How to Create Tasks

Bjorn_Wedbratt — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 15:15:17 GMT

This lesson demonstrates the procedure for creating a task. It is presumed that you are familiar with common NPrinting procedures.

We are going to create and send an e-mail message having a Word, an Excel, and a PowerPoint report as attachments and an HTML report embedded in the message body.

For the purpose of this demo, the following needs to have already been done:

configure an output folder, see: Report Settings section of Configure Options and Dynamic Output Paths
establish a connection to a QlikView document, see: How do I connect to my QlikView documents?
configure E-mail properties, see: How do I set up e-mail in NPrinting?
create or import a recipient list, see: How to Create and Import Recipients with Filters and Distribution Groups
create the:
- Excel report template, see: How to Create Excel Reports
- Word report template, see: How to Create Word Reports
- Powerpoint report template, see: How to Create PowerPoint Reports
- HTML report template, see: How to Create HTML Reports
create the NPrinting file that uses all of these resources to create and distribute reports

Open NPrinting File

Select the File tab
Recent is preselected, click on your file in the Recent Files list
Select Open and browse to the folder containing your .nsq file if it is not in the Recent Files list

Add New Task

Select Tasks in the lower left pane
Select Report Tasks in the upper pane
Select Report Task from the New group

Create Task and Prepare to Add Reports to Task

Give your task a Name
Optionally enter a Description
Select Reports in the Show group of the tool ribbon

The Close connection when task ends flag

When activated it closes the connection to the QlikView document after task execution without saving the .qvw. It is disabled by default.

If you enable this flag and the next task uses the same .qvws you will need to wait for the .qvw files to re-open. All QlikView selections are restored to the initial status.

If you disable this flag the .qvws will be closed when the task ends. This frees up computer RAM.

Open Select Reports Window

Click on the Add icon in the Reports group of the tool bar.

Select Reports to Distribute

Choose Add in the Reports group
Select the Excel, Word, Powerpoint, PixelPerfect, and HTML Reports or some of your own
Select OK

Choose Report Output Type

Choose the Output Format for the reports you want to distribute in a format different from their native ones

Click on the cell in the Output Format column next to the report
Select the Output Format from the drop-down menu if it is to be different from the Report Template format

Reviewing Output Formats

The PowerPoint, Word and PixelPerfect reports will be issued as PDF reports, while the Excel and HTML reports will be issued in their native formats for the purpose of this tutorial.

Select Recipients

Select Recipients in the Show group of the tool bar
Choose Add in the Recipients group
Select appropriate recipients from the Recipients list in the Select Recipients window
Click on the OK button

Add and Configure Message: Part I

Select Message in the Mail group of the toolbar
Check the Send Email box at the left below the Email line
Enter the sender e-mail address in the From field
Fill in the Subject field

Configure Message: Part II

Make sure the Attachments box is checked
Click on the paperclip icon to the right of the Reports/Files field to select the reports to be distributed as attachments

Select Reports to Be Distributed as Attachments

Select the Powerpoint, Excel, and Word reports or your own and deselect the HTML report by clicking on the corresponding boxes in the Selected column
Click on the OK button

Prepare to Write Your Message and Include QlikView and NPrinting Variable Tags in It

Set the Format radio buttons to Html Text
Open the message Editor window by clicking on the paper and pencil icon to the right of the message Body box

Write Greeting and then Select Recipient's Name Variable Tag

Type "Hi" or some appropriate greeting and a space in the message Editor window
Open the Select tags window by clicking on the tag icon at the right of the message formatting tool bar
Select Recipient in the Select an entity pane on the left
Find and select the %%FullName%% variable tag in the Select a tag pane on the right
Click on the OK button, and continue writing your message

Select Report Tag to Be Embedded in Message

To embed the HTML reports in the message reopen the Select tags window

Select Reports in the Select an entity pane of the Select Tags window
Select the %%Embed_Simple HTML Report_html%% variable tag in the Select a tag pane on the right
Select the OK button

Repeat this procedure for the Simple PixelPerfect Report (HTML)

Finish Message and Save It in Task

Conclude the message and click on the floppy disk icon at the left end of the toolbar to save the message in the task

Make Last Checks and Save Task

Make sure that the Active button in the State group indicates that the task is active.
Select the Save and Close icon in the Actions group in the Report Task window

Run Task

Make sure that Task Creation Primer Example is selected
Click on the Run icon in the Task group and when processing finishes, check the recipient's mailbox

Successful Task Execution

Send the Email

In the e-mail body you should find the embedded HTML reports. The three other reports are included as attachments.

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