What are scheduled reports?

In Totara you can choose to schedule reports to run automatically at set times.

When a scheduled report requires a specific item to be selected before the report details are available, the scheduled report will still show all items, and not just those selected, as the details are not saved within the scheduled report.

For example, the Appraisal details report requires the user to select an appraisal before the report is made available. However, the scheduled report based on the Appraisal details report will show all appraisals (without the details) because the selection of the specific appraisal is not saved with the scheduled report.

Scheduled report capabilities

There are two main capabilities that relate to scheduled reports. The totara/reportbuilder:createscheduledreports capability allows a user to create scheduled reports. If a user does not have this capability, they will not see the Scheduled Reports section (i.e. with the Create scheduled report button) when they go to the Reports page.

Additionally, there is the separate totara/reportbuilder:managescheduledreports capability which allows users to view, edit, or delete all scheduled reports in the system.

Empty reports

If you have a scheduled report that is due but contains no data, then the empty report will not be sent to the scheduled receivers.

Use case: Getting Totara data into Microsoft Power BI

You can use scheduled reports to integrate your Totara data into your Microsoft Power BI analytics. You will need a subscription to both Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Power BI.

Follow these steps:

1. In Microsoft Teams, set up a team.
2. Click the icon of three dots for the team you created, then select Get email address. Copy the email address.
3. In Totara, set up one or more scheduled reports and enter the email address in the External users email setting.
4. When the scheduled report email is sent to the Microsoft Teams email address, you will be able to access it in Microsoft Teams.
5. Once the attached files are in Microsoft Teams, you can use them to create reports and dashboards on the Power BI tab.

Next steps

• Schedule a report
• Scheduled report settings