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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Upload a Business Form Layout and Attach It to a Custom Report

Upload a Business Form Layout and Attach It to a Custom Report

Before uploading a business form layout and attaching it to a custom report, you must first create a business form layout in Workday Studio using Report Designer.
If you have associated a report design (an
.rptdesign
file) with a Workday custom report directly in Workday Studio, then your business form layout is already attached to your custom report, and the use of the process described in this topic isn't necessary.
These steps take place in Workday (as opposed to Workday Studio). After completing the steps below for uploading and attaching a business form layout to a custom report, you can then run the report and use the custom layout.
You can attach multiple custom layouts to a single report definition. However, a single custom layout can be associated with only 1 custom report.
  1. Sign in to Workday.
  2. As a related action on the report to which you want to add a business form layout, select
    Layouts
    Manage Layouts
    .
  3. From the
    Manage Layouts
    grid, click
    +
    (the
    plus
    icon) to add a new row for a new business form layout.
  4. Click the prompt button on the right side of the new row.
  5. From the prompt, select
    Create
    Create Business Form Layout
    and click
    OK
    to attach a new business form layout.
    This step opens the
    Create Business Forms Layout
    task. (You also can access the
    Create Business Form Layout
    task directly from the Workday search bar or from the Workday menu.)
    From the prompt, you also can select
    Active Custom Business Forms using Report Design
    to select from a list of existing business form layouts that have previously been attached to this report. Another option is to select
    Active Custom Business Forms using Stylesheet
    . You would only use this option if you needed to attach an XSL stylesheet to define the business form layout, rather than using a business form layout created in Report Designer. In general, this documentation assumes that you would use Report Designer to create a business form layout, which is typically the best practice.
  6. Enter a
    Description
    for the business form layout.
  7. Click the
    Active
    check box to enable this business form layout to display in the
    Active Custom Business Forms using Report Design
    prompt.
  8. Enter a number of days for the
    Resulting Document Expiration Offset (in Days)
    . This is the number of days that the resulting document (the PDF printed using the business form layout) will be available in Workday after you generate it. The maximum value allowed is 25,000.
    Ensure that the expiration offset you specify here complies with your organization's document retention policy. Workday automatically deletes documents after the offset number of days. You can't recover these documents.
  9. Optionally enter a
    Comment
    for the business form layout.
  10. Select
    Report Design
    and click the associated prompt button.
  11. From the prompt, select
    Create
    Create Custom Business Form Report Design Attachment
    .
  12. Click
    Select files
    and select the
    .rptdesign
    file you created in Report Designer. You can also drag and drop the file onto the task.
  13. Click
    Upload
    to upload the selected
    .rptdesign
    file and then click
    OK
    .
  14. The
    Apply Report Design separately to each row
    setting affects how Workday uses the .rptdesign file when generating a PDF document. This is a design decision for the author of the .rptdesign file. Consult with them before selecting the check box. More details on this setting and a description of its implications are included in the documentation on Report Designer in Workday Studio.
  15. Select the
    Override Streamlined Document Processing
    option if applicable.
  16. Select the
    Force printed PDFs to download
    option to override the
    Force printed PDFs to download
    setting in
    Edit Tenant Setup - System
    for a specific business form layout. Example: You have a large custom report that you want to email or save.
  17. Select the
    Custom Report
    to which you're attaching the business form layout.
  18. Select any
    Tokens
    to be used with this business form layout.
    You can upload image files to use in your business form layout, such as a company logo or a signature image. Each image must be given a
    Token Name
    in the business form layout. Click
    +
    (the
    plus
    icon) in the
    Tokens
    grid and enter a token name for each image that your business form layout will use. Click
    OK
    when all required token names are created. (Don't click
    Close
    .)
    If you do add tokens, then after you finish creating the business form layout, you must also configure it as follows:
    1. As a related action on the business form layout, select
      Business Form Layout > Configure
      .
    2. Select a
      Token
      .
    3. To the right, click
      Browse
      and select an image file from your local drive or network. Images can be in BMP, GIF, JPEG, or PNG format.
    4. Click
      Upload
      to upload the image to Workday.
    5. You can optionally add a
      Comment
      to clarify the nature of the image (example: logo or signature). You can return to
      Configure Business Form Layout
      if you need to delete or change an image.
    6. Click
      OK
      ; then click
      Close
      .
    Note
    : Tokens are needed only if the report design created in Workday Studio requires them. If you're unsure if tokens are needed, consult the person who created the
    .rptdesign
    file.
  19. (Optional) Specify your translation preferences for the business form. You can upload translation properties files to provide translations of static text in your business form layouts. This enables you to output business forms in multiple languages from a single report design. Specify
    .properties
    as a valid upload file type in the
    File Type Setup Instructions
    section of the
    Edit Tenant Setup - System
    task. Then specify any previously uploaded
    Translations
    properties files (or create new ones) as follows:
    • Select a
      User Language
      and an associated
      Custom Business Form Report Design Translation Attachment
      . Each attachment should correspond to a translation properties file that you've uploaded. You have the option to create a new translation attachment directly from this task, in which case you can browse for and upload a translation properties file from your computer.
    • Select
      Default Translation
      to set the default translation language. This is the language that will be used to print the business form if there isn't a translation available in the user's preferred language.
  20. If the attached business form layout is to be the default layout, then as a related action on the report, select
    Layouts
    Manage Layouts
    and select the business form layout as the
    Default Print Layout
    . Specify a default print layout even if there's only a single business form layout attached to the report.
After completing this step, you'll be able to achieve the final objective of printing a custom report using an attached business form layout, since a relationship between these 2 objects has now been established.
The final step is to print the custom report using the business form layout you've created. For more information, see Run and Print a Custom Report that Uses a Business Form Layout.