Patent ID: 8042089

Claim:
A system for generating reports within a process automation system comprising, the system comprising a memory for storing program code and at least one processor for processing the program code to generate a multi-tier, hierarchical organization comprising: one or more project objects containing data for one or more process automation projects; one or more procedure objects, each of the procedure objects associated with at least one of the project objects and defining procedures to be executed upon execution of one of the project objects; one or more step objects, each of the step objects associated with one of the procedure objects, each of the step objects specifying one or more commands to be executed by resources within the process automation system; wherein the program code, when executed by the processor, causes the additional operations of: generating attachment data attaching a plurality of properties to the project objects, procedure objects, and step objects, each of the properties having a value associated therewith, wherein at least some of the properties are generated and attached to the project objects, procedure objects, and step objects at runtime, during execution of the project objects, procedure objects, and step objects, respectively; storing the attached properties with the associated values and attachment data; receiving a request to execute one or more of the objects; interpreting the attachment data to identify the properties attached to each of the one or more objects; executing the one or more of the objects within the process automation system using the values associated with the one or more properties; generating log data within a log file for each job step comprising an indication of commands which executed during the execution of the job step and results associated with the commands; generating a post processor module to scan through the log file and responsively generate a first set of properties corresponding to the results; generating property attachment logic to attach the first set of properties to the lob step following execution; and providing a report generator to generate one or more reports using the first set of properties.