How scheduling works
- Cron-based timing — use a preset (daily, weekly, monthly) or a raw cron expression for anything more specific.
- Re-syncs live — changing a schedule takes effect immediately; no server restart required.
- Automatic retry on a failed run, with a full run history per job so you can see exactly when a report ran, what happened, and how long it took.
- "Run Now" — trigger any scheduled report on demand, outside its normal cadence, without disturbing the schedule itself.
- Every scheduled run renders through the same engine as an on-demand export, so a scheduled PDF looks identical to one a user downloads by clicking a button.
Setting one up
- Design and save the report as usual in ApexReporter Studio.
- Open the Scheduling panel from the designer toolbar and add a new schedule: cadence, output format, and a fixed set of parameter values (a scheduled run has no interactive user to prompt for parameters, so they're set once, up front).
- Choose delivery: Email (SMTP) or FTP/SFTP — configured once for the whole deployment in
config.ini's[smtp]or[delivery]section. - Save. The job appears in the run history immediately, showing its next scheduled fire time.
This is an Enterprise-plan feature
Report scheduling with email/FTP delivery is included on the Enterprise plan (and the Custom plan). See the plan comparison for exactly what each plan includes.
Common scheduling use cases
- A nightly sales or operations summary emailed to a distribution list before the workday starts.
- Month-end financial statements delivered automatically — see emailing reports.
- A large data extract, using the streaming Excel/CSV path, dropped onto an SFTP server for a downstream system to pick up overnight — see Excel reports.
See scheduling in the designer
The downloadable trial includes the full designer so you can walk through setting up a schedule yourself.
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