WebFOCUS Online Help > Managed Reporting Developer > Developing a Two-Way Email Template > Creating a Template

Creating a Template

How to:

As a Managed Reporting Administrator or Developer, you create a Two-Way Email template, or multiple templates, from an existing Standard Report.

A template may or may not contain parameters requiring values from the user. You do not need to prompt the user for all of the parameters in a Standard Report. You can set any parameter to a value appropriate for the user.

Two-Way Email templates are stored with the Standard Report you create the template for. In Developer Studio you can view created templates by right-clicking the Standard Report and selecting Show Two-Way Email Templates. In the browser, the template is located under the associated Standard Report.

Note: Two-Way Email does not support Compound Reports.

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Procedure: How to Create a Template Without Parameters
  1. Right-click the Standard Report from which you want to create a Two-Way Email template. On the pop-up menu in:
    • The browser, select New Two-Way Email Template. Skip to Step 3.
    • Developer Studio, select Show Two-Way Email Templates.
  2. From the Two-Way Email Templates tab, click New to open the New Two-Way Email Template dialog box.

    In the browser, another way to open the dialog box is to select the Standard Report, and click the icon on the toolbar labeled New Two-Way Email Template. In the Explorer in Developer Studio, you can select the Standard Report and then from the File menu, select New Two-Way Email Template.

  3. On the New Two-Way Email Template dialog box, enter the subject of the template in the Subject Line field. This value appears as the subject of the e-mail message sent to the user.

    Two-Way Email uses the name of the Standard Report as the default subject, followed by a Two-Way Email identifier (for example, TW).

  4. Enter a description of the template, or an informative message for the user, in the Ending Message field.

    This description or message appears in the body of the Two-Way Email template.

  5. Click Email Preview to display the template as the user will see it.

    You can use RIM® (Research In Motion Limited) or Palm™ handheld emulation to preview the template. Toggle between the two emulators by holding down the Shift key and clicking Email Preview.

    Close the preview window when you are done. Click OK on the Two-Way Email window.

    The Save New 'Two-Way Email' window opens.

  6. Enter the name of the template. Click OK.

    Two-Way Email displays the template's subject as the default name.

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Example: Creating a Template Without Parameters

Suppose you want to create a Two-Way Email template from a Standard Report named Line Price.

The Standard Report is:

TABLE FILE CENTORD
SUM LINEPRICE
BY PRODCAT
END
  1. Right-click the Standard Report named Line Price. On the pop-up menu in:
    • The browser, select New Two-Way Email Template. The New Two-Way Email Template window opens. Skip to Step 3.
    • Developer Studio, select Show Two-Way Email Templates.
  2. From the Two-Way Email Templates tab, click New to open the New Two-Way Email Template window, as shown in the following image.

  3. In the Subject Line field, accept the default subject of the template. This value appears as the subject of the e-mail message sent to the user.
  4. In the Ending Message field, enter the following as the description of the template:
    This report contains line price figures by product category for the Century Corporation.

    This description appears in the body of the template, as shown in the following image.

  5. Click Email Preview to display the template as the user will see it.

    You can use RIM or Palm handheld emulation to preview the template. Toggle between the two emulators by holding down the Shift key and clicking Email Preview.

    Close the preview window when you are done.

  6. Click OK on the Two-Way Email window.

    The New Two-Way Email Template window opens, as shown in the following image, containing Line Price : TW 1 as its default name.

  7. Accept the default template name by clicking OK.
  8. Click OK again to exit the Line Price Properties dialog box.
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Procedure: How to Create a Template With Parameters
  1. Right-click the Standard Report from which you want to create a Two-Way Email template. On the pop-up menu in:
    • The browser, select New Two-Way Email Template. The New Two-Way Email Template window opens. Skip to Step 3.
    • Developer Studio, select Show Two-Way Email Templates.
  2. From the Two-Way Email Templates tab, click New to open the New Two-Way Email Template window.
  3. On the New Two-Way Email Template dialog box, enter the subject of the template in the Subject Line field. This value appears as the subject of the e-mail message sent to the user.

    Two-Way Email uses the name of the Standard Report as the default subject, followed by a Two-Way Email identifier (for example, TW).

  4. Enter a description of the template, or an informative message for the user, in the Ending Message field. For example, you may want to indicate valid values for a required parameter.

    This description or message appears in the body of the Two-Way Email template.

  5. For each parameter, specify a property, as outlined in the following table with its description.

    Property

    Description

    Require User Input

    The user must supply a value for the parameter.

    Allow Default

    The user can supply a value or use the default value. Enter the default value in the field labeled Value.

    To accept a default value when requesting a report, the user must enter a period on the line corresponding to the parameter. A period is required to ensure that Two-Way Email reads the line.

    Use Value

    The Administrator supplies the value that cannot be changed by the user. Enter the required value in the field labeled Value.

    Disable

    Does not prompt for a parameter value on the Two-Way Email template. Specify this property only when the parameter is already set on the WebFOCUS Reporting Server in a profile or stored procedure.

    If you include multiple parameters in the template, click the Up and Down buttons to scroll through them. These buttons are only enabled when more than one parameter is specified.

  6. If you click Require User Input or Allow Default, you can supply a prompt that the user will see in the template. For each parameter, enter the applicable prompt in the Prompt field.

    If multiple parameter values are required, indicate the line number that each value should be supplied on.

    If a parameter has the property, Allow Default, instruct the user to enter a period (.) on the appropriate line to accept the default value.

  7. Click Email Preview to display the template as the user will see it.

    You can use RIM or Palm handheld emulation to preview the template. Toggle between the two emulators by holding down the Shift key and clicking Email Preview.

    Close the preview window when you are done. Click OK on the Two-Way Email window. The New Two-Way Email Template window opens.

    Two-Way Email uses the subject of the template as the default name.

  8. Accept the default name, or enter another name for the template, and click OK.
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Example: Creating a Template With a Parameter

Creating a Two-Way Email template using a Standard Report named Inventory Report for User-supplied Category provides inventory information for a product category specified by the user. The Standard Report is: 

TABLE FILE CENTORD
SUM QUANTITY
BY PRODCAT
WHERE PRODCAT EQ '&PRODCAT'
END
  1. Right-click the Standard Report named Inventory Report for User-supplied Category. On the pop-up menu in:
    • The browser, select New Two-Way Email Template. The New Two-Way Email Template window opens. Skip to Step 3.
    • Developer Studio, select Show Two-Way Email Templates.
  2. From the Two-Way Email Templates tab, click New to open the New Two-Way Email Template window, as shown in the following image.

  3. Use the default subject name of the template as displayed in the Subject Line field. This value appears as the subject of the e-mail message sent to the user.
  4. Enter the following informative message for the user in the Ending Message field:
    Valid product categories are CD Players, Camcorders, Cameras, DVD, Digital Tape Recorders, PDA Devices, VCRs.
  5. Confirm that the Require User Input option button is selected.
  6. Type over the word PRODCAT to specify the following for the prompt that will display in the template:
    Enter a product category on line 1 of your reply.
  7. Click Email Preview to display the template as the user will see it.

    You can use RIM or Palm handheld emulation to preview the template. Toggle between the two emulators by holding down the Shift key and clicking Email Preview.

    Close the preview window when you are done. Click OK on the Two-Way Email window.

    The New Two-Way Email Template window opens, as shown in the following image, containing Inventory Report for User-supplied Category as its default name.

  8. Accept the default name of the template by clicking OK.
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Example: Creating a Template With Multiple Parameters

Suppose you want to create a Two-Way Email template using a Standard Report named Inventory and Line Price by Category and Store Code. It contains two parameters. For one parameter, PRODCAT, the user can supply a value or accept the default value provided by the Administrator. For the second parameter, STORE_CODE, the user must accept the value provided by the Administrator.

The Standard Report is:

TABLE FILE CENTORD
SUM QUANTITY LINEPRICE
BY PRODCAT
BY STORE_CODE
WHERE STORE_CODE EQ '&STORE_CODE'
WHERE PRODCAT EQ '&PRODCAT'
END
  1. Right-click the Standard Report named Inventory and Line Price by Category and Store Code. From the pop-up menu in:
    • The browser, select New Two-Way Email Template. The New Two-Way Email Template window opens. Skip to Step 3.
    • Developer Studio, select Show Two-Way Email Templates.
  2. Click New. The New Two-Way Email Template window opens, as shown in the following image.

  3. Use the default subject name of the template as displayed in the Subject Line field. This value appears as the subject of the e-mail message sent to the user.
  4. The parameter PRODCAT is already highlighted, so you will define its properties first.

    Select Allow Default.

  5. In the Value field, enter the default value, DVD.
  6. In the Prompt field, specify the following for the prompt that will display in the template. You can type over the word PRODCAT.
    Enter a product category on line 1 of your reply.
    Valid product categories are CD Players, Camcorders, Cameras, DVD, Digital Tape Recorders, PDA Devices, VCRs.
    You can accept the default, which is DVD.
    To accept the default, enter a period (.) on line 1 of your reply.
  7. Click the second parameter, STORE_CODE, to highlight it. You will now define its properties.

    Enter the following informative message for the user in the Ending Message field:

    You must accept the store code value that is supplied for you.
    The store code value is 1003CA.
  8. Select Use Value.
  9. In the Value field, enter the only valid value, 1003CA, as shown in the following image.

  10. If a parameter has the property Use Value, you do not specify a prompt for it.

    Click Email Preview to display the template as the user will see it.

    You can use RIM or Palm handheld emulation to preview the template. Toggle between the two emulators by holding down the Shift key and clicking Email Preview.

    Close the preview window when you are done. Click OK on the Two-Way Email window.

    The New Two-Way Email Template window opens.

  11. Accept the default name of the template by clicking OK.
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