20.4 Elements of a Distribution XML File

20.4.1 destinations

Example

<destinations>

  one or more distribution specifications

</destinations>

Required/Optional

Required. You must have no more or less than one destinations element in your distribution XML file.

Description

The destinations element opens and closes the content area of the distribution XML file. In terms of the distribution XML file's tagging hierarchy, all the other elements are subordinate to the destinations element.

20.4.2 foreach

Example

<foreach>
  <mail id="a1" to="my_addressee@mycompany.com" subject="Fourth Quarter Results">
    <attach format="pdf" name="dept_&amp;&lt;department_ID&gt;.pdf' 
        srcType="report" instance="this">
      <include src="mainSection"/>
    </attach>
  </mail>
</foreach>

or

<mail id="a4" to="recipient@mycompany.com" subject="Regional Results">
  <foreach>
    <attach format="pdf" name="report.pdf" srcType="report" instance="all">
      <include src="mainSection"/>
    </attach>
  </foreach>
</mail>

Required/Optional

Optional. You can have as many foreach elements as you require.

Description

Use the foreach element to burst your distribution against a repeating group. You can use foreach only when the associated report definition file (either RDF, JSP, or XML) has its Repeat On property for the section that will be burst set to an appropriate group. The foreach element specifies that the distribution defined between its open and close tags should be performed for each repeating group.

The Repeat On property can be set for a report section (Header, Main, and Trailer) to associate a data model break group to a section. By setting the Repeat On property for a section, you can generate multiple instances of a section, or a repeating section.

When you implement bursting and distribution in a report, you can generate section-level distribution by setting the Repeat On property for a section to a data model break group, which generates an instance of the section for each column record of that break group. Then, you can distribute each instance of the section as appropriate (for example, to individual managers in the MANAGER group).

If you set the Repeat On property for more than one of the Header, Main, and Trailer sections of a report, all Repeat On property values must be set to the same data model break group. If the Repeat On property for any one of the Header, Main, and Trailer sections is set to a different data model break group, Oracle Reports raises the following messages:

REP-177: Error while running in remote server
REP-34320: Report sections used in destination '<destination id>' do not repeat on the same group

You can also use the foreach element as a sub-element of the mail element, as depicted in the second example provided at the start of this section. (In this example, assuming that mainSection repeats on G_DEPARTMENT_ID, the example will produce a single attachment with all the instances of the report's mainSection in a single file.)

The foreach element works closely with the instance attribute of the attach and file elements. While foreach specifies that the distribution should be performed according to record groups, instance specifies whether the burst groups should be distributed in one file (instance="all") or distributed as separate files: one file for each group instance (instance="this").

When used with the mail element, foreach can mean different things according to its position relative to the mail element:

• When foreach precedes the mail element and instance="this", each group instance is dispatched as a separate mail. For example:

  <foreach>
    <mail id="a1" to="managers@mycompany.com" subject="results">
      <attach name="department_&amp;&lt;department_id&gt;.pdf" instance="this">
        <include src="mainSection" />
      </attach>
    </mail>
  </foreach>
  

  If the report is grouped according to department_id, and there are four departments, then there are four group instances. This means four e-mails per recipient, each e-mail with its own group instance attached: one e-mail has department 10's report attached; another e-mail has department 20's report attached; and so on. Each recipient receives all four e-mails.

• When foreach follows the mail element and instance="this", each group instance is attached to one e-mail going to each recipient. For example:

  <mail id="a1" to="managers@mycompany.com" subject="results">
    <foreach>
      <attach name="department_&amp;&lt;department_id&gt;.pdf" instance="this">
        <include src="mainSection" />
      </attach>
    </foreach>
  </mail>
  

20.4.3 mail

Example

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Results">
  <body srcType="text">
    Attached are quarterly results.
  </body>
  <attach srcType="report">
    <include src="headerSection"/>
    <include src="mainSection"/>
  </attach>
</mail>

or

<mail id="a4" to="recipient@mycompany.com" subject="Regional Results">
  <foreach>
    <attach format="pdf" name="report.pdf" srcType="report" instance="this">
      <include src="mainSection"/>
    </attach>
  </foreach>
</mail>

Required/Optional

Optional. You can have as many mail elements as you require.

Description

Use the mail element to specify distributions through an outgoing SMTP-based mail server. Use it to specify the recipients, the subject, and the priority of the e-mail.

Between an open and close tag of the mail element, there can be only one body sub-element and anywhere from zero to multiple attach and foreach sub-elements.

The mail element also has a set of related attributes. These are expressed within the mail tag. For example, the id, to, and subject attributes are expressed:

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Recent Hires">

Table 20-2 lists and describes the attributes of the mail element.

<pluginParam name="mailServer" value="%MAILSERVER%">
  <property name="enableSSL" value="yes"/>
</pluginParam>

20.4.4 body

Example

On Windows 

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Results">
  <body srcType="file">
    <include src="c:\mail\body.html"/>
  </body>
</mail>

On UNIX 

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Results">
  <body srcType="file">
    <include src="/mail/body.html"/>
  </body>
</mail>

Required/Optional

Optional. You can have a maximum of one body element associated with a given mail element.

Description

The body element acts as a sub-element to the mail element. It specifies the content (or body) of the e-mail. With body, you can type a text string between the open and close tags of the body element or use an include sub-element to specify either an external file, a report, or a section of a report. For example:

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Results">
  <body srcType="text">
    Attached are quarterly results.
  </body>
…

or

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Results">
  <body srcType="file">
    <include src="d:/reports/admin/results.html"/>
  </body>
…

or

<mail id="a1" to="&amp;&lt;first_name&gt;.&amp;&lt;last_name&gt;@myco.com"   
    subject="Quarterly Results">
  <body srcType="report" format="html">
    <include src="headerSection"/>
  </body>
…

The body element has three attributes: srcType, format, and instance, described in Table 20-3.

20.4.5 attach

Example

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Results">
  <body srcType="text">
    Attached are quarterly results.
  </body>
  <foreach>
    <attach format="html" name="contacts.htm" srcType="report" instance="all">
      <include src="headerSection"/>
      <include src="mainSection"/>
    </attach>
  </foreach>
</mail>

or

<mail id="DEST1" to="tsmith@oracle.com" subject="Mail from dest" >
  <attach srcType="report" format="delimiteddata" name="myattach.txt"
    <include src="report"/>
  </attach>
</mail>

Required/Optional

Optional. You can have as many attach elements as you require with a mail element. Note that attach is also a sub-element of foreach, and foreach requires that at least one of its sub-elements be used (out of mail,file,printer,destype, and attach).

Description

The attach element specifies attachments to the e-mail. Additionally, attach must have at least one include sub-element, and can have more than one if srcType="report".

Table 20-4 lists and describes the attributes of the attach element.

Using these attributes in conjunction with the foreach element, you can design a destination that will repeat on a group instance and generate an e-mail for each group attachment. For example:

<foreach>
  <mail id="a2" to="first.name@myco.com,second.name@myco.com, third.name@myco.com, 
      fourth.name@myco.com" subject="Department Summaries">
    <body srcType="text">
      Attached is the breakdown of department summaries for the last quarter.
    </body>
    <attach format="htmlcss" name="deptsum.html" srcType="report" instance="this">
      <include src="report"/>
    </attach>    
  </mail>
</foreach>

By moving the location of the foreach element, you can generate one e-mail with multiple attachments: a separate one for each group instance.

<mail id="a2" to="first.name@myco.com,second.name@myco.com, third.name@myco.com, 
    fourth.name@myco.com" subject="Department Summaries">
  <body srcType="text">
    Attached is the breakdown of department summaries for the last quarter.
  </body>
  <foreach>
    <attach format="htmlcss" name="deptsum.html" srcType="report" instance="this">
       <include src="report"/>
    </attach>
  </foreach>
</mail>

20.4.6 include

Example

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Q4">
  <body srcType="text">
    Attached are quarterly results.
  </body>
  <attach srcType="report" format="pdf">
    <include src="report"/>
  </attach>
</mail>

or

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Q4">
  <body srcType="text">
    Attached are quarterly results.
  </body>
  <attach srcType="report" format="htmlcss">
    <include src="headerSection"/>
  </attach>
</mail>

or

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Q4">
  <body srcType="text">
    Attached are quarterly results.
  </body>
  <attach srcType="file">
    <include src="d:/management/reports/current/Q4.htm"/>
  </attach>
</mail>

Required/Optional

Required when used with body and attach when srcType is report or file, but not when srcType is text. Also required for file, printer, and destype. In the instances where it is required, you must have one and can have more than one include.

Description

The include element is available for use with the body, attach, file, printer, and destype elements. It specifies the file, report, or report section to be included in the body of an e-mail, as an attachment to an e-mail, in the content of a file, in the printer output, or in the content of a custom destination type.

If you want to specify more than one section, but not the entire report, enter an include for each required section. For example:

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com" subject="Results">
  <body srcType="text">
    Attached are quarterly results.
  </body>
  <attach srcType="report" format="htmlcss">
    <include src="headerSection"/>
    <include src="mainSection"/>
  </attach>
</mail>

If the preceding body or attach element has srcType of file, the subsequent include can specify the file either with a directory path and filename or with just the filename, provided the file is located in a directory listed in the REPORTS_PATH environment variable. For example:

<mail id="a1" to="jsmith@foo.com">
  <body srcType="file">
    <include src="q4sales.pdf"/>
  </body>
</mail>

If you do specify a path, use the appropriate standard for your platform. For example:

On Windows: 

<include src="c:\management\reports\current\Q4.htm"/>

On UNIX: 

<include src="/management/reports/current/Q4.htm"/>

No other XML elements are placed between an include element's open and close tag.

Table 20-5 describes the src attribute of the include element.

20.4.7 file

Example

On Windows 

<file id="a7" name="c:\management\reports\report.pdf" format="pdf">
  <include src="report"/>
</file>

or

<file id="MyFiles2" name="c:\My_Departments_Report.txt" format="delimiteddata">
  <include src="report"/>
</file>

On UNIX 

<file id="a7" name="/management/reports/report.pdf" format="pdf">
  <include src="report"/>
</file>

or

<file id="MyFiles2" name="/My_Departments_Report.txt" format="delimiteddata">
  <include src="report"/>
</file>

On Windows or UNIX 

<foreach>
  <file id="a7" name="section&amp;&lt;department_id&gt;.pdf" format="pdf" 
      instance="this">
    <include src="mainSection"/>
  </file>
</foreach>

Required/Optional

Optional. You can have as many file elements as you require.

Description

Use the file element to specify distributions to a file. The file element has one sub-element: include. There must be at least one include sub-element and there may be more between an open and close tag of the file element.

When used with the foreach element and the instance="this" attribute, the file element can distribute each group instance of a grouped report to separate files. For example, if you group a report on department_id, and there are four departments, you can use the foreach/file/instance="this" combination to generate four files, each with a separate department's report. In this case, the file entry in the distribution XML file might look like this:

<foreach>
  <file id="a3" name="dept_&amp;&lt;department_id&gt;.pdf" format="pdf" 
      instance="this">
    <include src="report"/>
  </file>
</foreach>

In this example, all report sections (header, main, and trailer) must repeat on the same group instance (for example, department_id).

Table 20-6 lists and describes the attributes of the file element.

20.4.8 printer

Example

On Windows

<printer id="a1" name="\\server_name\printer_name" copies="5">
  <include src="report"/>
</printer>

On UNIX

<printer id="a1" name="alias_to_registered_printer" copies="5" instance="all">
  <include src="report"/>
</printer>

Required/Optional

Optional. You can have as many printer elements as you require.

Description

Use the printer element to specify distributions to a printer. The printer element has one sub-element: include. There must be at least one include sub-element and there may be more between the open and close tags of the printer element.

When used with the foreach element and the instance="this" attribute, the printer element can distribute each group instance of a grouped report to a separate print job. For example, if you group a report on department_id, and there are four departments, you can use the foreach/printer/instance="this" combination to generate four printed reports, each containing a separate department's report. In this case, the printer entry in the distribution XML file might look like this:

<foreach>
  <printer id="a7" name="\\server_name\printer_name" instance="this">
    <include src="report"/>
  </printer>
</foreach>

In this example, all report sections (header, main, and trailer) must repeat on the same group instance (for example, department_id).

Table 20-7 lists and describes the attributes of the printer element.

20.4.9 destype

Example

<destype id="acustom1" name="fax">
  <include src="headerSection"/>
  <property name="number" value="914925551212"/>
</destype>

See Section 20.5, "Distribution XML File Examples" for examples of using the destype element in a distribution XML file to specify distribution to the following destinations: Oracle Portal, FTP, WebDAV, and fax.

Required/Optional

Optional. You can have as many destype elements as you require.

Description

Use the destype element to specify distribution to a custom destination, such as a fax machine or an FTP site. You also use destype to specify distribution to a portal created with Oracle Portal. The destype element allows for the use of two sub-elements: property and include. At least one include is required.

When used with the foreach element and the instance="this" attribute, the destype element can distribute each group instance of a grouped report to a separate destype instance (for example, a separate fax). For example, if you group a report on department_id, and there are four departments, you can generate four destype instances, each containing a separate department's report. In this case, the destype entry in the distribution XML file might look like this:

<foreach>
  <destype id="a9" name="fax" instance="this">
    <include src="report"/>
    <property name="number" value="&amp;&lt;fax_number&gt;"/>
  </destype>
</foreach>

In this example, all report sections (header, main, and trailer) must repeat on the same group instance (for example, fax_number).

Custom destination types also have a set of related attributes. These are expressed within the destype tag. For example, the id, name, and instance attributes are expressed:

<foreach>
  <destype id="a1" name="name_of_destination_type" instance="all">
    <include src='report'/>
  </destype>
</foreach>

Table 20-8 lists and describes the attributes of the destype element.

20.4.10 property

Example

<foreach>
  <destype id="custom1" name="fax" instance="all">
    <include src="headerSection"/>
    <property name="number" value="914925551212"/>
  </destype>
</foreach>

Required/Optional

Optional. You can have as many properties as you require under a destype element.

Description

The property element allows for the inclusion of name/value pairs expressed in terms recognized by a custom destination type (destype). Properties are merely passed along to the destination handler. They serve no function within Oracle Reports Services. How you specify properties is entirely dependent on the requirements of your custom destination.