Reporting Agent

Definition
The Reporting Agent is a tool used to schedule reporting functions in the background.
The following functions are available:
Evaluating exceptions
Printing queries
Pre-calculating Web templates
Pre-calculating characteristic variables of type pre-calculated value sets.
Pre-calculation of queries for Crystal reports
Managing bookmarks
Use
1. You make settings for the specified reporting functions.
2. You assign the individual settings to scheduling packages for background processing.
3. You schedule scheduling packages as a job or within a process chain.

Both of the latter-named points do not apply to managing bookmarks.

Structure
The Reporting Agent interfaces are made up of two tree structures in the functional areas Exceptions, Print,
Web Templates, and Value Sets.
The left-hand tree gives you an overview of the available objects as well as the settings that have
already been made. To give you a better overview, you can filter according to queries with settings in the
Exceptions and Print functions.
The right-hand tree gives you an overview of the scheduling package and manages the background
processing.
In the functional area Bookmarks, the Reporting Agent Scheduler interfaces are made up of a single tree
structure.
Integration
The following graphic gives an overview of the different functional areas for the Report Agent and its
integration:

Defining Exceptions Settings

Use
The Reporting Agent gives you the option of pre-calculating exceptions in the background. If an exception
threshold value is exceeded or not reached, the system will trigger the follow-up action you have selected.
The following follow-up actions are available:
Send a message
Make an entry in the Alert Monitor
Export
RRI
Prerequisites
You have defined a query containing at least one exception in the BEx Analyzer.
You can find additional information under Defining Exceptions.
Procedure

1. You are in the Reporting Agent function area of the Administrator Workbench. Choose
Exceptions in the navigation frame of the Administrator Workbench.
2. Navigate to the required query in the left-hand Reporting Agent Scheduler tree.
3. You have the following options to create a new setting:
o Using the context menu, choose New Package.
o Select Create New Setting.
The "New Reporting Agent Setting" screen then appears.
 To copy a setting, choose Maintain using the context menu for the setting. The Reporting Agent Setting
screen then appears. Choose.Copy The "New Reporting Agent Setting" screen then appears.
4. Enter a technical name and a description.
The following information can be found in the General tab page:
o The settings functional area is Exception Reporting & Alerting.
o Under the Query group header, query information is shown for which you can make a
setting (description, technical name, InfoProvider).
o Under the group header Last Change, the system shows- the first time after saving for the
first time- the last person to have changed the setting and the time it was changed.
o Under the group header Setting Used in Packages, the system displays information for
packages where the setting is used, and their scheduling. However, this display is only possible if you have
defined the setting and make assignments to one or more scheduling packages.
5. Choose the Tab Page: Parameter(s) to set parameters.
a. From Exceptions node in the Available Objects tree structure, choose the exception you
want to process in the background, and use Drag-&-Drop to assign it to the Exceptions node in the Selected
Objects tree structure.
b. Choose the interval or threshold value for this exception that you want to check in a
background run and use Drag-&-Drop to drag it under the selected exception.
c. Assign a follow-up action to the intervals or the threshold value you have chosen. From

the Follow Up Actions node, use Drag & Drop to move the follow-up action you want under the
corresponding interval.
By double clicking on the assigned follow-up action, the Properties for Follow Up Actions screen area
appears. Change the settings that are available for the selected follow-up action type.
You can find more information under:
Editing Follow-Up Actions: Send Message
Editing Follow-Up Actions: Alert Monitor Entry
Editing Follow-Up Actions: Export

d. From the Characteristics node in the Available Objects tree structure, choose the

characteristic you want to look at in the background, and use Drag-&-Drop to assign it to the Drill
Down Characteristics node in the Selected Objects tree structure.

Note that the way the characteristics are arranged is important here, since an exception always occurs in a
particular cell context.
6. Choose Activate.
Result
Once you have defined the Reporting Agent settings, you have to assign them to a scheduling package for
the background run.
For more information see Processing a Scheduling Package.

Tab Page: Parameter(s)

Definition
The Parameter(s) tabpage displays all selected objects that are available for background processing in
Exception reporting.
Use
On the Parameter(s) tab page, you can select exceptions, follow-up actions and characteristics, which are
to be added to background processing.
Structure
The Parameters tabpage consists of the Available Objects and the Selected Objects tree structures,
with the following functions:
Tree Structure Information
Available objects The objects you choose for background processing are
displayed here.

Exceptions Displayed are:

Exceptions of the selected query.
The intervals belonging to the query are also listed, along
with threshold values and their notification priorities.

Follow-up actions You can select:

send a message
The recipient receives an email or sms (short message
service) telling him or her the number of exceptions
found.
See Editing Follow-Up Actions: Send Message
Make an entry in the Alert Monitor
The exceptions that are found are logged in a table
(exception log), and displayed in the Monitor. The
recordings are bundled together in the form of simple
drilldowns (views)
See Editing Follow-Up Actions: Alert Monitor Entry
You can find additional information under Displaying
Exceptions: Alert Monitor.
Export
The alert data is exported and can be used as a work item
in a customer-specific workflow.
See Editing Follow-Up Actions: Export
RRI
If the alert appears in a particular cell, you can use the
report-report interface to jump to the specific recipient
report.

Characteristics Displayed are:

Characteristics of the selected query.
It does not matter whether these characteristics have been
moved to an axis, or have been defined as free
characteristics, in the query definition.

Selected Objects The objects you select for background processing are
collected here.

Editing Follow-Up Actions: Send Message

Use
If you want to inform one or more people in an email when a threshold value of an exception has been
breached or fallen short of, you can edit the properties of the follow-up action Send Message on the
Parameters tab page.
Prerequisites
You have already selected an exception and assigned it to the follow-up action Send Message.
You can find additional information under Defining Exceptions Settings.
Procedure
By double clicking on the assigned follow-up action, the Properties for Follow Up Actions screen area
appears. The functions described in the following section allow you to:
 Structure the contents of the document
Determine one or several recipients of a message by specifying an SAP or an external address.
Structuring the contents of a document and adding attachments
1. Choose Edit Document. The Change Document screen appears.
2. Enter a title.
3. Enter a text on the Document Contents tabpage. The system adds the result from the Reporting
Agent to the message when it is sent.
In addition to the usual text editing functions, the following functions are available:
You can insert the contents of a file with the Load Local File function.
You can save your message with the Save as Local File function.
4. By choosing Create Attachment you get to the Open dialog box. Choose the file that you want to
add as an attachment. On the Change Document screen, the system adds the Attachments tabpage.

If a message already has attachments, you can display these by choosing Attachments in the Properties
screen area on the Exception Reporting tabpage. You get to the Display Document screen. The attachments
are listed on the Document Contents tabpage. On the Attachments tabpage, you can edit the attachments. To
get to the change view, choose Change.
5. Choose the Attachments tabpage.
On the Attachments tabpage, the attachments are listed with the following
properties:
Type Description Size Type

Symbol for indetifyin Document title File name extension

the file type (MIME)

You can use the following processing functions:

Application Function Information

Add Attachment This takes you to the Open dialog

Choose Import Attachment box. Choose the file that you want
to add as an attachment.
or Create Attachment

Save Attachment Locally This takes you to the Save as

Choose Export Attachment dialog box.

Edit Attachment The document is opened in a

Choose Change separate window in the relevant
Attachment. PC application.
Save and close the document in
the PC application. Save the
document in the SAP system.

You can find additional

Choose Move Attachment information in the SAP Business
Workplace documentation under
Attachments to a Document and
Appending an Attachment to a
Choose Create Reference to Document
Attachment.
Delete one or more attachments Select the relevant entries in the Answer Yes to the confirmation
prompt.
list of attachments. Choose
Delete.
Selecting the recipient of the message
Each recipient receives a message for the selected Reporting Agent setting.
Select the type of recipient and the individual recipient:
Type of recipient Procedure

Role
Choose Roles. You get to the Select Roles
dialog box.
Select and transfer the roles that you want to use to

the left-hand area of the screen. Choose Next.

Result: The message is sent to everyone who uses
this role.

Individual recipient
Choose Recipient List. You reach the Send
with Note screen.
In the upper screen area, enter a title and note for the
recipient.
In the lower screen area, on the Recipients tabpage,
enter the message recipient. In most cases, the
system adds the type of recipient. The following
recipient types are of interest:
Internet address
SAP logon name
When using the SAP Business Workplace, additional
recipient types are available (see Address Type).
As a user of the SAP Business Workplace, you have
additional settings options for Sending:
You can choose to send the message in one of the
following ways:

Express Mail

Send as a Copy

Send as a Blind Copy

For more information, see Send Attributes
If you have specified at least one recipient, you can

create a distribution list using . (Also refer to

Creating a Distribution List.) You can then select
your private distribution list using the value help for
the Recipient field.
If you have inserted a distribution list into the
recipient list and want to expand the individual
 recipient addresses, select the entry and choose

Expand Entry.
For more information see Editing a Distribution List.

Using Follow Up Recipient, you get to the

Create Follow Up for ... dialog box. For more
information, see Resubmitting a Document and
Creating a Resubmission.
From the Sender Options tabpage, choose your
settings in the following areas:
General Attributes
Send Status
For more information, see Recipient Lists and
Transmission Information

When you send a message to an SAP Business Workplace user, it goes to the SAP Office inbox. For more
information, see SAPconnect.
Otherwise, the message ends up in the mailbox belonging to the respective mail client.

Editing Follow Up Actions: Alert Monitor Entry

Use
You can inform one or more people that an exception, whose threshold value was surpassed or fallen short
of, has been logged in the Exception Log. To do this, access the Parameters tab page and select Alert
Recipients.
In addition, you can choose, change and create parameters for the alert texts for the Stored Query Views
you are looking at, and also on an individual exception cell level.
If you want to create a link from the Alert Monitor to a resource, you can assign the resource URL to the
respective alert monitor entry.
Prerequisites
You have already selected an exception and assigned it the follow-up action Alert Monitor Entry.
You can find additional information under Defining Exceptions Settings, and Tab Page: Parameters
Procedure
Double clicking on the assigned follow-up action shows the Follow Up Properties screen area.
Select alert recipient
Select the alert recipient by recipient type:
Type of recipient Procedure Result

all SAP users Set the indicator for All SAP User The Alert Monitor entry is
displayed for all SAP users.

Role User The Alert Monitor entry is

Choose Roles. You get to displayed for everyone assigned
the Roles dialog box. to the role that you specified.
Select and transfer the role you
want into the left-hand area of the

screen. Choose Next.

 individual SAP users The Alert Monitor entry is
Choose Recipient List. You displayed for the selected users.
get to the Select Recipient dialog
box.
Select and transfer the SAP users
you want into the left-hand area

of the screen. Choose Next.

You can process alert texts for a particular Alert Monitor entry on an exception cell level as well as on a
query view level.
Process text for an Alert Monitor entry on an individual alert level (exception cells)
1. In the Selected Objects tree structure, select the Alert Monitor entry for which you want to process
a text.
If an alert text already exists, this is displayed in the Follow Up Properties screen area, under Text group
header.
2. To change an alert text or, if necessary, to create a text, choose Edit. The Change Text for Alert
Monitor dialog box appears.
3. Enter the text you want.
You can use Find/Replace to find and replace words.
By using Load Local File you can insert the contents of a file.
By using Save as Local File, you can save your alert text locally.
4. If you want to insert a text variable in your text, choose Select Variable. The Variable Selection
dialog box appears. The system displays variables that can be selected, together with their technical name
and description.
This includes general query variables as well as the context-sensitive variables of a specially selected query
view. The variables are placeholders for dynamically generated text and are not filled until query runtime.
Using Find and Search Again, you can search within the selection list.
To restrict the selection list, open the Restrictions area. Enter the technical name or description of the text
variable you are searching for, or use Multiple Selection to enter several text variables. Afterwards, choose
Start Search.
5. In the selection list, select the required text variable. Then choose Transfer. The system inserts the
text variable into your text where the cursor can be found.
6. After processing the alert text, choose Next.

This text is displayed by default for the alert entry on an individual alert level.
7. In the case where a BW exception arises for different query views in different contexts, you can
process the alert texts independently of the drilldown.
You can find additional information under Defining and Changing Exceptions or Alert Monitor.

Note: During the background run, the Reporting Agent checks a sequence of query views: These views
come from the sequence of selected characteristics, in which the attributes are filtered in sequence for
characteristics 1 through to n-1, and the last characteristic is drilled down.
In the Follow Up Properties screen area, under the Text group header, choose the Enhanced expert mode.
The Change Text for Alert Monitor dialog box appears.
8. In the Query View Selection screen area, double-click on the required characteristic to choose the
special query view. In the lower Alert Text screen area, the selected characteristic is displayed as
"specified".

Note: As well as the characteristic denoted as "specified" here, an additional characteristic can be specified
without it being explicitly mentioned here.
9. Edit the alert text. You have the same text layout options as with the basic editing described above.
10. Choose Next.
Process text for an Alert Monitor entry on an query view level
1. In the Selected Objects tree structure, select Drilldown Characteristics. The Query View Label
screen area is displayed on the right-hand side, together with No Characteristic Specified.
2. In the Query View Label screen area, under the Text group header, choose Edit. The Change Text
for Alert Monitor dialog box appears.
3. Edit the alert text.
4. Choose Next.
5. To process a text for a query view with a specified characteristic, access the Selected Objects tree
structure and, under Drilldown Characteristics, select the specified characteristic. (A specified
characteristic is one that is in the filter). The Query View Label screen area and the specified characteristic
is displayed on the right.
6. In the Query View Label screen area, under the Text group header, choose Edit. The Change Text
for Alert Monitor dialog box appears.
7. Edit the alert text.
8. Choose Next.
Change URL for the Alert Monitor
You can also give your own URL to Alert Monitor entries. This function allows you to create a link from
the Alert Monitor to the query view you are looking at and also to any other resource you choose.
Any URL already specified for the corresponding Alert Monitor entry is displayed in the Follow Up Action
Properties or Query View Label screen area, in the field under the URL group header.
1. In the Query View Label or Follow Up Action Properties screen area, under the URL group header,
choose Edit. The Change URL for Alert Monitor dialog box appears.
2. In the upper screen area, specify the URL. You can use to parameterize the URL with text
variables.

If you specify a BW query as a resource, you can use the text variables to give the URL filter values.
3. In the Short Text screen area, you can enter a text to be displayed as a quick-info in the Alert
Monitor.

URL: www.sapportals.com
Short Text: SAP Portals Homepage
4. Choose Next.

Example for Alert Texts

You have defined a query in the BEx Query Designer as follows:
Characteristics in the lines: Sales Area 0DISTR_CHAN 8, Ship-to Party FABSHPTO 8
Key figures: Billing Quantity 0INVCD_QTY, Sales 0INVCD_VAL
In addition, you have defined an exception with two threshold values for the billing quantity:
For values from 0 to 500, Alert Level Bad 9; for values over 10000, Alert Level Good 1.
For this you can create the following alert texts, for example:
Alert text for an alert monitor entry from a billing quantity exception

Select the threshold value for the exception for which you want to create a text by double-clicking on this
threshold value in the Selected Objects area of the screen.
For example, enter the text "Billing Quantity Under 500 for Sales Area
&TEXTVARIABLE01& and Customer &TEXTVARIABLE02&" in the screen area Follow-Up Action
Properties for the Alert Monitor Entry under the threshold value 0-500. The variables are filled for the
runtime.
For example, enter the text "Billing Quantity OK" in the screen area Follow-Up
Action Properties for the Alert Monitor Entry under the threshold value >10000.
Alert text for query view, if no characteristic is specified:

Choose Drilldown Characteristics by double-clicking on it in the Selected Objects screen area. For
example, enter the text "Alerts for All Sales Areas" in the screen area Query View Name for No
Characteristic Specified.
Alert text for query view, if the characteristic Sales Area is specified:
 Choose the characteristic Sales Area by double-clicking on it in the Selected Objects screen area. For
example, enter the text "Alerts for Sales Area &0DISTR_CHAN&" in the screen area Query View Name
for Sales Area Specified.

Processing the Follow-Up Action: Export

Use
In order to be able to use the data from the alert as a work item in a customer-specific workflow, you have
to export the data using the Business Add-In (BAdI) for the Reporting Agent (RSRA_ALERT). The
Business Add-In allows you to communicate with the enhanced program by using enhancements in the
customer namespace. You can find additional information under BAdI: Export of BW Alerts
(RSRA_ALERT).
From the Parameters tab page you can edit the properties of the Export follow-up action.
Prerequisites
You have already selected an exception and assigned it to the Export follow-up action. You can find
additional information under Define Exceptions Settings.
Procedure
By double clicking on the assigned follow-up action, the Properties for Follow Up Actions screen area
appears.
The procedure described under Processing Follow-Up Actions: Alert Monitor Entry includes the procedure
for editing an alert text or a URL assigned to a specific alert for a resource.

You can find additional information under Processing Follow-Up Actions: Alert Monitor Entry in the
following sections:
Editing texts for an alert monitor entry on the level of individual alerts
(exception cells)
Editing texts for an alert monitor entry on the level of a query view
Changing a URL for the alert monitor
Under Filter for Business Add-In, you can select an InfoProvider. Depending on the InfoProvider from the
BW system chosen as a filter, the Business Add-In is implemented (see BAdI: Export of BW Alerts
(RSRA_ALERT) and Parameter FLT_VAL). Input help is available.
By default, the InfoProvider is standard for the query sought in the background. With the special character
"*", you can specify a generic filter value that can be set according to the entries in the database using
different values.
Result
Once you have defined the Reporting Agent settings, you have to assign them to a scheduling package for
the background run. For more information see Processing the Scheduling Package.

Defining the Print Setting

Use
You can not only evaluate a query online, but also print it in the background.
The Reporting Agent gives you the option to display the query data as a Reporting Agent setting for
printing in the background You can set as many Report Agent settings as you want for a query.
Prerequisites
You have defined a query in the Business Explorer Analyzer that you now want to print in the background.

To print, key figures related to the query must be in the structures. Change the Query definition
appropriately if you want to print a query that uses a key figure as a filter.
You can only schedule queries with entered variables for background printing if the required variable
entry/entries have been saved as query variants
Procedure
1. You are in the Reporting Agent function area of the Administrator Workbench. Choose Print in
Background in the navigation window of the Administrator Workbench.
2. Navigate to the required query in the left-hand Reporting Agent Scheduler tree.
3. You have the following options to create a new setting:
o Using the context menu, choose New Package.
o Select Create New Setting.
The "New Reporting Agent Setting" screen then appears.
4. Enter a technical name and a description.
The following information can be found in the General tab page:
o The functional area for the setting is Print.
o Under the Query group header, query information is shown for which you can make a
setting (description, technical name, InfoProvider).
o Under the group header Last Change, the system shows- the first time after saving for the
first time- the last person to have changed the setting and the time it was changed.
o Under the group header Setting Used in Packages, the system displays information for
packages where the setting is used, and their scheduling. However, this display is only possible if you have
defined the setting and make assignments to one or more scheduling packages.
5. Choose the Print Settings tabstrip. Define the print settings that you want to make. You can find
additional information under Tab Page: Print Settings.
6. Choose the Print Layout tab strip. Decide how you want to set the following print areas:
o Cover sheet
o Page header
o Table header
o Table
o Page footer
o Last page
You can find additional information under Defining the Print Layout.
7. Choose Activate.
Result
Once you have defined the Reporting Agent settings, you have to assign them to a scheduling package for
the background run.
For more information see Processing a Scheduling Package.