Publishing Markdown Files to the PeopleSoft Report Repository

Years ago, I wrote an article titled How to get files to show up in the Process Monitor/Report Repository . In that piece, we explored how Application Engine (%FilePath_Relative) and SQR programs can write output files into the instance’s temporary output directory so the Distribution Agent (PSDSTSRV) pushes them directly to the Report Repository (“View Log/Trace” in Process Monitor).

At the bottom of that post, I noted an important caveat:

“The one caveat is that I have seen that not all file extensions are transferred. I typically use .txt or .csv and those tend to work well. I have had other file types not transfer across different tools releases.”

If you are generating modern output formats—such as formatted Markdown (.md) reports, JSON payloads, or YAML files—from custom batch processes, you will run directly into this behavior. Your program writes the file into the instance directory, the job finishes with Success, but when you click View Log/Trace, only the standard .log file appears. The Markdown report is nowhere to be found.

Here is why PeopleSoft ignores .md files by default and how to enable them cleanly through the front end.

The Anatomy of the Whitelist

When a process completes (RUNSTATUS = 9), the Distribution Status Agent (PSDSTSRV) scans the process instance output directory (PS_CDM_LIST.PRCSOUTPUTDIR).

However, PSDSTSRV does not blindly transfer every file it finds. It evaluates files against the PS_CDM_FILE_EXT table using two rules:

• Format Matching: It transfers files whose extensions match the primary output format requested on the run control (e.g., .pdf, .csv, .txt, .htm).
• System Files: It transfers auxiliary files whose file extension is explicitly designated as a System File in the Distribution File Options metadata (such as .log, .trc, and .out).

Because Markdown is not a delivered primary output format token in PeopleTools, PSDSTSRV will not transfer .md files unless the extension is explicitly authorized as a System File. Any unrecognized files are left behind on the batch server disk.

Enabling Markdown in Distribution File Options

You do not need backend SQL scripts or server restarts to fix this. You can enable Markdown file transfers directly in the PeopleSoft Internet Architecture:

• Navigate to: PeopleTools > Process Scheduler > System Settings
• Click the Distribution File Options tab (Page: PRCSCDMFILE)
• Scroll through the grid to locate MD (Markdown)
• Check the System File checkbox
• Click Save

Once saved, PSDSTSRV recognizes .md as an authorized system document. Any time a process writes a Markdown file into PRCSOUTPUTDIR, the Distribution Agent automatically transfers it to the Report Repository web server alongside your stdout logs. End users can click and view the Markdown report directly from the Process Monitor View Log/Trace dialog.

Seeing It in Action

We use this pattern in our go-psprcs library, which allows developers to build standalone, compiled Go batch programs that run inside Process Scheduler.

Our sample tool, OPRAUDIT, connects directly to the database, queries PS_CDM_LIST.PRCSOUTPUTDIR, and writes a structured OPRAUDIT.md security audit report into the instance directory. With the System File option enabled for MD, Process Scheduler serves the Markdown report right in the browser alongside the batch log.

To see how to build and execute native Go batch processes in PeopleSoft, check out our companion walkthrough: Running Native Go Binaries in PeopleSoft Process Scheduler .