Copy a custom report from one company or entity to another—CRW

Custom Report Writer (CRW) allows you to transfer a copy of a custom report from one company to another with ease. The process creates a custom package document.

Create a report definition package

1. Sign into the company with the report definition you want to copy.

2. Go to Customization Services or Platform Services > All > Custom reports.

3. Find the report in the list of reports and select View.
4. Open the Steps dropdown list and select Save and add to menu.
5. Select Export def. The report definition is exported to an XML file.
6. Select the location in which to save the (copied) report XML export file on your local machine and select Save.

Prepare the package

You can now modify the package in preparation for importing the (copied) report definition into the second company.

1. From your local machine, open an ASCII text editor and paste the following XML wrapper text into a new file:

   <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?> <customErpPackage xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <packageDescription> <name>INSERT NAME HERE</name> <description>INSERT DESCRIPTION HERE</description> <author>AUTHOR NAME</author> </packageDescription> <customReports> <!-- Paste the contents of the file here--> </customReports> </customErpPackage>

2. Replace the following code with your package information:
   

   Copy

   INSERT NAME HERE
   INSERT DESCRIPTION HERE
   AUTHOR NAME

3. Do not close the new file and continue with Add the definition to the XML file.

Add the definition to the XML file

1. Find the Create a report definition package, right-click the saved XML file, and open it in an ASCII text editor.
2. Copy the entire contents of the file.

3. Go to the still-open file from the previous task, Prepare the package, and paste the copied code into the XML Wrapper in the space after the text:

   Copy

   !-- Paste the contents of the file here-->

4. Delete the following text:

   Copy

   <!-- Paste the contents of the file here--> <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>

   Only delete the second instance of <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>, as it was included in the text you pasted. Leave the first instance at the top of the file as is.

5. Save the file using a new name with an .xml extension, such as report-to-import.xml.

   The new file looks similar to the following. The actual report definition was edited for this example:

   <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?> <customErpPackage xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <packageDescription> <name>AR territories</name> <description>AR report to import into another entity</description> <author>James Jones</author> </packageDescription> <customReports> <customReport> <name>ARTerr</name> <description></description> <type>summary</type> <module>gl</module> <root>ARINVOICEPAYMENT</root> <documentType></documentType> <location_restriction>false</location_restriction> <columns><field><path>ARINVOICEPAYMENT.AMOUNT</path><label>Amount</label></field> <field><path>ARINVOICEPAYMENT.PAYMENTDATE</path><label>Payment Date</label></field> <field><path>ARINVOICEPAYMENT.ARPAYMENTITEM.CUSTOMER.NAME</path>... TRUNCATED FOR BREVITY </customReport> </customReports> </customErpPackage>

6. Close the text editor.

Import the report definition package

1. Log in to the company in which you want to copy the report.
2. Verify that you have access to the local XML file you created.
3. Go to Customization Services (or Platform Services) >All > Customization tools > Custom packages.
4. Select New package.
5. In the Customization package location, select Choose file, find the XML file you created, and select Import.

The file appears in the Packages page. The newly imported report appears in the Custom Reports list.