How to create a Scheduled Export

In the module from which the records are to be exported:

1. Search for or otherwise list a group of records.
2. Select Tools>Exports from the Menu bar to display the Exports box with a list of all Scheduled Exports for the current module.
3. Click New to display the Export Properties box:

   

4. Enter a descriptive name for the Export Schedule in the top text field.

   The title will display in the Exports dialogue box, from where it can be selected by authorised users to run the export on an adhoc basis.

5. If you require the exported data to be transformed from XML format to another format (e.g. CSV), select a filter from the Filter (optional) drop list.

   Filters are defined by the System Administrator. If a filter is not selected, the exported data is saved in Vitalware XML format. See How to create filters for more details.

6. Enter the first date on which the export will be produced in the Start Date field.

   This date is also used to calculate the next time an export should occur when the report frequency is specified as a number of days / months / years.

   The format of the date (e.g. dd/mmm/yyyy) is as specified for your Vitalware system.

   A start date must be provided.

7. Enter an end date in the Finish Date field.

   Note: An end date is not required, however if specified, data will not be exported after that date has been reached. An empty end date implies no final date for exporting data.

8. Select an export frequency from the Frequency drop list.

   There are four frequency values to choose from:

   Frequency	Description
   Adhoc	Use Adhoc when defining an export that will not be run at a regular interval, for example if you are contacted irregularly to produce the export data. As the export is not scheduled, it must be run manually to produce the export data. See How to run Unscheduled Exports for more details.
   Daily	Use Daily if the data is exported on anything less than a monthly basis. The following options are displayed when Daily is selected: There are three ways to configure daily exports:
   	1. The simplest is to select the days of the week on which the export is to occur. The export is run early in the morning of the day(s) selected. If no Finish Date is specified, the export will run every week on the specified day(s). Typically an export would be run once per week or every day. If there is an interval between exports (the export is scheduled for Sunday and Thursday, for instance), the records exported on Sunday would be from the previous Thursday, and the records exported on the Thursday would be from the previous Sunday. 2. Specify the number of days between exports (starting from the Start Date) in the Day Interval field. For example, a value of 14 indicates that the export is to be run fortnightly from the Start Date. 3. Specify the day on which an export will first be run and the interval between exports. For example, a value of 14 for Day Interval, with Thursday selected indicates that an export will commence on the first Thursday after or on the Start Date and will run every 14 days.
   Monthly	Use Monthly when data exports occur on a monthly basis but less than annually. The following options are displayed when Monthly is selected: Specify how may months must elapse between each report using the Month Interval field. If a value is not given, the export will occur monthly. For example, a value of 3 indicates that the export will occur quarterly. In The Day of the Month field specify on what day in the month the export is to occur. A value of 1 indicates that the export will run on the first day of the month. A value of 31 implies the last day of the month, regardless of how many days are in the month. The First Weekday of the Month checkbox may be selected instead of specifying a day of the month. In this case, the export is run early in the morning on the first weekday (Monday to Friday) of the month. A value must be supplied for either Month Interval or the First Weekday of the Month.
   Annually	Use Annually for any data export required on a yearly basis. The following options are displayed when Annually is selected: There are three ways to configure annual exports:
   	1. Specify the day of the year on which the export is to take place in The Day of the Year field. A value between 1 and 365 can be used. 2. Specify a specific day in a given month using the Day & Month of the Year fields. For example, a setting of 1JulyThe Day & Month of the Year would allow data up to and including 30 June to be exported. 3. The First Weekday of the Year checkbox may be selected instead of specifying a day within a month. In this case, the export is executed early in the morning of the first weekday (Monday to Friday) of the Year.

1. In the Export Properties dialogue box, select the Fields tab.

   Here we add the fields to be exported.

2. Click Add to display the Export Fields box.

   The Export Fields box lists all fields in the current module, as well as fields in attached modules (an attachment field is indicated by the plus icon):

   

3. In the Export Fields dialogue box, select a field and click Add.

   -OR-

   Double-click a field.

   The field is added to the Fields list in the Export Properties box.

4. When all required fields are added, click Close in the Export Fields dialogue box.

   The Export Properties dialogue box now lists all the fields that will be included in the export:

   

For more details regarding the selection of fields for export see Select the fields to include in the report: the Fields tab in the Reports section of the Vitalware help.

1. In the Export Properties dialogue box, select the Conditions tab.

   On the Conditions tab we add a TexQL statement to determine which records will be exported.

2. Enter a TexQL statement into the Conditions text box.

   The following placeholders may be used in the TexQL statement:

   #TODAY#	This placeholder is replaced with the date on which the export is run. The date order used (e.g. day/month/year, month/day/year) is as specified for your Vitalware system.
   #STARTDATE#	This placeholder is replaced with the date of the first day after the end date of the previous export. It is used for date range queries to specify the starting date for the exported records.
   #ENDDATE#	This placeholder is replaced with the date of the last day for the records to be exported. The end date is always the day before the scheduled date as exports are run early in the morning of the scheduled day.
   #MONTH#	This placeholder is replaced with the month of the day that falls immediately prior to the day of the export. The month is a number between 1 and 12. For example, if the export date is 3 May, #MONTH# is 5 (May); if the export date is 1 May, #MONTH# is 4 (April).
   #YEAR#	This placeholder is replaced with the year of the day prior to the execution of the export.

   Note: Placeholders use the day before the date on which the export is run as the closing date because exports are run early in the morning: the closing date for searches does not include the current date as the day is not yet complete.

   When the Export Properties dialogue box is closed by clicking the OK button, the TexQL statement is checked to ensure that a valid query has been specified:

   

   Hint - determining the TexQL Conditions statement

   A TexQL condition statement is a query used to retrieve the records to be exported. Any valid TexQL query statement may be used. Unfortunately the format of the statement may be hard to piece together unless you are familiar with SQL. Fortunately Vitalware provides an easy mechanism for generating a statement based on query terms entered into the current module.

   1. Open the module from which the records are to be exported.

      The module should be in Search mode.

   2. Enter search terms as though you were retrieving the records you would like to export.

      Note: Note that there may be search terms specified in a module by default. If these are not required, clear them.

      Where you want to use a date range containing place markers, enter the place marker into the control:

      

   3. Select File>Show Search from the Menu bar to display the Edit Search dialogue box:

      

   4. Copy the contents of the Edit Search box (highlight the entire text and press CTRL+C).
   5. Click Abort.

      The Edit Search box is closed.

      The TexQL condition statement to use for your export can now be pasted into the Conditions tab when defining your Export Properties.

      Note: In order to have the Show Search facility available a user must have (or be member of a group that has) the daEditQuery permission.

1. In the Export Properties box, select the Sort Order tab.

   All fields in the module are listed in the Fields list.

2. Select a field in the Fields list and click Add to add it to the Order list.

   -OR-

   Double-click the field name in the Fields list:

   

   Add as many fields on which to sort as required.

   Up and Down arrows	Use the Up and Down arrows to the right of the Order list to prioritise the sort order of fields. Records will be sorted by the first field in the Order list, and then by the second, and so on. For example, the first sort field is by year and the second sort field is by Title. Records will be sorted into years and then within each year will be sorted by title. The arrows will be greyed out if there is no, or only one, field added to the Order list.
   Sort ascending and Sort descending	Records are sorted in ascending order (A to Z or 1 to 10) by default. To reverse the sort order of a field, select it and click to the right of the Order list.
   	To remove a field from the Order list, select it and click Remove.
   	Click Clear to clear all fields from the Order list.

1. In the Export Properties dialogue box, select the Options tab:

   

2. Select the required Sort Options.

   For more details regarding sort options see Set sort options: the Options tab in the Reports section of the Vitalware help.

On the Security tab we determine who is authorised to run your export by adding users or groups to the Access list:

1. If required, select the Security tab to give other users permission to use this export.
2. Click OK.

   Any TexQL statement added on the Conditions tab is now validated and if all is well the new scheduled export will display in the Exports box.