So this is fun. We use a url stored in a UD field to dynamically render the correct logo for the report, for example, sales order, invoice, etc. This has been working fine for over a year, until yesterday, when all the sudden nothing will render. All environments and reports are effected, so its not something that was done to the rdl, and no changes have been made to the website or logos themselves. I have a ticket into the cloud team to ask if any changes were made to our report server configuration that could cause an issue like this. Anybody ran into this before or have ideas what could cause SSRS to stop rendering images?
This is all we get:
Some are png and some are jpg, doesn’t make any difference none will render.
Where are these images stored? Do you need authentication to view them? Maybe the SSRS Agent doesn’t have access to them now either because Epicor changed the agent’s credentials, or the repository’s security may have changed.
Just had someone pop into my office with a similar complaint. In our case, we’re also pulling the image from the Internet, but not loading the URL from a UD field.
Well, if there are any savings. Since Epicor charges a fixed amount for each customer, they have to make sure that in aggregate, they are making more than their Azure spend. If users are racking up extra spend through inefficient BAQs or constantly pulling in the same image over the network again and again, they only have one tool in the toolbox right now and that’s blocking things.
Other cloud vendors often provide other payment options: fixed amount, pay-as-you-go, or a combination of both. The fixed price is determined in the same way an insurance policy is underwritten. You estimate usage, add some profit, and charge that amount for a fixed period. For variable invoicing, an API-Key is generally used to track each call and then fed to the invoicing system.
One could imagine an offering from Epicor where every single product is enabled, and the user is only charged for the calls made. This would provide a way for customers to “try out” certain modules before buying. For companies using cloud, when business is slower, there would be fewer transactions and cost would be less. When things are good, there should be money to cover the increased usage.
Unless there’s a way for the customer to manage cost, the provider will generally find ways to limit the utilization of the product.
Nice write up. But that’s what always gets me, cloud is supposed to be scalable and resourceful where you pay for what you use. But then you get into SaaS and it’s all fixed amounts.
Or at least let us cache them there so the first call retrieves the image and holds a copy for some time to reduce the size of the network traffic. Cloud people find all sorts of creative ways to save spend when they feel the burn of the monthly invoice.
Because we have over a dozen different companies. Embedding requires ridiculous visibility rules and requires recustomization of the report every time a new company is added. With a url, I don’t have to touch the rdl to add a new company.
But there are other cases like part images that are more variable than logos where making use of the built-in functionality of SSRS image linking an appealing approach.
An interesting experiment would be to see if you could create an Epicor Function that returns a logo. If that works, you could pull the logo from the Company service. Just a thought…
