Automating the distribution of Project Status Reports

[mikereaves]

We'd like to establish a process for project managers(PM) to create project_status records and generate *.PDF versions of the reports using the workspace project status templates.

Ideally, the PM would:
navigate to the project workspace
select a project > status reports > create status report & complete fields
the report would be rendered according to the template

The PM could edit the report & when satisfied,
The PM would click a UI Action to email the status report in PDF format to [watch list, PM, etc.]

Any recommendations or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
I'm comfortable coding, but before I invent a wheel... have you done anything like this?

Thanks,
Mike Reaves

[maliksneha9]

Hi, 

You can implement this in ServiceNow without reinventing too much by combining Project Status Reports, PDF generation, a UI Action, and a notification. A common approach looks like this, which I personally use:

1. Create the Status Report (Out-of-the-Box)

Project managers can already create status reports directly from Project Workspace:

Project Workspace → Select Project → Status Reports → Create Status Report

2. Generate a PDF Version of the Report

Once the report is ready, you can generate a PDF using the PDFGenerationAPI. A common approach is to render the report content as HTML and convert it to a PDF that is saved as an attachment on the status report record.

Server Side Script:-

var pdf = new sn_pdfgeneratorutils.PDFGenerationAPI();

var gr = new GlideRecord('pm_project_status');
if (gr.get(current.sys_id)) {

var html = "<h1>Project Status Report</h1>";
html += "<p>Status: " + gr.overall_status + "</p>";
html += "<p>Summary: " + gr.status_summary + "</p>";

pdf.convertToPDF(html, 'pm_project_status', gr.sys_id, 'Project_Status_Report.pdf');
}

3. Add a UI Action to Send the Report

Create a UI Action on the pm_project_status table (for example: Send Status Report). When clicked, it can generate the PDF and trigger an event to send the email.

4. Send the Email with the PDF

Create a custom event such as: project.status.report.email

Then configure a Notification triggered by that event.
Recipients could include: Project Manager, Watch List etc