PREP_PROCESS_REPORT returns timestamp in internal format YYYYMMDD/HHMMSS.mmm in Automic

Products

• CA Automic Workload Automation - Automation Engine
• Automic Automation

Issue/Introduction

When using the PREP_PROCESS_REPORT script function to read log-type reports, the returned lines may display a timestamp format such as YYYYMMDD/HHMMSS.mmm (e.g., 20260716/114617.000). This differs from the human-readable format shown in the Automic Web Interface (AWI) "Text View," which typically displays YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.

For example, if the activation report in a windows job shows:

2026-07-28 18:10:03 - U00020408 this is in the activation report

and running the following in the post process script:

:set &hnd# = prep_process_report(,,ACT)
:process &hnd#
:  set &line# = get_process_line(&hnd#)
:  p 'the line is &line#'
:endprocess

Will result in the Post Process report showing:

2026-07-28 18:10:05 - U00020408 the line is 20260728/181003.000 - U00020408 this is in the activation report

The difference in reports is in bold above.

Environment

• Automic Automation (All versions, including V21 and V24)

Cause

The AWI "Text View" applies a formatting layer to raw log data for readability. However, when PREP_PROCESS_REPORT retrieves report lines, the Automation Engine provides the data in its internal processing format as stored in the database.

Resolution

This behavior is by design. If script logic requires extracting specific date or time components from the report line, adjust the script to account for the internal format (no hyphens, inclusion of a forward slash, and millisecond precision).  An example could be to take the first 20260716/114617.000 19 characters and take each date/time area to put into a string using str_cut, like: 

:set &hnd# = prep_process_report(,,ACT)
:process &hnd#
:  set &line# = get_process_line(&hnd#)
:  set &date_time_no_hyphen# = str_cut(&line#, 1,19)
:  set &report_line_year# = str_cut(&line#, 1,4)
:  set &report_line_month# = str_cut(&line#, 5,2)
:  set &report_line_day# = str_cut(&line#, 7,2)
:  set &report_line_hour# = str_cut(&line#, 10,2)
:  set &report_line_minute# = str_cut(&line#, 12,2)
:  set &report_line_second# = str_cut(&line#, 14,2)
:  set &date_time_with_hyphen# = '&report_line_year#-&report_line_month#-&report_line_day# &report_line_hour#:&report_line_minute#:&report_line_second#'
:  set &line# = str_cut(&line#, 20)
:  set &line# = &date_time_with_hyphen#&line#
:  p 'the line is &line#'
:endprocess

Then if the activation report looks like:

2026-07-28 18:18:03 - U00020408 this is in the activation report

The post processing report looks like:

2026-07-28 18:18:03 - U00020408 the line is 2026-07-28 18:18:03 - U00020408 this is in the activation report