Create an Excel Spreadsheet from an XML File Generated in Smart Center Reports(Edge workaround)
Overview
This guide will detail how to create a spreadsheet in Excel from a .xml file generated in the Smart Center Reporting tool in Microsoft Edge, IE, or Firefox
Goal
After completing these steps you will be able to save data in an Excel spreadsheet which may be more useful for certain circumstances than the typical PDF reporting done in Smart Center.
First Step
Log into Smart Center as the user needed to generate the report you want to create. Navigate to the desired report then copy and paste the page URL from the default browser into a Edge, IE, or Firefox browser and choose the report parameters.
***Important***
Internet Explorer must be running in compatibility mode for the web server hostname prior to using the report URL. To do so navigate to the Compatibility View settings under the sprocket in the upper right hand corner of IE
Example URL:
mypagingserver.com/reports/rwservlet/getjobid123?server=amcom_reports
Change made to the compatibility view settings:
Once the site is added IE will be able to download the complete XML file without issue.
Second Step
Next input the criteria of your report and choose 'XML' as the Report Format. Then click Submit Query.
Once the report is generated it will open a web page with this at the top and your data in an .xml format
Microsoft Edge Workaround
Because of recent security changes to Microsoft Edge the following workaround needs to be performed if using this browser
- Copy the contents of the .xml format report generated on the web page by using ctrl+a to select all and ctrl+c to copy.
- Open any text editor like Notepad or Wordpad and paste the report into a blank document using ctrl+v
- Remove the top portion of the report similar to the image below. Delete everything before the first line of the report, in this example <PAGELOG>. Save the file using a .xml file extension.
- Skip to the fourth step.
Third Step
Do a Ctrl+S to bring up the Save as.. menu and give the report a name. Make sure you do not change the .xml extension of the file and save it in a location you can find later.
Fourth Step
Open Excel and select a blank workbook. Once open navigate to File/Open then select Folders.
Find your file and open it by bypassing the schema warning and leaving the formatting as default by clicking OK.
The report will now load as a spreadsheet in Excel and can be saved and worked with accordingly.
What's Next
This guide excludes creating a report in Google Chrome. New security protocols make it difficult to download an XML file and generate a report with it.