PDF output now available for Banner Job Submission

Administrative Computing Services (ADMCS) at Western Washington University has announced that PDF reporting is now available for Banner.

This WWU Green Initiative provides many advantages. Probably the greatest feature of PDF reports for Banner users is the capability to search for any character string in the report. The PDF report can also be copied to a shared (P) or local drive. Or, it can be emailed to others.

With these capabilities, many users will not need to print a hard copy of the report. If a printed copy is needed, selected pages can be printed from the PDF. These capabilities will save Western thousands of dollars, save trees and help protect the environment.

The day after announcement ADMCS received several positive comments about this enhancement from those that have tested it:

  • “This is great!!! Now I don’t have to use so much paper.”
  • “This is awesome! I love it already and will definitely be using it!”
  • “Yeah !!!!! Many thanks”

Procedures have changed so those who are Banner users should read the rest of this announcement carefully.

More information is available from ADMCS Operations at (360) 650-4444. This enhancement will be implemented on Friday, June 25. ADMCS will conduct two demonstration and question-and-answer sessions on campus. The first took place from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 23, in Old Main Room 482. The second will take place from 3 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 24, also in Old Main Room 482.

Overview

When you run a Banner job, the Printer Control Form is the last step before the job runs. As a Green Initiative, the "Print? (Y/N)" field will now always default to 'N'. This change has been made to encourage the use of the PDF reports and to reduce printing costs. Please note that if you do select 'Y' to print, this change is only in effect for the job you are running. The next job will default back to 'N'. If you do forget to specify 'Y' on a job that absolutely must be printed, you can always print the report from the PDF reader. If your workstation is not configured with your networked printer(s), or if you are using Remote Print Manager Software, please call the ATUS help desk at (360) 650-3333 or your local technical support.

After you have submitted your job, you are returned to the Job Submission Control form. From here, you can access the "options" menu and go to the job status form GWISTAT.

This form provides information on your submitted jobs, including the end time. When the job is complete, the "View PDF Report" button will activate. You can now open the PDF by clicking the button.

You can access the status form at any time, not just from the Job Submission Control form. Just call up GWISTAT like any regular Banner form. GWISTAT allows you to query any of the jobs you have run through Job Submission and access the PDF, as long as the report has not been purged. Please note that, like most reports run through Job Submission, the report will only be available for three days before it is purged from the system.

PDF Output

When the "View Report" button is clicked, the Adobe Reader opens on your desktop. From the PDF Reader you can view, print, search, zoom in/out and save the report using the tool bar at the top of the PDF viewer.

While you are in the PDF reader, you can save the file to a departmental directory (P: drive) for filing purposes, if needed. The PDF is also available from your Job Submission Output Directory, which is a mapped drive directly on your workstation. If you are not familiar with the Output Directory, please review this document.

If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, contact your technical support - it is available on the network drive.

For assistance questions about Banner PDF use or mapping your Output Directory drive, please call ADMCS Operations at (360) 650-4444.