Creating a customized report template

You can control the content of the report by:

• Adding data elements and sort capabilities that are not available for standard default reports
• Removing unneeded fields or headings
• Adding text 'constants' to explain or provide more details about report data

You can also control the format of the report by defining the content and placement of the following items:

• Page headers and footers
• Report headers and footers
• Items on an individual line in the report (body/detail)
• Text 'constants' that explain or label data in the report
• Spacing between lines in a report
• Break (sort key) headers and footers (determined by the order by fields that you define to sort the data in a report)

If you use application programs to extract information from Log Master reports, using report templates enables you to optimize the report data for your program.

Considerations for report templates are as follows:

• A report template is valid only for one report type. If you define a report template for a Detail report, you cannot use that template to print a Summary report. Log Master validates the report type when it uses the template to generate a report.
• A report template reflects the report options (for example, order by fields) that were selected when the template was generated. To change the order by fields or other options, modify the template. You cannot specify batch syntax to use a template and specify batch syntax for order by fields of the same report.
• If you save a report template in the Repository, that template can only be used on the current Db2 subsystem (SSID). To use the same template on multiple subsystems, export the template to a data set, which you can import to additional subsystems.
• When you delete a report template from the Repository, Log Master does not check work ID associations before deleting the template (as it does for filters).
• If you generate a report from logical log input, and you use a report template that is stored in the Repository, Log Master requires a connection to Db2. If the template is stored in a data set, or if you do not use a template, reports from logical log input do not require the connection.
• Versions of Log Master that support report templates use at least one sort action for each type of report within a log scan. Earlier versions of Log Master use one sort action for all reports in the same log scan (with an additional sort for Backout Integrity or Catalog Activity reports). Versions that support templates can require more resources for sort actions.
• The online interface uses a default template name of userID.$$TEMPLATEnnnn, where nnnn is a sequence number (for example, USER14.$$TEMPLATE0001). The default value for the template portion of the name is reserved for use by Log Master; you cannot create a template name with a template portion that begins with $$TEMPLATE.

This section contains the following topics: