IBM Watson IoT Maximo Asset Management Maximo 7.6.0.5+ Report Toolbar Access Guide Revision 3 Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2017 US Government Users Restricted Rights Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.
CONTENTS Revision History iii 1 Overview 4 1.1 Browser View (BV)... 5 1.2 Toolbar Print (TP)... 7 1.3 Toolbar Print with Attachments (TPA)... 10 1.4 Application Toolbar Configuration Details... 12 1.4.1 Application Toolbar Configuration Field Details... 13 1.4.2 Application Toolbar Display Examples... 14 1.5 Client Machine Prerequisites... 16 1.6 TPA Process: Adobe Reader plugin on the browser... 17 1.7 TPA Process: Adobe Reader plugin not on the browser... 18 1.8 Additional Information... 19 1.9 Trouble Shooting General tips... 21 1.10 Printing best practices... 22 1.11 Property Settings for Toolbar Report Access... 23 1.12 Property Setting Details... 24 1.13 Additional References... 28
REVISION HISTORY Date Version Revised By Comments April 2017 3 PD Updates included (1) Clarifications to diagrams on pages 17 and 18 (2) Updated chart on page 23 (3) Updated section 1.8 with notes 5-7 March 2017 2 PD Added (1) Updated additional information in section 1.8 (2) Best Practices on printing in section 1.10 July 2016 1 PD Corrected diagram for mxe.directprint.insertblankpage on page 25 June 2016 PD Initial Release pg. 3
1 Overview From within the Maximo applications, users may want to easily access a subset of reports with a minimum number of clicks, and in certain scenarios, print the reports. This functionality is available in the Maximo 7 releases via the embedded reporting tool, BIRT. It has historically been called Quick Link, Direct Print or Attach Docs Printing. Within this document, it will be referred to as Report Toolbar access. Report toolbar access can be configured in three different ways. These are Browser View Toolbar Print Toolbar Print with Attachments A single report can be configured for any one of these, or any combination of these options. This document will describe each of these three items in detail, including the prerequisites for the reports that utilize them. This document refers to the Maximo Base Services Version 7.6.0.5 and later Releases.* Please note that none of the three toolbar access icons can be enabled for reports with specific user inputted parameters, known as parameterized reports. This occurs because the functionality is based on bypassing the request page for quick display of the reports. If reports have parameters, they must be input on a report s request page therefore, they cannot be enabled for these report features.
1.1 Browser View (BV) Browser View (BV) enables a configured report to display in the separate report browser via one click from the toolbar. Once the report opens, the user can choose any actions from the reporting toolbar, including navigating thru its contents, printing, and downloading. The example below shows the BV Functionality using the Job Plan List report. A. First, the report record is configured for BV by having the following defined in the Report Administration application. 1. The report does not have any user inputted parameters. 2. The following toolbar settings must be enabled: a. Toolbar Sequence is defined b. Browser View? c. Browser View Location must be a value other than None. *Note: Details on each of the highlighted fields is contained in the Application Toolbar Configuration Details Section 1.4 below. pg. 5
B. Then, when you access the Job Plan application, you can click on the BV Icon in the toolbar. C. The Selected Record set is passed directly to the report server, and the configured Job Plan List report appears in a separate browser session.
1.2 Toolbar Print (TP) Toolbar Print enables you to print or download a report via a minimal number of mouse clicks by bypassing the report s request page. The Toolbar Print functionality can be explained using the Job Plan Details report. a. First, the report record is configured for TP by having the following defined in the Report Administration application. 1. The report does not have any user inputted parameters. 2. The following toolbar settings must be enabled: a. The Limit Records? field is enabled b. Max Record Limit is defined c. Toolbar Sequence is defined d. Print? Is enabled e. Print Location must be a value other than None. b. Then, when you access the Job Plan application, and click on the icon in the toolbar pg. 7
A temporary dialog will open stating that the record pack is being prepared. c. Then, a variety of dialogs may be seen. The dialogs you see are dependent on - The browser type and version on the client machine and - If Adobe Reader plugin is on the browser or not. In this example, a dialog from Chrome is displayed, and the user has the option to download the report locally or print it to their selected printer.
pg. 9
1.3 Toolbar Print with Attachments (TPA) Toolbar Print enables you to print or download a report and its printable attachments via a minimal number of mouse clicks by bypassing the report s request page. TPA Is defined below using the Work Order Details report. a. First, the report record is configured for TPA by having the following defined in the Report Administration application. 1. The report does not have any user inputted parameters. 2. The following toolbar settings must be enabled: a. The Limit Records? field is enabled b. Max Record Limit is defined c. Toolbar Sequence is defined d. Direct Print with Attachments? Is enabled e. Direct Print with Attachments Location must be a value other than None
b. Then, when you access the Asset application, and selects a record with attachments, you can click on the icon in the toolbar to print the report and its attachments. The attached docs will be reviewed to see if any are printable and depending on the results, a window will appear asking you to confirm if you want the attachments to print or not. If you select Yes, a temporary dialog will open stating that the record pack is being prepared. c. Then, a variety of dialogs may be seen. The dialogs you see are dependent on - The browser type and version on the client machine and - If Adobe Reader plugin is on the browser or not. In this example, a dialog from Chrome is displayed, and the user has the option to download the report locally or print it to their selected printer. pg. 11
1.4 Application Toolbar Configuration Details The chart below summarizes the three different application toolbar report types, along with their required configuration settings. BV TP TPA Acronym Browser View Toolbar Print Toolbar Print with Attachments Definition Enabled for Icon Opens the configured report in the Report Browser. BIRT Reports with no User Inputted Parameters Configures the report for printing or downloading via a minimal number of mouse clicks by bypassing the report s request page BIRT Reports with no User Inputted Parameters Configures the report and its printable attachments for printing or downloading via a minimal number of mouse clicks by bypassing the report s request page BIRT Reports with no User Inputted Parameters Icon File Name nav_icon_overview.gif nav_icon_printtodefault.gif nav_icon_printwithattachments.gif Fields that must be enabled Browser View? BV Location Toolbar Sequence Corresponding Database Fields REPORT.QL REPORT.QLLOC REPORT.TOOLBARSEQUENCE Print? Print Location Toolbar Sequence Limit Flag Max Record Limit REPORT.DP REPORT.DPLOC REPORT.TOOLBARSEQUENCE REPORT.DETAIL REPORT.RECORDLIMIT How a report icon displays within the application s toolbar is defined by: A. Type of Report Toolbar Access (BV, TP or TPA) B. Application Tab Location (What Tabs in the application will the icons display) C. Sequence (Order of Report s Icon in relation to other Reports) Print with Attachments? Print with Attachments Location Toolbar Sequence Limit Flag Max Record Limit REPORT.PAD REPORT.PADLOC REPORT.TOOLBARSEQUENCE REPORT.DETAIL REPORT.RECORDLIMIT These settings are typically defined in a report s specification so the developer can set them in the reports.xml file. The reports.xml file is used to import the report design into the database, and if the values for type of toolbar access are defined, they will be automatically updated in the database. If the values are not defined in the reports.xml file, the administrator can set them at a later time in the Report Administration application. However, during future imports or fix pack updates, the report administration settings will be over-ridden with the values from the reports.xml file. (For more details on configuring a reports.xml file, reference the Maximo Report Development Guide referenced at the end of this guide.)
1.4.1 Application Toolbar Configuration Field Details Additional details on the application toolbar fields are described below. 1. Type of Report Toolbar Access There are three types of Report Toolbar Access, which are YORN fields, and have a default of No: Browser View of Report? (REPORT.QL) Print? (REPORT.DP) Print with Attachments? (REPORT.PAD) 2. Application Location There are three Location Fields for the Application Toolbar Access which are: Browser View Location (REPORT.QLLOC) Print Location (REPORT.DPLOC) Print with Attachments Location (REPORT.PADLOC) These fields determine what tabs in the application the icon will display. The available choices are: ALL: Displays Report Icon on all toolbars in the selected application LIST: Only Displays Report Icon on List Tab of selected application MAIN: Displays Report Icon on all toolbars in selected app, except List tab NONE: Does not display Report Icon in selected application. The default value is NONE. You must select either ALL, LIST, or MAIN for the report icon to display in the application. 3. Toolbar Sequence This identifies the order of the report in relation to other reports for that application that have toolbar sequences enabled. This value must be defined if the report icon is to be displayed in the application toolbar. Notes: A. No validation is performed on the sequence order (ex. You can set reports to have toolbar sequences of 1, 2 and 4 skipping 3). However, sequence numbers must be unique within an application. For example, Asset List and Asset Details are both located in the Asset application. Both Asset List and Asset Details cannot have the same toolbar sequence of 1. They must have unique values because they are located in the same application. B. A report can have any combination of BV, TP and TPA enabled meaning it can use all 3 or none at all. C. The order of the icons within a report is ALWAYS BV, TP and TPA. So, if a report is enabled for all these values, it will always display the icons in this order. Example: The Asset Detail report is configured for BV and TP. Within the Asset application, the Asset Detail BV Icon will be displayed first, and the TP icon will be displayed second. pg. 13
1.4.2 Application Toolbar Display Examples Additional examples are given below to detail how this functionality can be configured. In this first example, you have multiple reports that you want to access from the Toolbar in the Asset application. A synopsis of what you want to display is below: Toolbar Sequence BV TP TPA Asset Report 1 1 Yes. ALL. Asset Report 2 4 Yes. ALL. Yes. MAIN. Asset Report 3 3 Yes. ALL. Asset Report 4 2 Yes. ALL. Yes. MAIN Based on these settings, the Asset List Tab toolbar would display the report icon values as And on the Asset (MAIN Tab), the toolbar would display as: To distinguish each different report, the user can mouse over the icon and to view the functionality and report s description. Example: For Asset Report 1, when you scroll over the, this text will display: Browser View: Asset Report 1 There are no limits to the number of reports that can be enabled for this functionality. By default, only three report icons display on an application's toolbar. If there are more than three icons, an overflow menu is used. For example, if six report icons are defined for an application, only the first three icons display. The fourth through sixth icon will display in a drop down Overflow menu list (See below)
You can configure this setting by modifying the dynamic toolbar button settings in <Maximo>\resources\presentations\system\library.xml. The specific line to be modified is: <dynamictoolbar id="reportbuttons" mboname="quickprint" align="left" keyattribute="reportnum" mxevent="runareport" visibleicons="3"/> pg. 15
Toolbar Print and Toolbar Print with Attachment Architecture 1.5 Client Machine Prerequisites Starting with Maximo Release 7.6.0.5, the client machine prerequisites have been updated to remove the dependency on java applets. Because of this change, there are no client software prerequisites. Therefore, the following software is no longer required A. JRE B. Adobe Reader* C. Microsoft Office for printing Microsoft Files D. Active X Controls *Important Notes: 1. The toolbar printing process will vary depending on multiple factors including If the client machine has Adobe Reader installed on it. The type of the Browser The version of the Browser If the Browser supports java applets 2. As some browsers still support java applets, the functionality to utilize the toolbar print process using java applets remains in the product. However, this functionality s architecture and components will not be detailed in this document. The remaining portion of the document details TP and TPA without java applets
1.6 TPA Process: Adobe Reader plugin on the browser If Toolbar print with attachments is initiated and adobe reader is available via a plug in from the browser, the process is - 1. The user initiates the Toolbar Printing with Attachments process by clicking on the TPA con from the application toolbar. 2. The configured report is run and converted to pdf. 3. The selected printable attachments are accessed from the document repository. 4. The printable attachments are converted to a pdf file 5. The report pdf and the attachments pdf and combined into a single pdf file, called the record pack 6. The record pack is enabled for printing and printed to the selected printer. pg. 17
1.7 TPA Process: Adobe Reader plugin not on the browser If Toolbar Print with Attachments is initiated and adobe reader is not available via a plug in from the browser, the process is - 1. The user initiates the Toolbar Printing with Attachments process by clicking on the TPA con from the application toolbar. 2. The configured report is run and converted to pdf. 3. The selected printable attachments are accessed from the document repository. 4. The printable attachments are converted to a pdf file 5. The report pdf and the attachments pdf and combined into a single pdf file, called the record pack 6. A dialog is presented to the user if they want to print or download the report and its attachments 7. The record pack is enabled for printing and printed to the selected printer
1.8 Additional Information Toolbar Print with Attachments (TPA) 1. TPA supports the following attached document types in all cases:.pdf, csv, txt, gif, jpg - Unique CAD and other unique file types are unable to be printed in all cases. - Microsoft Office file types can be printed in some cases as described below. A. If you are using (1) application server or SSO security and (2) TPA with an applet - Microsoft file types are unable to be printed. These file types include.ppt(x),.xls(x),.doc(x) If you try to print an attached document type that is a Microsoft file type, you will receive a message on what is and is not printable. Example: 3 attachments are associated to a record: 1.gif, 1.pdf and 1.doc. If you click on the TPA icon, a message like this displays '2 of the 3 attached documents are printable. Click OK to proceed, Cancel to End B. If you are using (1) TPA without the applet and (2) Maximo doc links where the documents are (a) stored on a server and (b) the server requires a log-in or SSO - Microsoft file types are able to be printed. These file types include.ppt(x),.xls(x),.doc(x) 2. TPA does not support compressed JBIG2 pdf files. If these are included as an attachment, they will not be able to be printed. 3. All attached documents that you want to print with TPA, must be accessible from the Application server. This occurs as new browser security prevents the loading of attachments from local drives or document servers. 4. Be sure to review each dialog carefully presented during the TP or TPA process. The dialogs you will see will vary depending on the type and version of browser. 5. If you are using a Firefox browser, you may want to save your record pack locally, and then print the record pack using Adobe Reader on the client machine. This is important if there is a variation in page layouts between the report and its attachments. For example the report is in landscape format and the attachments are in portrait. o In this scenario, the record pack will print all files in the format of the first record. If the first record is a report in landscape, all attachments regardless if they are landscape or portrait will pint in landscape format. 6. When selecting TP or TPA, you must wait for the submitted job to be complete before submitting another print job. This is extremely important as it allows the complete information for the first job to be passed and finished before starting the next job. pg. 19
7. TPA will not function within Maximo applications where (a) unique key is not defined and (b) if the application is based on a database view, not a database object. TPA requires an internal Maximo key (like WORKORDER.WORKORDERID) to sequentially match the record s report to its attachments. Without this internal key, TPA will not function. An example of this type of application is Assignment Manager 8. Most browsers have popup blocking enabled. You may have to disable this for the Maximo server URL requests via the popup configuration of the browser. Failing to do so will cause the print job window not to be activated and therefore cannot print. Miscellaneous 9. If a user schedules/emails a report that has records with attached documents via the report s request page, the attached docs will not be included in the scheduled/emailed report. Scheduling/emailing of reports will deliver report content only.
1.9 Trouble Shooting General tips 1. If Toolbar Print with Attachments is used and no attachments are being printed, first verify the attached documents are functioning. To do this, click on the attachments within the application to see if the files are accessible. 2. If you are using a browser which supports java applets, you can access additional debug information to track urls used for print requests. To do this, update the Java Console Debug setting from false to true for the property setting: mxe.directprint.javaconsole.debug After you change this value to true, save and apply the changes, the next TP/TPA job will contain more detailed information in the java console. pg. 21
1.10 Printing best practices The way in which a user uses Toolbar Print or Toolbar Print with Attachments can have a significant impact on performance. It is highly recommended that when a user utilizes Toolbar Print or Toolbar Print with Attachments for a number of records that the records be printed as a set instead of individually printing each record. This is detailed below. Example: A user wants to print out a set of records based on a filter or query as shown below. In this case, the filter results in 9 records. The best practice recommendation is to print the complete record set via a single print job by selecting the TPA icon on the list tab as shown below. What is not recommended is to navigate to each individual record details and print each record as an individual report job as shown below. If you do this you will have to wait until each individual report is printed before submitting the next print job. This will take significantly more time, more server processing resources and many more clicks.
1.11 Property Settings for Toolbar Report Access This section details the key property settings related to the report toolbar print functionality. Additonally, information on whether or not the property setting applies if you are using TP/TPA in a browser without applets - or in a browser with applets is listed. Property Setting Description Application? Default Value mxe.directprint.inherited.attachment Defines if inherited docs should be enabled for TPA No For example: Attachments were made to Job Plan 1000. Work Order 5000 was created using Job Plan 1000. If you want the attachments on Job Plan 1000 to be used with WO 5000, this value should be set to Yes. For TPA with and without browser applet mxe.doclink.defaultprintdocwithreport mxe.report.attachdoc.validateurl mxe.report.birt.printseparaterecord mxe.directprint.printrecordpack mxe.report.directprint.useapplet If you do not want the attachments made on Job Plan 1000 to be used with WO 5000, this value should be set to No. Default value of printing attached document with report if printable type. Property to determine if you wish to validate the URL of an attached doc before printing from the Maximo Server. Enables printing of each record separately when no attachments are in the record set. Print record pack, which is the report and its attachments Introduced in 7.6.0.4, defines if applet should be enabled for printing. For TPA with and without browser applet For TPA with and without browser applet For TP with and without browser applet For TPA without browser applet only For TPA without browser applet only Yes Yes No No No mxe.directprint.duplexprintenabled mxe.directprint.insertblankpage Introduced in 7.6.0.5, enables Duplex Printing for record pack Introduced in 7.6.0.5, inserts blank page between each record's report and its attachments For TPA without browser applet only For TPA without browser applet only No No Note: These property settings are no longer used starting with Maximo 7.6.0.5 mxe.activex mxe.directprint.printtime.wait A subset of these property settings are further detailed below pg. 23
1.12 Property Setting Details mxe.directprint.inherited.attachment The Inherit Attachments Property setting enables you to configure the inherited print setting. This setting determines if inherited documents should be enabled for printing with Toolbar Print with Attachments Functionality. This property setting can best be described through a use case. 1. In the Job Plan application, an attachment Test is made to Job Plan #JP11220. 2. Then, in the Work Order application, WO #1215 is created and uses Job Plan #JP11220. If the mxe.directprint.inherited.attachment is sent to 0 (no), the Test Attachment made on JP11220 will not be enabled for printing with WO #1215. If the mxe.directprint.inherited.attachment is sent to 1 (yes), the Test Attachment made on JP11220 will be enabled for printing with WO #1215. This is shown in the screen shot below.
mxe.doclink.defaultprintdocwithreport The property setting mxe.doclink.defaultprintdocwithreport enables you to configure the default value of having Attached Documents automatically print with the associated records. If the value is set to true, attached documents will automatically be enabled for printing. If the value is set to false, attached documents will not be automatically enabled for printing. This value can be seen in the screen shot below. When configured to true, the Print attached document with report if printable type? field is enabled as shown below. pg. 25
mxe.directprint.duplexprintenabled This property setting was introduced in Maximo 7.6.0.5. It is only available for TPA used in browsers without applets. This property setting enables you to utilize both the front and back of a piece of paper to print the report and its attachments. This setting is detailed in the diagram below. The example highlights 1 record with 2 attachments. The report record is 2 pages, and each attachment is 1 page. If the value is no, only the front of the paper will be utilized. If the value is yes, the front and back of the paper will be utilized
mxe.report.birt.printseparaterecord This property setting enables you to insert a blank page between a report and its attachments. It is available for TP - for browsers with or without applets. In this scenario, there is no separate property setting for duplex printing. This setting is detailed in the diagram below. The example highlights the printing of 3 records. 1 st is 1 page, 2 nd is 2 pages, 3 rd is 3 pages. Duplex printing enabled on printer If the value is no, no additional blank pages are added to separate the report and its attachments. If the value is yes, a blank page is added between the report and its first printable attachments. pg. 27
1.13 Additional References For a complete listing of report documentation for the Maximo 7.6 releases, access the url below. http://ibm.co/1ybtti2 Additionally, a variety of videos detailing features, best practices and configuration can be found here http://ibm.co/1bz4nwl For a complete listing of report documentation for the Maximo 7.1 and 7.5 releases, access the url below. http://ibm.co/1xdspsn Additional information on reporting, including Bilogs (Business Intelligence Blogs), User Forums and links to other wiki pages can be found on IBM s Service Management Connect at this url: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/servicemanagement/am/index.html
Notices This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A. IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in other countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right may be used instead. However, it is the user's responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any non-ibm product, program, or service. IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not grant you any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to: IBM Director of Licensing IBM Corporation North Castle Drive Armonk, NY 10504-1785 U.S.A. The following paragraph does not apply to the United Kingdom or any other country where such provisions are inconsistent with local law: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some states do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply to you. This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice. Any references in this information to non-ibm Web sites are provided for convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this IBM product and use of those Web sites is at your own risk. IBM may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way it believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you. Information concerning non-ibm products was obtained from the suppliers of those products, their published announcements or other publicly available sources. IBM has not tested those products and cannot confirm the accuracy of performance, compatibility or any other claims related to non-ibm products. Questions on the capabilities of non-ibm products should be addressed to the suppliers of those products. pg. 29
This information contains examples of data and reports used in daily business operations. To illustrate them as completely as possible, the examples include the names of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of these names are fictitious and any similarity to the names and addresses used by an actual business enterprise is entirely coincidental. Trademarks IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at Copyright and trademark information at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both