Who is this article for?

Users who want to create a report notification schedule

No elevated permissions are required.

Although the ability to log in and perform a search is fundamental for urgent matters, it is more efficient to receive an email notification when certain criteria are met. Notifications can be conveniently configured by selecting the [Notification] button situated in the search toolbar.

To establish a notification, please click on the [Notification] button on the toolbar.

In the notifications window enter the subject, body, text, and other relevant email attributes. Hover over the help icons for more information about various fields. 

When the notification details have been added, test the notification by clicking the [Test Search] and [Run Now] buttons (remember to click [Save] first).

Notification attachments

Notifications can be optionally configured to include an attachment in one of two formats, PDF, or Spreadsheet.

The content, layout, and functionality of the attachment is determined by the view and attachment type.

Notification failures due to attachment size 
Careful consideration should be taken when selecting the option to add an attachment. A large attachment could block the delivery of the notification based on email setting limitations. Most spreadsheets are attached within an acceptable limit, whereas .pdf documents may convert to a larger size.

Setting a notification schedule

Set up a reoccurring schedule notification or a triggered notification that is based on set defined criteria.

Schedule dates determined by server location 
Schedules run in the time zone where the server is located. Ideagen's U.S. hosted environment is in the Central time zone.

Quarterly/monthly schedule dates

Monthly schedules can be set up to send notifications quarterly, or other monthly frequencies. When these types of schedules are used the notification schedule will always begin on January 1. Subsequent notifications will then be calculated from January 1. 

For example, notifications set to quarterly (every 3 months) will be sent on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1. If a quarterly schedule is created mid-cycle, like in May, the first notification will be sent on the next scheduled date, July 1. 

Changing the start date
It is not possible to define the first period to be a month other than January.

Notification triggers

While it isn't necessary to define a Trigger, they can be set to limit when notifications are sent. There are various trigger types to choose from, with some requiring a value to be set in the Criteria field.

Because notifications run off saved searches, the [Notification] button is grayed out until the search has been saved again. Only administrators can modify a notification published to a shared dashboard. Otherwise, the screen will be view-only.

The resulting count can be added to the subject line or body of the email by using the ::ResultsCount:: variable. Fields in the report can be added to the subject or body of a notification when they are referred to by the module builder ::field name::. For example, a field in a module called “Owner” can be embedded into the notification by using the variable ::Owner::. Ideagen does not currently publish the available field names directly in the notifications screen, but an administrator can retrieve the “Field name” through the Query Builder window by querying the vXX_Field system view.

Notification Limitation
Notifications that use thresholds (e.g., Total rows returned > 0) to determine when a notification should be sent do not consider BI right-side filters, such as advanced filtering of child-level data.

Recipients
Notifications can be sent to internal users (those that have a Ideagen account), external users, and platform teams. External user email addresses must be typed into the "E-mail(s)" field. When a notification is distributed to a platform team, an external team member is also included in the distribution list.

Another option to distribute the email to a large external group is to send the email to an externally managed distribution list. For example, a company could create and maintain a distribution list called, "dailyactionslist@yourcompany.com". To send a notification to this list add the distribution list to the notification recipient's field.

Notification sub-reports

Attachments in emails received by sub-report recipients will only contain the items that relate to that recipient. However, if the sub-report recipient clicks the "Run Search" button, they will see all the results of the search.

Sub-Report Notifications can only be assigned to a person. Team Sub-Report Notifications are not supported. To assign a notification to a person(s), select a name(s) from the Send sub-reports to dropdown. This will generate a unique sub-report for each recipient. These emails will be in addition to the complete report sent to any additional recipients specified.

For example, if the sub-report field is Manager and a search result contains two distinct managers, Joe and Ellen, then Joe will receive a notification with a sub-report attachment containing just his items, and Ellen will receive one containing only her items. If Joe or Ellen clicks the "Run Search" button they will see all the items.

Notifying a team OR an individual.
Fields that allow for the selection of both a team and an individual cannot be used with the Sub-Reports feature.

Setting up a notification with sub-reports

Notifications created by users that are now disabled.
When a user is disabled, all notifications created by that user will cease working after 30 days or need to be reassigned to an active user. If recipients of a notification would like to continue to receive the report it can also be saved under their own reports.
 

More Information
Classic UI Administrators, see Mangng the reassignment of notifications in the Classic UI for additional information.