Requirements for launching reports and jobs from third-party applications

The following topics in this section contain information about the requirements that must be met for third-party applications to launch BMC Network Automation reports and job URLs.

Understanding the general URL rules

The format of each URL must be as follows:

https://<bna-server>:<bna-port>/bca-networks/externalurl/external.do?target=<tagert option>&<additional options>

Use the following general rules for constructing URLs to launch BMC Network Automation reports and jobs.

• A target (for example, target=discSummaryReport) must be present in every URL. See About target options for a listing of valid targets. Use the following example URL to access the Device Inventory report:
  
  https://<bna-server>:<bna-port>/bca-networks/externalurl/external.do?target=deviceInventoryReport&selectedFields=iosEntities&spanType=device&spanName=${name}
• No spaces are permitted in the URL. If a space is required, use the plus sign (+) character to indicate a space.
• URL parameters must be separated by an ampersand (&) character.

Once you enter a URL, you are directed to the authentication page. Log on as described on Accessing the interface.

About URL target options

The following table lists the supported target options for URLs used to access report and jobs data.

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About time period type parameters

Some URLs (for example, Change Summary report) support the timePeriodType and timePeriod parameters.

The timePeriodType and timePeriod parameters are specified in the following file:

BCAN_HOME/public/bmc/bca-networks/xml/TimePeriodTypeMap.xml

 
timePeriodType parameters

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timePeriod parameters

Specifying a time period before or after a specified date

When specifying timePeriodType=after or timePeriodType=before, use this format anywhere you specify the date or edit configuration files manually:

timePeriod=Date

Date is formatted as follows, regardless of local settings:

MM/DD/YY HH:MM:SS
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM
MM/DD/YYYY
YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS
YYYYMMDDTHHMM

Dates in the URLs must be correctly encoded (for example, a blank space is %20, and a + symbol is %2b).

Examples for timePeriodType=after:

Examples for timePeriodType=before:

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Specifying a range of dates

When specifying timePeriodType=range, specify timePeriod as follows:

timePeriod=Date;Date
timePeriod=Date+Offset
timePeriod=Date-Offset
timePeriod=Date@Offset

Date is formatted as follows:

MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM
MM/DD/YYYY
YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS
YYYYMMDDTHHMM

Dates in the URLs must be correctly encoded (for example, a blank space is %20, and a + symbol is %2b).

Offset is formatted as:

Examples for timePeriodType=range:

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