PBRS - Power BI Reports Scheduler
Software Features
This document only outlines the main features of PBRS
– please contact us to arrange a demo to see every feature in action.
Call +1 888 781 8966 or email [email protected] today!
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PBRS is the Microsoft Power BI & Microsoft SSRS Reports Scheduler _______________________________ 3
Export Formats _______________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Adobe Acrobat output format options ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 CSV output format options __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 MS Excel data only options. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 Customize column formats for Power BI reports__________________________________________________________________________________________ 10 MS Word output format options __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Output to HTML ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12
Destinations ________________________________________________________________________________________ 13 Export to email ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 Export to disk ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 15 Export to Dropbox ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 16 Export to Microsoft SharePoint ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 Export to a printer _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 18 Export to Google Drive ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 19 Export to Google Sheets __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 20 Export to Slack _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 21 Upload to FTP _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 22 Send reports to SMS ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 23
Single & Package Schedules _______________________________________________________________________ 24 Create a package of single reports ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 25 Create a package of data-driven reports __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 26 Create a package of event-based schedules ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 27
Data-driven Scheduling ____________________________________________________________________________ 28 Create a data driver _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 29 Add report filters to a reporting schedule _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 Set up a data-driven destination __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 32 Set up packages of data-driven reports ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 33
Event-based Schedules ____________________________________________________________________________ 34 Fire off reports when a defined system event occurs _____________________________________________________________________________________ 37
Date & Time Scheduling____________________________________________________________________________ 38 Create your desired scheduling frequency ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 38 Schedule Power BI reports and dashboards to run daily__________________________________________________________________________________ 39 Schedule your month-end Power BI reports and dashboards ____________________________________________________________________________ 41 Schedule Power BI reports and dashboards for the 1st day of every month _____________________________________________________________ 42 Run reports and dashboards on your own schedule _____________________________________________________________________________________ 43
Pre & Post Delivery Workflows _____________________________________________________________________ 44 Merge PDF files ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 46 Create custom workflows _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 47 Add several custom actions to the same schedule ________________________________________________________________________________________ 48
Data-driven Automation ___________________________________________________________________________ 49 Data-drive variables of your custom tasks without the need to schedule a report ________________________________________________________ 50
Exception Handling ________________________________________________________________________________ 51 Exception handling ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 52 Blank report exception handling __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 53
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PBRS is the Microsoft Power BI & Microsoft
SSRS Reports Scheduler
Schedules and exports Microsoft Power BI reports and dashboards, as well as SSRS
reports, in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Excel data, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint,
CSV, PDF, ePub, HTML, JPG, PNG, and more. Send to email, disk, Dropbox, Microsoft
SharePoint, FTP, printer, ODBC, SMS and fax.
PBRS saves time and money by making it
easy to automate the filtering,
distribution and delivery of Microsoft
SSRS and Microsoft Power BI reports and
dashboards - cloud and on-premise.
Simply define single or packages of SSRS
or Power BI reports, schedule, run them
automatically, and send the reports to
print, fax, folder, FTP, SMS, Dropbox,
SharePoint, Google Drive, Google Sheets,
Slack and email in a number of standard
formats including Excel, Excel data only,
CSV, Word, PDF, HTML and more.
PBRS is all-on-premise software. There is
no cloud-based processing. It installs and
processes reports exclusively on your
server so your data never leaves your
organization.
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Export Formats
PBRS offers a variety of formatting and manipulation options
For Power BI reports and dashboards
Available formats for:
Power BI reports and dashboards (Cloud - Power BI Service)
Power BI reports and dashboards (On Premise - Power BI Report Server)
Adobe Acrobat (PDF): Encrypt and password protect PDF files before delivery.
Include watermarks & stamps. Add bookmarks based on
group header. Set document properties (Title, Author,
Producer, etc.).
MS Excel (XLS & XLSX): Customize Excel file (workbook) name. Set password
protection. Set document properties (Title, Author, Company,
etc.).
MS Excel data only: Summarize columns and rows for Power BI Reports.
Customize Column Formats for Power BI Reports.
CSV (character separated values): Export underlying & summary data.
- Use any character separator, or use "tab", choose comma, or
any delimiter (or not, if you do not require one).
MS Word (DOC): Set document properties (Title, Author, Company, etc.).
HTML (HTM).
JPG.
EPUB.
BMP.
PNG.
MS PowerPoint.
For Power BI Paginated Reports and SSRS Reports
Available formats for:
Power BI paginated reports (On Premise - Power BI Report Server)
Microsoft SSRS reports (On Premise - SQL Server Reporting Services)
Adobe Acrobat (PDF): Encrypt and password protect PDF files before delivery.
Include watermarks & stamps. Add bookmarks based on
group header. Set document properties (Title, Author,
Producer, etc.).
CSV (character separated values): Export underlying & summary data.
- Use any character separator, or use "tab", choose comma, or
any delimiter (or not, if you do not require one).
MS Excel (XLS & XLSX): Customize Excel file (workbook) name. Set password
protection. Set document properties (Title, Author, Company,
etc.).
MS Word (DOC): Set document properties (Title, Author, Company, etc.).
Raster image (TIF).
Data interchange format (DIF)
(SSRS Only).
dBase II, dBase III & dBase IV (DBF).
HTML (HTM).
Lotus 1-2-3 (WK1, WK3 & WKS).
Record style (REC).
Rich text (RTF).
Tab separated (TXT).
Text (TXT).
XML (XML).
.
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For Power BI Paginated Reports (Cloud – Power BI Service)
Adobe Acrobat (PDF): Encrypt and password protect PDF files before delivery.
Include watermarks & stamps. Add bookmarks based on
group header. Set document properties (Title, Author,
Producer, etc.).
CSV (character separated values): Export underlying & summary data.
- Use any character separator, or use "tab", choose comma, or
any delimiter (or not, if you do not require one).
MS PowerPoint.
Web Archive (mhtml).
MS Excel 2007.
MS Word (DOC): Set document properties (Title, Author, Company, etc.).
XML.
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Adobe Acrobat output format options
Encrypt and password protect PDF files before delivery.
Add selective password protection (Can Print; Can Copy; Can Edit, Owner Password, User
Password, etc.).
Include watermarks and stamps.
Set document properties (Title, Author, Producer, etc.).
Merge a package of multiple reports into a single PDF file.
Merge any existing PDF files into a single file.
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CSV output format options
Use any character separator, or use "tab", choose comma, or any delimiter (or not, if you
do not require one).
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MS Excel data only options.
For Power BI Reports: export underlying and summary data; add row and column totals if
required.
Customize Excel file (workbook) name.
Burst report groups into separate worksheets in the same workbook.
Merge a package of multiple reports as individual worksheets (tabs) in a single workbook.
Set password protection.
Set document properties (Title, Author, Company, etc.).
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Customize column formats for Power BI reports
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MS Word output format options
For MS Word (DOC): Set document properties (Title, Author, Company, etc.).
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Output to HTML
Use advanced or basic HTML rendering.
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Destinations
Distribute reports and dashboards to a variety of destinations
Flexible, highly customizable and
function-rich destination functionality.
Printer Distribute to single or multiple printers.
Email Static recipient list or a data driven list of recipients.
Disk/folder Send reports to a local folder or network drive. Output to local
drives or output to network shares and UNC paths.
Microsoft SharePoint Export to SharePoint libraries, folders and lists.
FTP/FTPS Upload to FTP server.
Cloud Google Drive, Google Sheets, Dropbox, Slack
SMS Mobile text alerts and/or entire reports.
Fax Reports and dashboards to fax.
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Export to email
Use static email addresses or read email addresses from a database. Personalize the
email body by inserting personalized tags in email body. For example, Dear
{tablename.firstname}.
Send emails in plain text or HTM, use raw HTML code to construct better-looking emails.
Embed report into email body, insert additional files as attachments and much more.
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Export to disk
Output to local and network drives. Customize the file name, the output extension and
append date and time. Files may also be compressed (zip) and encrypted. PGP
encryption is also available.
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Export to Dropbox
Export Power BI reports and dashboards to Dropbox in a specified format.
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Export to Microsoft SharePoint
Export Power BI reports and dashboards directly to Microsoft SharePoint libraries,
folders and lists.
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Export to a printer
Export multiple copies to a single printer or output to multiple printers (bulk printing).
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Export to Google Drive
Export reports directly to a folder on Google Drive.
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Export to Google Sheets
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Export to Slack
Export reports and dashboards to a specific channel within Slack. Use constants to add a
customized message every time.
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Upload to FTP
Upload Power BI reports and dashboards to an FTP server. Supports Secure FTP - SSL 3
and SSL 3.1 (TLS).
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Send reports to SMS
Send an alert as an SMS (phone text message) or embed a report into an SMS message.
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Single & Package Schedules
Schedule single or packages of reports
A single report is set to generate at
specified intervals: hourly, daily, weekly,
etc. It is exported to a specified format.
The exported file may be delivered to
one or more destinations.
Package reports are for delivering more
than one report to one or more
destinations at the same time.
For example, package reports may be
delivered to a client via email. Each
report may be an attachment or reports
may be merged together.
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Create a package of single reports
A report pack can be sent to a client with all reports compressed into a single zip file, or
merged into one PDF or Excel workbook.
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Create a package of data-driven reports
Run a group of data-driven reports at the same time.
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Create a package of event-based schedules
Use this if you need to run more than one event-based schedule at the same time.
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Data-driven Scheduling
Use PBRS's unique data-driven schedule processes
Use data-driven schedules to bring
reporting services functionality to Power
BI reports and dashboards! Drive all
variables of your reporting requirements
(filters, destinations, format, etc.) from
database tables and queries.
Examples:
• Distribute a report to a fluctuating list of
recipients, e.g. you can distribute a
report throughout a large organization
where recipients vary from one month to
the next.
• Filter the report output using report
filter values that are retrieved at run
time, e.g. the filter value returned from
the table for ‘Last Name’ will be ‘Doe’ for
John Doe and ‘Smith’ for John Smith.
• Determine the delivery type and report
format dynamically at run time, e.g. John
Smith gets the report as a PDF file by
email and John Doe gets the report as an
Excel spreadsheet by FTP upload to his
web server.
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Create a data driver
Use the data in your database to populate report filters, destinations, formats and much
more.
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Add report filters to a reporting schedule
Select records from your database according to the fields specified in the report filters.
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Set up a data-driven destination
PBRS will automatically enter the required filter values, export and deliver the report to
the corresponding email.
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Set up packages of data-driven reports
Packages make it easy to send many reports in the same email. Reports can be merged
before delivery and password protected.
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Event-based Schedules
Distribute Power BI reports and dashboards based on triggers
Distribute Power BI reports and
dashboards, and respond to your
business needs by setting schedules to
run based on events and triggers rather
than date. Add real-time monitoring to
your Power BI reports and dashboard
distribution process. With PBRS's event-
based schedules, reports are fired off
when events occur, e.g. database value is
present, file is modified, window is open,
an email is received, etc. PBRS makes
sure the reports are generated and
distributed on time and error-free. It's
what you want from a Power BI Reports
Scheduler.
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Event Triggers
Database record exists
Monitor for the existence of database
records. This condition can apply to new
database records only, or to any
matching database records.
Database record has been modified
Choose to include new (Inserted) records
and deleted records. Use this for follow-
ups by selecting to only match the
condition if the record has been (or not
been) modified in x minutes. Repeat the
action every x minutes until the condition
is no longer true, or run just once.
Unread email is present
Monitor a POP or IMAP mailbox for new
emails. Forward, redirect, delete mail
after processing. Read the body text and
other mail sections (sender email,
subject, etc.) and use the values to
populate report parameters, email
addresses, etc. For example, send the
report to the sender of the email.
File exists
Use this trigger to respond to the
existence of a new file in a local or
network folder.
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Event Triggers, contd.
File has been modified
Great for monitoring log files, but works
equally well for all other types of local or
network files.
Process exists
Great for monitoring for certain key
processes on your machine. If those
process are not running then PBRS can
automatically restart them.
Window is present
Use this to monitor for open windows
Data is received on a port
PBRS can monitor specified ports for
data and then execute tasks such as
reports or database updates.
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Fire off reports when a defined system event occurs
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Date & Time Scheduling
Schedule reports and dashboards to run at a specific date and time
It's easy to schedule Power BI reports
and dashboards to run at a specific date
and time, or to run them hourly, daily,
weekly, or monthly, or set up your own
custom frequencies, e.g. 4-4-3, every
other day, third Monday of the month,
and so on.
And the same report can be scheduled
to be run multiple times with different
filters, formats, frequencies, and
destinations. It makes Power BI report
and dashboard scheduling simple,
hassle-free and convenient for you.
Create your desired scheduling frequency
Schedules can be set to run daily, weekly, week days, working days, monthly, e.g. on the
nth day of a month, annually, or create a bespoke scheduling frequency using custom
calendars. Schedules can be set to repeat every x min.
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Schedule Power BI reports and dashboards to run daily
Schedule a report to run every day at a set time excluding specific days by using
exception calendars.
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Exception calendars are available for blackout dates.
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Schedule your month-end Power BI reports and dashboards
Schedule a report to run on the last day of every month at a set time.
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Schedule Power BI reports and dashboards for the 1st day of every month
Schedule reports and dashboards to run on the 1st day of every month except for
certain user-specified dates.
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Run reports and dashboards on your own schedule
Can’t find what you need? Use custom calendars to set your own business-driven
scheduling frequency, e.g. 4-4-3.
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Pre & Post Delivery Workflows
Use custom tasks to automate your business
Write and execute simple or complex
business process automation scripts,
workflows or macros using PBRS' custom
tasks. Use this schedule on its own or as
part of a more complex automation
solution.
Examples include:
Send an email
Update a database record
Upload to FTP
Update a file
Print files
and lots more.
Run custom tasks before report delivery.
Run custom tasks after report
production.
Run custom tasks after report delivery.
Run custom tasks before and after a
report has exported.
Use custom tasks to create automation
schedules.
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Available Custom Tasks
General
Run program (bat, exe, com)
Open, print document
Wait/pause
Send SMS
Execute schedule
Create exchange appointment
Files and folders
Copy, rename, move, delete file
Write to text file
Zip, unzip files
Create, rename, move folder
Merge PDF files
Folder housekeeping
Manipulate PDF
Build Excel workbook
Merge Excel files
Manipulate Excel
Upload to SharePoint
Internet and FTP
Send an email
Open a web address
Upload to FTP
Download, delete from FTP
Create, delete FTP directory
Database
Execute SQL script
Run stored procedure
Insert, update, delete database record
Create, delete database table
Create, delete table column
Execute SSIS package
Export data to a report
Save BLOB to SQL server
Get BLOB from SQL-server
Registry
Set value
Delete key
Create key
Merge PDF files
Use automation schedules to merge PDF files in a specified folder.
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Create custom workflows
Use custom actions pre- or post-delivery of a schedule to create a workflow.
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Add several custom actions to the same schedule
Create your own workflows by adding as many custom actions to an automation
schedule.
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Data-driven Automation
A data-driven automation schedule gives you the ability to write automated processes
using PBRS' standard custom actions from database tables and queries at run time. You
can use data-driven automation schedules for a number of scenarios:
- automatically update databases,
- set registry keys, move files,
- and even create reports directly from database data.
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Data-drive variables of your custom tasks without the need to schedule a report
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Exception Handling
Set error handling for reports and options for blank reports.
Use exception handing to determine
what should happen if a reports fails to
run or if the report executes but contains
no data.
For example, if a report takes longer than
the specified amount of time to run, treat
the schedule as an error and follow the
appropriate action. The “auto-calculate”
option instructs PBRS to automatically
determine how long a schedule should
take to run the report. If it takes longer
than the calculated amount of time, then
it is an error. Should an error occur with
a schedule, specify the retry interval and
number of times the schedule should
attempt a retry.
Check for blank reports and determine
what actions should be taken if a blank
report is detected.
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Exception handling
Should an error occur, define the action(s) PBRS should follow.
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Blank report exception handling
If a report genuinely has no data behind it, PBRS can be configured to do a number of
things with the report and schedule.