ReportSCHEDULER uses the power of ActivitySCHEDULER to automate your Crystal reports. It is packaged to be simple for any Crystal user to install, configure and use, and comes with a User Guide which tells you everything you need to know.

Easy Installation

The installation is simple, just prompting for items such as the installation folder, your username and password (as a user context for running the reports) and your email address.

You are also guided through installing the supplied Crystal Reports run-time, which is required for ReportSCHEDULER. If you already have Crystal Reports installed on the same computer (not necessary), then this installation performs some minor configuration tasks to enable the product to be used by ReportSCHEDULER.

Additional simple configuration is required to specify your SMTP server and any required POP3 authentication. If you have purchased the web option, you can easily set up the web interface to remotely manage your scheduled reports.

Using the Report Wizard

To use ReportSCHEDULER, you need to have an ODBC connection already configured, for the database to be reported upon. Simply run the Report Wizard to:

Browse for your report definition (rpt file)

Specify the database, if different from that in the report (and specify ODBC connection credentials)

(Optional) Edit the Record or Group Selection Formula for the report, as required

Decide whether to Print the report, Save it to a file or Email it (or all three)

Specify what format to generate the report in (pdf, Word, Excel, text, etc.).

(Optional) Preview the report (in pdf on the screen) to make sure you have the correct settings

(Optional) Generate the report there and then in the specified format

(Optional) Automate the report - this requires you to logon with your username and password, as a security measure.

Once you have requested to Automate a report, it will be available in the Policy Manager. From here, you can set or change its timing controls, that is, the time and frequency when it should run. Then Activate the report, and it will automatically run on its defined schedule, without any further input from you.

You don’t need to keep the Policy Manager open for the reports to be generated, once they are active – they will automatically continue to run on their defined schedules, even after a reboot.

The scheduling of your reports is actually performed by a set of Windows services running in the background. These will restart automatically when you reboot your computer, so as long as the computer is running, and has a connection to the relevant database, you can just forget about your reports until you receive them at the allotted times.

Advanced features

As ReportSCHEDULER is built on the powerful ActivitySCHEDULER platform, you have access to some of the additional features of that product, such as defining additional users, using SQL Server (including the Express edition) or Oracle for ReportSCHEDULER’s small database, etc. These features are documented in the full ActivitySCHEDULER manual set, which is available from the BadgerNT Members Area after purchase.

However, most of the additional features are unnecessary for the typical ReportSCHEDULER user; you can simply rest assured that your reports are in the hands of such a capable product.

If you decide that you would like to take advantage of more of ActivitySCHEDULER’s features, then upgrading is a simple process, and your reports will continue to run in the same way as before.