Trusted Agent to use printers on their local network or on a remote network. If you do not configure Trusted Agents, Users receive an error indicating that Print Actions are not supported when the One-Step Actions is run on the Browser Client or Portal.

To define a Run a Report Action for a One-Step Action:

  1. Open the One-Step Editor.
  2. Add a Run a Report Action to the Designer Board.
  3. Define properties for the Run a Report Action:
    Option Description
    Name Provide a display name for the Action (this is how the Action is identified within the One-Step Action).
    Report Click the Ellipses button to open the Report Manager and select a Report for the Action to run.
    Data Select the data to use for the Report:
    • Use Report Criteria: The Action runs the Report exactly as designed (example: Against a particular Search Group).
    • Current Record: The Action runs the Report against the active record (the single record selected before running the One-Step Action).
    • Current Group: The Action runs the Report against the current group of records. For example, run a Quick Search for all Incidents containing the word print, and then execute the One-Step Action. The list of records resulting from the search become the data for the Report.
  4. Define an option for outputting the Report after it runs:
    Option Description
    Print Select this radio button to print the Report. Then, in the drop-down, select a printer from the following options:
    • Printers available in your network.
    • Remote printers available for the selected Trusted Agent Group, if Trusted Agents are enabled for the Action.

    Click the Page Setup button to open the Page Setup window and define options for how the document is printed (paper size, paper source, orientation, and margin size).

    Write to a File

    Select this radio button to export the Report to a file, and then provide the fully qualified path and name of the file that you want to create (using text and/or Tokens).

    If you are writing to a file to a local machine or an accessible machine on your network, you can click the Ellipses button to navigate to the file location.

    If you are configuring the Action to run using a Trusted Agent Group, the Ellipses button is disabled and you must type or paste the fully qualified path and file name for the remote machine.

    CSM supports the following export formats:

    • Adobe PDF
    • Bitmap
    • CSV
    • EMF
    • Excel
    • HTML
    • JPEG
    • Plain Text
    • PNG
    • Rich Text
    • TIFF
      If a Report is exported to an existing file, the Report overwrites the data in the file. If a Report is not exported to an existing file, a new file is created.
  5. Define Annotation properties.
  6. Click Save.

Configuring the Run a Report Action for Trusted Agents

These steps must be performed if you intend to run a One-Step Action that includes a Run a Report Action that prints from the CSM Browser Client or Portal.

To configure the Run a Report Action to run on a remote network:

  1. Follow the steps in Configure One-Step Actions to Run on Trusted Agents.
  2. On the General page for the Run a Report Action, select a printer from the drop-down list. The list should contain printers available on the remote Trusted Agent machine.