The Over-Credited Destination Job Server
Would you get a little upset if someone else kept taking all the credit for the work you do. Would you get down right furious when that person couldn’t fix any issues relating to their ill-earned reputation when a real problem came along and then you had to come along and save the day without even getting an ounce of credit. You would have to be a saint not to get upset about that, wouldn’t you, or perhaps you would just have to be a Business Objects Reporting/Adaptive Job Server?
The truth of that matter is that the Destination Job Server is not really at fault. He was born with a very bad and confusing name. Then over time IT folk got confused with the name, fixed an issue by configuring destinations on every server and then credited the “Destination Job Server” with being the key solution. While one can learn a lot from forum discussions, some BO forums are ripe with incorrect advice to fix job destination errors by configuring the Destination Job Server’s destinations. So this little article is written in hopes of dispelling a myth and giving credit were credit is due.
Destination Job Server, What Is It Good For?
First of all, let it be known that the Business Objects XI Destination Job Server is only responsible for handling the requests submitted through the “Send To” command within InfoView. Yes, that is right. When you are in InfoView and you select a document (check the box next to it) and then proceed to select to send it to an inbox, email, or other destination. In Business Objects XI InfoView it looks like this:
When you use this InfoView “Send To” functionality you are in effect creating a job that only has the purpose of delivering a file to a destination. This, my friends, is what a Business Objects Enterprise XI Destination Job Server does; nothing more and nothing less.
So what about the “destination DLL disabled. CrystalEnterprise.Smtp:”error I get on my jobs server?
If you have this question still please read the above paragraph one more time and then read my previous article titled “Fixing the Business Objects XI “destination DLL disabled. CrystalEnterprise.Smtp:” Error” and now log in to CMC and configure your destination on all job servers in the cluster. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
TRUTH: Business Objects Does Not Create an Excel File, Help!
A couple weeks ago we received the best email question so far. Not only did it ask for more details with regards to one of the articles, but it provided insights worthy of making it its very own standalone article. Truthfully, I would like to publish it here to share the knowledge contained inside (this is always the best way to answer questions sent to us), but also to hopefully bring visibility to a very worthy question that you may be able to answer. Please read this one, it is good, and provide any comments or questions you might had in the comments below.
Our Guest Author wrote the following [minimal edits for context clarification from Julian are in brackets]:
Subject: [Excel] Format issues when Schedule a DESKI report in BOXIR2 SP3
We are trying to schedule a DESKI Report 3 times a week in Excel format to our clients. DESKI report has 1 data provider and 1 report tab only. We are on BOXIR2 SP3.
[A client] has an automated process, which reads the files we send and save it somewhere. They have a problem in reading Excel file which we send it through our BO scheduler. I tried to schedule DESKI document through InfoView using both SMTP and FTP [delivery] options.
From the InfoView -> scheduler
1. Excel format is generating Excel readable file — but they want exact Excel file.
2. Text file format is generating ‘Tab’ delimiter file
3. There is no option for CSV from scheduler [link to related article]
I am really kind of stuck in the middle (between clients, business users, and my manager). Clients want either an Exact Excel file or CSV file on a schedule basis. As there is no other way to schedule a report in CSV Format [link to related article], we have to write macros/scripts to do this. Which I am ready to do, [but] our management and team don’t want to do this workaround. [They want to] avoid macros as it will increase maintenance and users have to depend on IT for this.
New Knowledge Alert – Business Objects Cannot Create True Excel Files, only Excel Readable Files
I have opened a ticket with BO support and this is the answer I got from them.
Business Objects uses its own dll files for exporting a report to an excel format. The file created is not a native excel file and is simply excel readable.
Any file converted to excel using a tool other than excel will always create excel readable file which would be different (but not too much) from the native one created in Microsoft Excel.
Business Objects does not require Microsoft to be installed for this conversion to take place as it relies on its internal files for the conversion. BusinessObjects is designed only for creating the reports, though it can export the reports to the other formats.
But since all the exported files contain similar information such that Microsoft Excel can interpret and render the files, your module should be able to access it. The files exported from Business Objects would not differ greatly from an excel file created in Microsoft. I am not sure what these internal differences would be.
[The following response captures the client's requirement/comments]:
I think we are stuck in this issue now because [BO] was intended to create an “Excel-readable” file, not create an Excel file. My Java module [is] trying to read an Excel file, not an Excel readable file. There [is] nothing wrong at both ends.
Unfortunately, the data file just cannot serve the purpose that I am looking for. We would need to find some other options now.
I am not sure if [BO] is able to create a “CSV” file? This is a general purpose type of file format and would not have any format issue in reading. Also, you did provide a TEXT file for my testing, but it’s not a fixed length TEXT file. Seems that tab was used as a delimiter in that text file. I wonder if you are able to create a text file without delimiter?
I know that we can save a report in CSV format also in a fixed length text format – through DESKTOP Intelligence
but is there a way to schedule this.
Is a schedule CSV option available in BOXIR3.1???
Please let me know if there is a way to schedule a DESKI report in CSV format.
Responses from BusinessObjectsTips.com’s Julian
The more I think about this I have to say that macros are the only solution that will meet the needs client, unless they can somehow do SDK integration of some sort and pull the data right off the report.
Another solution might be to create an Excel “converter” application. This could be a standalone Excel file with a macro in it that loads BO’s native Excel readable format and outputs a true Excel format file. Perhaps a standalone executable would be better because it would allow for scheduling (perhaps using a BO Program Object). I don’t really know how to create such an application, but this actually would not require any BO skills.
To the author, please share your progress with us all. To the rest of our audience please share your ideas and comments. Thanks!
OpenDocument – An Introduction to a Powerful Tool
If you are not yet using the OpenDocument function in your reports you might want learn a bit more about it and see if it could not meet some of your current business requirements, or better yet allow you to amaze your business partners by giving them something they didn’t yet know that they needed!
What is OpenDocument
OpenDocument is simply the ability to open a “document” (a.k.a. report, usually) directly; without having to locate the report and even without having to submit any parameters to the report (optional). A properly constructed OpenDocument URL can be placed on an page that can serve up a URL/link and then users can click on it and be taken directly to the report that the URL specifies.
Major Capabilities of OpenDocument
The OpenDocument function provides a few excellent capabilities:
- Abstraction: users don’t even need to know the report name. They could be given a URL on a web page, email, Word Document, etc. which says “Click Me to Access Your Important Report“
- Simplicity/Efficiency: users are spared navigating to a report and selecting predictable parameters each time (static or dynamic, your web coding skills are your only limits)
- Linking Reports Together: create summary and detail reports that allow for in-depth drilling on specific data or create other interesting and useful relationships between reports
Additional Information about Business Objects’ Open Document Function
BO XI introduced OpenDocument, replacing the “viewrpt.cwr” command in previous versions of the Business Objects Enterprise. OpenDoc accepts many optional parameters allowing various customizations, such as display format, parameter values, and refresh flags.
A Simple Example of an OpenDocument URL
The following is an example of a very simple OpenDocument URL using a .NET web server:
http://myserver/businessobjects/enterprise115/infoview/scripts/
opendocument.aspx?sDoc=My%20Favorite%20Report
Cautionary Note #1: Please note that OpenDocument calls use URLs and therefore they are bound to the special character limitations of all URLs. That is to say that spaces and certain other characters are not permitted. Spaces can be replaced by “%20“; however, Business Objects Web Intelligence also has a native function called “URLEncode()” that can resolve any necessary special character formatting.
Cautionary Note #2: In Business Objects XIR2 it is entirely possible to have two documents with the same name and therefore this simple example should be received in this context. The OpenDocument function supports many parameters that will allow you to pin-point your desired document and in our next article on this topic we will show you how to do this gracefully and With maximum portability across any environment.
Cautionary Note #3:
The URL for OpenDocument varies much between XI R2, XI 3.x, and BI 4.x. This means that if you are migrating from XI 3.1 to BI 4.0 you may have to change any OpenDocument URLs embedded in reports and if you have any external OpenDocument URLs you must update those.
Basic OpenDocument URL Parameter Syntax
OpenDocument can be customized to your needs through many different parameters. It is important to learn each of these and use them precisely as documented.
iDocID and sIDType
When used together these parameters can help you specify a precise document using the document’s CUID. The trouble with this is that proper document promotion techniques must be used to retain CUID parity/consistency across all environments. An example of using these is as follows:
http://myserver/businessobjects/enterprise115/infoview/scripts/
opendocument.aspx?iDocID=Aa6GrrM79sdf2334OSMGoadKI&sIDType=CUID
lsS[NAME]
This parameter allows you to specify a single value for a single prompt. “[NAME]” is the exact text of the prompt. For example:
http://myserver/businessobjects/enterprise115/infoview/scripts/
opendocument.aspx?sDoc=My%20Favorite%20Report&lsSSelect+Country=Germany
lsM[NAME]
This parameter allows you to specify multiple values for a prompt. “[NAME]” is the exact text of the prompt. For example:
http://myserver/businessobjects/enterprise115/infoview/scripts/
opendocument.aspx?sDoc=My%20Favorite%20Report&lsMSelect+Cities=[Paris],[London]
sRefresh
This parameter allows you to specify if the document should be forced to refresh its data from the database. Valid values for this prompt as “Y” and “N”. In order for this prompt to work all prompt parameters must have submitted values. For example:
http://myserver/businessobjects/enterprise115/infoview/scripts/
opendocument.aspx?sDoc=My%20Favorite%20Report&sRefresh=Y
Study the Published Documentation
Business Objects has published documentation on OpenDocument. Most of it is accurate (I think, but I recall there were some issues with the examples). I suggest looking for the document “Viewing Reports and Documents using URLs” which may carry the file name “xi3-1_url_reporting_opendocument_en.pdf”. The basic syntax is generally the same across most versions of XI and BI (as far as I have noticed).
Time Saver – Set Preferences for “My Initial View Is…”
Often we find ourselves returning to the same folder within Business Objects’ InfoView. The clicks and waits to get there came be rather annoying and time consuming when they occur repeatedly throughout the day and week. I have a suggestion that can save you some annoyance and time and allow you to focus on your BOXI WebI reports.
Set your Preference for “My Initial View Is…”
If you would like InfoView to take you straight to a certain folder upon successful login you should set your Preference for your initial view to that folder. To do so do the following:
- log in to InfoView
- click the “Preferences” button, next to the “Log off” button in the upper right-hand corner, the icon looks like a document with three check boxes
- on the “General” tab locate the “My initial view is…” setting
- select the options to set it to your desired folder, use the “Browse” button to navigate and find your desired frequented folder
With your next successful login you will be taken straight to this folder.
BO InfoView WebI Session Timeout = Developer’s Worst Enemy
Business Objects has been encouraging report writers/developers to stop using the “full-client” and start using WebI. There are quite a few obstacles to overcome to be able to make the switch to WebI (training, functionality adjustment, server capacity planning, etc.), but perhaps the most difficult adjustment is learning to development under a timed session.
For many reasons Business Objects administrators configure their systems to timeout a web session and an InfoView session after a certain period of inactivity. With finite resources, which we all definitely have, this is always a good idea. However, this limiting concept has two problems. The first issue is that “full-client”, ZABO, or Desktop Intelligence developers are used to working in a virtually limitless development environment: their own desktop PC. The second problem is that system administrators need to find just the right balance between flexible the valid and acceptable dormant session limits and the obvious session abandonment.
Business Objects Administrator Settings
When Business Objects system admins find that magical median, which will be different for every user community, they need to set it at a few different places:
- The web server “connection timeout” setting should be increased first. This one is usually stored in seconds, not minutes.
- The InfoView application within the web server should also have its “Session Timeout” value increased.
- The web.config file also needs an update to the “
” section, setting “ ” (using the number of seconds in place of the “#” character.
BusinessObjects Report Developer Adjustments
Report developers or writers, including ad-hoc report writers, will need to adjust their methods and habits. Initially, business objects report developers will assume that as long as they save before any periods of inactivity they are safe. However, they will face the harsh facts of this assumption if they are working on the query the whole time.
In BO XIR2 editing the query of a Web Intelligence report does not reset the session timeout timer. Therefore it is entirely possible for a developer to be actively developing a report’s query and find that their session is lost, along with all of their work. In fact, in the WebI java editor panel there are many actions that are registered only on the client and they are not communicated to the server until a logging action takes place such as saving a document. Among these actions you may find general formatting, query editing, and even adding fields to a report.
The safest bet is to require all of your report developers to develop a habit of saving their report every 5 minutes. This will certainly reset the timeout timer and it will ensure that no report development work is lost. From my own personal experience I would say that I have probably lost about 10 to 20 hours of work because of lost session.
Enhancement Request for Business Objects XI R2
To be honest, I would like to see BO add some functionality to the report editor and even InfoView that would help avoid this issue. They could implement an auto-save function. Or perhaps a pop-up box prompt which warns the report developer that they are about to lose their session. Either one would be a wonderful improvement and would probably save BO users thousands of lost hours of work. Until then save every 5 minutes!
