Archiving invoices in pdf files

Is the PDF report available on the screen "Report Archive" once you create it?

Hi ​@romsar,

In IFS Apps 10, the behavior you are observing is expected. When a report (such as a customer invoice) is generated, the PDF is not stored as a physical file on the middleware or application server. Instead, the report is formatted by the Report Formatter, and the resulting PDF is stored internally in the system specifically in the Report Archive and PDF Archive within the database.

The PDF_REPORT_CREATED event is triggered after the print job is completed, and your email action simply picks up that generated PDF and sends it as an attachment. Therefore, no standalone .pdf file is written to the server file system, which is why you cannot find it on the middleware server.

How to save PDFs to a folder on the server?

The recommended approach in IFS Apps 10 is to use Report Rules + Routing Rules, rather than relying on the PDF_REPORT_CREATED event action alone. You can set a report rule which sets the Printer to "Send PDF to Connect", then create a Routing Rule and a Routing Address which moves the PDF to a specific folder. After the report runs, it will be saved in the shared location you specify in the routing address.

Refer to following community article for more information.

The steps are:

1. Create a Routing Address — specify a shared folder path (with Write permissions) and a file naming pattern for the saved PDF.
2. Create a Routing Rule — set the MESSAGE_FUNCTION to your invoice report ID and link it to the Routing Address above.
3. Set the Printer in your Report Rule to "Send PDF to Connect".

By setting up a report rule this way, it will save the PDF version of the report in an FTP or shared folder, with a fixed location but a file name that can vary depending on the order number, supplier ID, system date, etc.

Refer to following community article as well for more information.

Can you do it via a custom event action instead?

Some implementations use Report Rules to save PDFs to a folder on the Application Server and then use a deferred event call to send the email, essentially combining both approaches. However, the pure event action approach does not natively write to a filesystem path; routing rules are the standard mechanism for that.

In summary: the PDFs exist inside IFS's Report/PDF Archive, and to get them onto a server folder, set up Report Rules with a "Route to Connect" action and a Routing Address pointing to your target folder. This is the most robust, supported path in Apps 10.

yes, indeed

Hello ​@ashen_malaka_ranasinghe 

Maybe your response remains valid, but myself, I already had to deal with a routing address + routing rule on another subject, but it was a fail. 

As my context is sending emails to each customer in which a new invoice is made the day before AND to archive those PDF files, I’m thinking to make on this in an easier way. I would make a batch which would run early in the morning, in which I would in first do the sending, and later, I would tun the following sql query :

select RESULT_KEY

from archive

where REPORT_ID='CUSTOMER_ORDER_IVC_REP'

and REPORT_TITLE='Invoice'

and trunc(exec_time)=trunc(sysdate)

to then generate the different reports that I would save on the server. I made a test and technically, I can do that