icon,
then drag the card to a new position. After reordering the items, the
number in the corner of each card is updated.
A packet is a collection of PDF documents combined into a single PDF document. You can create a packet from a combination of report outputs and uploaded PDFs. Packets can be shared, scheduled, generated, modified, and downloaded just like individual reports.
A packet is an object that can be saved, and changes to packets are included in future scheduled instances of the packet. This means that when you schedule a packet to run in the future and then the contents of the packet are changed, the scheduled instance will generate the updated packet. This is especially important to consider when a packet is shared with other users at your organization.
Keep the following considerations in mind when sharing and scheduling packets:
▪ When a packet has been scheduled, and then the packet is updated and saved by either you or another user, the scheduled instance runs with the changes that were made. This includes changes to the packet parameters.
▪ When a user changes a packet from Shared to Private, all scheduled instances of the packet created by other users are cancelled. For more information on these access settings, refer to the Managing Packet Settings topic.
▪ If a user loses access to a report included in a packet, that user's scheduled instances of the packet will no longer run. Access can be lost due to security role or report group updates, or because the report was deleted.
Caution
If you want to run a packet that is similar to an existing shared packet, MRI Software recommends duplicating the packet and maintaining the new copy yourself rather than editing the existing packet. For instructions on quickly duplicating a packet, refer to the "Modifying Packets" section below.
Note
When opening a shared packet, it is possible that you will have access to multiple data contexts that match the packet items' configuration. In this case, Report Gateway selects one for you and displays a banner at the top of the screen. Click More info to see which packet items had a data context automatically assigned. If you want to change any data contexts, refer to the instructions in the Overriding Data Contexts for Shared Packets and Batches topic.
To create a new packet, follow these steps:
1. On the Report Gateway Home page, go to the Packets tab.
2. Click Add. The Add a packet window appears.
3. In the Packet name field, enter a name for your packet.
4. In the Tags field, you can optionally enter one or more tags to help categorize this packet. Click the field to show a drop-down list of existing tags, or enter your own tag manually.
5. Click Add. The Manage Packet page opens.
6. If you would like to leverage packet parameters to populate the reports in a packet with shared values, you can add packet parameters in the Packet parameters section. For more information on packet parameters and instructions on setting them up, refer to the "Managing Packet Parameters" topic.
7. To add a report or uploaded PDF to the packet, click Add, then select one of the following options:
▪ Add report—Select this option to add a report to the packet.
a. Click Add report. The Choose a report to add drawer opens.
b. Find and click the report you want to add. By default, the drawer opens to the Favorites tab. To see more reports, switch to the All Reports tab. You can also use the fields at the top of the list to filter the reports by platform or by name and tag.
Note
Only reports with a PDF output option are available to choose from this list.
c. On the Add Report page, configure the data context and parameters for the report. For instructions on this process, refer to the "Running Reports" topic.
d. When the report settings are finalized, click Add. A card representing the report appears in the Packet contents section.
▪ Upload PDF file—Select this option to add a PDF document to the packet.
a. Click Upload PDF file. The Add a PDF file drawer opens.
b. Click Choose File to select a PDF file from your computer to include in the packet.
c. After adding the file, click Upload. A card representing the PDF appears in the Packet contents section.
8. Repeat step 6 for each report or PDF you want to add to the packet.
9. Update the order
of the items in your packet, if necessary. The order in which the items
are listed in the Packet contents
section determines the order in which they will appear in the generated
packet. To change the order of the items, click and hold on the 6 dot
icon,
then drag the card to a new position. After reordering the items, the
number in the corner of each card is updated.
Note
The 6 dot 
icon does not appear if there is any text in the Find
packet contents search bar.
10. To view or update
packet settings such as the packet name, tags, and access settings, click
the ellipses 
at the top of the Packet contents
area, then click Packet
settings. This page allows you to share your packet with other
users.
11. To schedule this packet to generate in the future, click Schedule. The workflow for scheduling a packet is the same as the workflow for scheduling a report.
Caution
Any changes made to the packet before its scheduled run time are included when the scheduled instance is generated. This includes changes to the values referenced by packet parameters.
If the packet is shared and editable by other users, changes made by other users are included when the scheduled instance is generated. See the "Important: About Sharing and Scheduling Packets" section above.
12. Click Save to save any changes made to your packet.
13. Click Generate. If you have unsaved changes to your packet, the button is called Save and generate instead. While the packet is generating, users can click Cancel in the viewer on the right to cancel the generation. Upon successful generation, the PDF output is displayed in the viewer on the right, where it can be downloaded or printed.
14. After generating a packet, the Share button becomes enabled. To share the report over email or publish it to a database, click Share. The workflow for sharing a packet is the same as the workflow for sharing a report.
A list of your organization's packets is shown in alphabetical order on the Packets tab of the Report Gateway Home page. By default, the Show only items I can run switch is set to On. This switch filters the packet list to show only the packets that you have access to run. In order to run a packet, a user must have access to all reports within it.
Caution
Modifying a packet can affect scheduled instances of the packet, even for other users. See the "Important: About Sharing and Scheduling Packets" section above.
To edit a report or PDF included in a packet, follow these steps:
1. Click the packet that you want to modify from one of the following locations:
▪ The Home page in Report Gateway. Find a packet on the Favorites or Packets tab by scrolling through the list or typing in the Find in packets search field.
▪ The Recent items page in Report Gateway, by clicking Edit.
The Manage Packet page appears. The contents of the packet are listed on the left.
2. Click the Edit 
icon on
the card of the report or PDF you want to edit.
▪ For reports, the Edit Report drawer opens. Make any desired changes to the data context and parameters for the report, then click Done. For more information on this process, refer to the "Running Reports" topic.
▪ For uploaded PDFs, the Edit PDF file drawer opens. Click Download to download a copy of the PDF, or click Choose File to select a new PDF file from your computer to upload. Click Done to save your changes.
3. Click Save to save any changes to your packet.
To modify other packet settings, follow these steps:
1. Click the packet that you want to modify from one of the following locations:
▪ The Home page in Report Gateway. Find a packet on the Favorites or Packets tab by scrolling through the list or typing in the Find in packets search field.
▪ The Recent items page in Report Gateway, by clicking Edit.
2. Review the Packet parameters section. If there are any packet parameters configured, you can click Edit to select values for them or Reset to defaults to set them to their default values. For more information on packet parameters and instructions on setting them up, refer to the "Managing Packet Parameters" topic.
3. Click the ellipses
at the
top of the Packet contents area,
then select one of the following options:
▪ Packet settings—Click to open the Packet settings page to view or update settings. Only the owner of the packet or an authorization admin can update the fields on this page.
▪ Duplicate—Click to create a duplicate of the packet, with you as the owner. In the Duplicate packet window, enter a Packet name and add some Tags if desired, then click Duplicate.
▪ Delete—Click to delete the entire packet. On the confirmation window, click Delete to delete the packet.
Caution
Deleting a packet cannot be undone. When a packet is deleted, the owner loses access, and any scheduled instances of the packet are cancelled. This includes instances that were scheduled by users with shared access.
To delete a report or PDF from a packet, follow these steps:
1. Click the packet that you want to modify from one of the following locations:
▪ The Home page in Report Gateway. Find a packet on the Favorites or Packets tab by scrolling through the list or typing in the Find in packets search field.
▪ The Recent items page in Report Gateway, by clicking Edit.
2. Click the Delete 
icon
on the card of the report or PDF you want to delete.
3. On the confirmation window, click Remove.
4. Click Save.
If you have packets that you run frequently, you can make
them easier to access by marking them as favorites. To do this, select
the Favorites star 
icon. Once selected, the
icon will turn yellow 
. The packet will display on
the Favorites tab of the Home page.