Create an action that publishes a report

Reports consist of two file types: an HTML file and a Publication Parameter File (PPF). The "Publish report" dropdown lists all HTML pages located in the /MCS Root/www/reports/ directory. If no custom reports have been created, this list will display the default reports included with MCS.

To publish a report, select the desired HTML page from the dropdown, then enter a name into the input field to the right. The name you choose here will become the link users use to access and view the report data.

If the HTML file contains any tilde variables as separate section will appear, which will be touched on later.

The report name can also be a tilde variable, which is explained here.

Publish report and report name

The report source refers to the Publication Parameter File (PPF). The "Publish source" dropdown lists all PPF pages located in the /MCS Root/www/reports/ directory. If no custom reports have been created, this list will display the default reports included with MCS.

Typically, a PPF file will match the name of the HTML file from the section above.

If the PPF file contains any tilde variables as separate section will appear, which are explained here

Report Source

A Publication Satellite is a utility that can be installed on a remote server (outside of MCS) to enable publishing reports externally. You can find more detailed information about Publication Satellites here.

For this tutorial, we'll keep the default setting ("This Server"), meaning the report will be published directly within MCS.

Publication satellite

The publication portal supports a directory structure, allowing reports to be published within subdirectories for easier organization and retrieval.

If the specified subdirectory does not already exist, it will be automatically created.

Setting the directory value to / will publish the report directly in the root of the publication portal.

Publish to a directory

The title entered here determines how the report will appear in the publication portal. It’s important to choose a clear, descriptive title.

This field also supports tilde variables, which are explained here. You can combine tilde variables with regular text, as shown in the example below.

Set Title

At least one tag is mandatory for a report. When there are lots of reports available tags can be used to help quickly filter what is available.

Add a report tag

Reports can be assigned an expiry, in days, to ensure old reports get automatically deleted.

Report expires in

When the publication portal first loads it prompts for an access code. This can be left blank, which will only show reports that do not have access codes. If an access code is entered, reports that match that code will also be shown.

Access code

If this option is checked, the report will use dynamic data. This means the report will fetch the latest data from the server each time it's accessed. Dynamic reports are ideal for situations where you always want to display up-to-date information.

If unchecked, the report will use static data. This means the data is retrieved once—at the time the report is published—and then permanently embedded into the report. Each time this static report is accessed, it will display the exact data captured at publication. Static reports are especially useful for one-time tests that need to be preserved and reviewed in their original state.

Dynamic or static data

Once you've finished configuring the report, click the Save Report button at the bottom of the page. This will take you back to the action setup.

The configured report will now appear as an item within the action. If no additional action items are required, click the Save AWO button to finalize and save the action.

Save action