batching Infomaker Reports

Michael Slattery

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Mar 8, 2016, 11:09:25 AM3/8/16

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Hello All,
I'm a half-decent Infomaker report writer with no idea about PowerBuilder.
My IT support tells me that there is no way from inside Infomaker to batch Infomaker reports, that is, to run a function which takes as an argument the report exe, and a list of arguments (report targets).

This is too bad, because I have a number of reports that need to be updated several times a year, which are run for hundreds of sites (the report targets from above). Having the ability to batch these reports would be a big step forward!. Currently, I run each report individually, and then save as a pdf.

My question: is there a way to get this done in a PB wrapper of some sort? Or even within Infomaker?

Hope my description is clear enough, I'm using Infomaker v.12.5, b.2511

thanks all!
best,
Mike

Rick

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Mar 8, 2016, 4:34:54 PM3/8/16

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You can compile of your reports into an InfoMaker executable, then use command-line parameters to launch each report: http://infocenter.sybase.com/help/topic/com.sybase.infocenter.dc37789.1250/html/imug/BACJBJJG.htm?resultof=%22%69%6e%66%6f%6d%61%6b%65%72%22%20%22%69%6e%66%6f%6d%61%6b%22%20%22%63%6f%6d%6d%61%6e%64%22%20%22%6c%69%6e%65%22%20

List the command for each report in a .bat file to fully automate everything. Haven't done this for a while, but I recall if you set your default printer to PDF it can be made completely seamless. Back when I used it, the user wanted a paper copy, so it went to his printer every morning by scheduling the .bat through Windows task scheduler.

Rick

Michael Slattery

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Mar 9, 2016, 10:58:56 AM3/9/16

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Rick,
Thanks! Got it working....almost. I currently have both a Retrieval Argument and a Column Specification. The Retrieval argument is handled easily with the /A flag, but it balks if I add the second argument for the Column Specification ("Number of Arguments passed on commandline does not match number of report arguments).

But, the Column Specification is the important one. I will remove the Retrieval Argument and see if I can put the Col. Spec. in the /A flag.

Another question:
Can I specify the output pdf file names in each call inside the .bat somehow?

thanks again!
Mike

Rick

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Mar 9, 2016, 2:46:20 PM3/9/16

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Not sure about specifying the names, but if you are getting random file names, then you could insert a line in the .bat to rename the new file when it is created.

Michael Slattery

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Mar 9, 2016, 3:21:00 PM3/9/16

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No, these would be very specific names, which I could easily hard code into the .bat, I just dont know the syntax relative to the construction:

xxx.exe /RP myprog /A arg1

Rick

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Mar 14, 2016, 5:22:30 PM3/14/16

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I was thinking about a new line in the .bat file. You could run the .exe, find out where the random file is being created, and copy that to a new folder with the correct name. The .bat would be something like...

xxx.exe /RP myprog /A arg1

COPY c:\whatever\*.pdf c:\yourfolder\correctname.pdf

xxx.exe /RP myprog /A arg1

COPY c:\whatever\*.pdf c:\yourfolder\correctname2.pdf