Since NAV 2015 first became available in October, we have been exploring new features on our blog which we — as consultants and NAV users — believe will help reduce work for end users (speaking of NAV 2015 new features, check out our post on Jet Express for Word).
How many hours have you wasted waiting for a NAV report?
Having personally used NAV from Version 5 to NAV 2013 R2, one of the major weaknesses of the product was the lack of a scheduling tool for reports.
As NAV users will know, these reports can be very large depending on the number of transactions, customers, or vendors which means you often need to wait for the report to run. Many NAV users get the report ready, set up the parameters, begin running the report, and then head off for a coffee or a mid-morning snack. This disruptive process is not the best use of a staff member’s time and energy.
Does this look familiar? Get ready to wait…
Exploring NAV 2015 New Features: The Report Scheduler
Dynamics NAV 2015 addresses this issue by allowing users to schedule reports to run at non-operating times.
Users define which reports they would like to add to the Job Queue, when the reports should be scheduled, and how often they occur. Report parameters can also identified for the report when it runs. Once the job queue runs, these reports are placed into a Report Inbox that is displayed in the user’s Role Centre (refer to screenshot below).
Benefits include:
- The ability to leverage the server to run the report
- The fact that reports can be saved as PDF, Word, Excel or sent to a printer
- That users can be more productive during business hours
Setting Up the Report Scheduler in NAV 2015
To navigate to the functionality go to Departments > Administration > Application Setup > Job Queue, and you will find all of the setup functions.
Step 1
Setup a Job Queue Category List, create a new grouping. This allows you to group reports together that you wish to run.
Step 2
Setup the Job Queue Entries. This is where you identify the report that you wish to run, the report parameters, as well as the frequency and time to run.
Step 3
Now you will setup the Job Queue itself by giving it a Code and a Description. Then add the Job Queue Category Filter, the date to start, and the server information.
Step 4
Start the Job Queue from the Home tab on the Job Queue card ribbon.
Step 5
Open the Role Centre to view reports that have been scheduled and run. Once the Report Inbox begins to fill up, a report simply needs to be highlighted and can be accessed by clicking on “Show.” This will prompt the user to select an option to open or save the report. Now, the analysis of the reports can begin without having to wait to run the report.
When it comes to reporting, NAV 2015 has made some serious improvements aimed at giving users greater control over both development and design. We’re pretty excited about this release and will continue to blog about NAV 2015 features in the coming weeks.
