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What's New in MicroStrategy 10
Course Guide
WN10-May15
Copyright Information
All Contents Copyright 2015 MicroStrategy Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
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Patent Information
This product is patented. One or more of the following patents may apply to the product sold herein: U.S. Patent
Nos. 6,154,766, 6,173,310, 6,260,050, 6,263,051, 6,269,393, 6,279,033, 6,567,796, 6,587,547, 6,606,596,
6,658,093, 6,658,432, 6,662,195, 6,671,715, 6,691,100, 6,694,316, 6,697,808, 6,704,723, 6,741,980, 6,765,997,
6,768,788, 6,772,137, 6,788,768, 6,798,867, 6,801,910, 6,820,073, 6,829,334, 6,836,537, 6,850,603, 6,859,798,
6,873,693, 6,885,734, 6,940,953, 6,964,012, 6,977,992, 6,996,568, 6,996,569, 7,003,512, 7,010,518, 7,016,480,
7,020,251, 7,039,165, 7,082,422, 7,113,993, 7,127,403, 7,174,349, 7,181,417, 7,194,457, 7,197,461, 7,228,303,
7,260,577, 7,266,181, 7,272,212, 7,302,639, 7,324,942, 7,330,847, 7,340,040, 7,356,758, 7,356,840, 7,415,438,
7,428,302, 7,430,562, 7,440,898, 7,486,780, 7,509,671, 7,516,181, 7,559,048, 7,574,376, 7,617,201, 7,725,811,
7,801,967, 7,836,178, 7,861,161, 7,861,253, 7,881,443, 7,925,616, 7,945,584, 7,970,782, 8,005,870, 8,051,168,
8,051,369, 8,094,788 and 8,130,918. Other patent applications are pending.
What's New in MicroStrategy 10 Table of Contents
MicroStrategy University 2015 MicroStrategy, Inc. Page 3 of 153
Table of Contents Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3
MICROSTRATEGY VISUAL INSIGHT ................................................................................................................ 8
Data Management .................................................................................................................................... 8
Accessing External Data ........................................................................................................................ 8
Data Preparation ................................................................................................................................. 17
Data Modeling ..................................................................................................................................... 25
Analytical Capabilities ............................................................................................................................. 37
Derived objects ................................................................................................................................... 37
Calculation Engine ............................................................................................................................... 41
Visualization and Presentation Capabilities ............................................................................................ 42
User Experience .................................................................................................................................. 42
New and Enhanced Visualizations ...................................................................................................... 49
Layout and Filtering ............................................................................................................................ 69
MICROSTRATEGY ANALYTICS DESKTOP ...................................................................................................... 71
INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION .................................................................................................... 71
Architecture and Supported Platforms ............................................................................................... 71
Installation and Upgrade ..................................................................................................................... 72
Server Integration ............................................................................................................................... 72
MICROSTRATEGY WEB ................................................................................................................................ 74
REPORT & REPORT SERVICES CAPABILITIES ............................................................................................ 74
Presentation and Calculations ............................................................................................................ 74
Session Idle Time Handling ..................................................................................................................... 74
Session Recovery ..................................................................................................................................... 75
Word Wrap and Locked Headers ............................................................................................................ 76
New Evaluation Order Setting in VLDB Properties ................................................................................. 76
Derived Attributes ................................................................................................................................... 78
Derived Metric Editor .............................................................................................................................. 79
Metric and Attribute Outer Joins ............................................................................................................ 80
Standalone Unit Condition Dataset Selector .......................................................................................... 81
What's New in MicroStrategy 10 Table of Contents
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Support for Relationship Filter Qualifications......................................................................................... 81
Dynamic Qualification Using Placeholders ............................................................................................. 81
Sorting in Design Mode ........................................................................................................................... 82
Create Dashboard from Grid/Graph Report ........................................................................................... 82
Dynamic Dates for Business Days ........................................................................................................... 83
MICROSTRATEGY MOBILE ........................................................................................................................... 85
iOS ........................................................................................................................................................... 85
Filter Panel in Explorer View ............................................................................................................... 85
Photo Uploader Enhancements .......................................................................................................... 85
Swiping Gesture to Switch Layout ...................................................................................................... 85
Enhanced iPhone Info Windows ......................................................................................................... 86
Light-weight Reconcile and Background Data Fetch .......................................................................... 86
Support for Shapes on Mobile Maps .................................................................................................. 86
Cascading input controls ..................................................................................................................... 87
Persisted Selections ............................................................................................................................ 87
Custom Authentication Workflow ...................................................................................................... 88
Support of Object Prompts ................................................................................................................. 88
Smart Client Workflow Enhancement ................................................................................................ 88
Preserve Selection Changes for Bulk Submission of Transactions ...................................................... 88
Standalone Unit Condition Dataset Selector ...................................................................................... 88
Conditional Logic for Transaction Input Controls ............................................................................... 89
New Statistics on Manipulations ........................................................................................................ 89
Improved Good Dynamics (GD) Workflows ........................................................................................ 89
ANDROID ................................................................................................................................................. 89
Complete Native App .......................................................................................................................... 89
Visualization using OpenGL ES .......................................................................................................... 89
Multimedia Widget ............................................................................................................................. 89
Interactivity Enhancements ................................................................................................................ 90
Multiple Maps ..................................................................................................................................... 90
Animation of Document Views ........................................................................................................... 90
Enhanced Logging ............................................................................................................................... 90
MICROSTRATEGY TRANSACTION SERVICES ................................................................................................ 91
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Cascading Input Controls ........................................................................................................................ 91
Smart Client/Offline Transaction Workflow Enhancement .................................................................... 92
Conditional Logic for Transaction Input Controls ................................................................................... 95
Preserver Selection Changes for Bulk Submission .................................................................................. 97
MICROSTRATEGY SYSTEM MANAGER ......................................................................................................... 98
New Processes ........................................................................................................................................ 98
Enhancements of Existing Processes ...................................................................................................... 98
MICROSTRATEGY INTEGRITY MANAGER .................................................................................................. 100
Comparing Reports Using Custom Mapping ......................................................................................... 100
MICROSTRATEGY COMMAND MANAGER ................................................................................................. 103
New Commands .................................................................................................................................... 103
Other Commands .................................................................................................................................. 103
MICROSTRATEGY DISTRIBUTION SERVICES .............................................................................................. 105
Bursting to Email ................................................................................................................................... 105
Subscription ACLs .................................................................................................................................. 108
File Transfer Protocol Subscriptions and User Privileges ...................................................................... 111
Dynamic Recipient List Load Balancing ................................................................................................. 119
MICROSTRATEGY INTELLIGENCE SERVER ................................................................................................. 120
In-Memory Analytics ............................................................................................................................. 120
CSI Global Optimization ........................................................................................................................ 125
PRIME-related Analytical/SQL Engine Changes .................................................................................... 125
Auto Unload Caches .............................................................................................................................. 126
ROLAP SQL Engine: Enhanced SQL Global Optimization ...................................................................... 127
SAP BW Data Access Enhancement ...................................................................................................... 128
ODBC and JDBC Drivers ......................................................................................................................... 129
MICROSTRATEGY OFFICE .......................................................................................................................... 130
Call user-defined macros during report and document processing ..................................................... 130
Define default date format ................................................................................................................... 130
Option to hide Create Reports and Create Documents virtual folders ................................................ 131
Office 365 Certification ......................................................................................................................... 132
Office 2013 SP1 Certification ................................................................................................................ 133
MICROSTRATEGY OPERATIONS MANAGER .............................................................................................. 134
What's New in MicroStrategy 10 Table of Contents
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MICROSTRATEGY ENTERPRISE MANAGER ................................................................................................ 146
Enterprise Manager Console Deprecated ............................................................................................. 146
New Architecture of Statistics Logging and Data Loads ....................................................................... 146
Improved Enterprise Manager Project ................................................................................................. 147
Improved Enterprise Manager Warehouse .......................................................................................... 147
Configuration Wizard ............................................................................................................................ 147
Statistics on Post-Exec Mobile User Actions ......................................................................................... 148
What's New in MicroStrategy 10 Table of Contents
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NOTE:
This document is based on the beta-version of MicroStrategy 10. Some of the features, enhancements
and images included in this document may or may not be available in the GA version of MicroStrategy
10.
What's New in MicroStrategy 10 MICROSTRATEGY VISUAL INSIGHT
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MICROSTRATEGY VISUAL INSIGHT MicroStrategy 10 offers several new features and usability enhancements for Visual Insight. These
features and enhancements are discussed in the following sections.
Data Management
Accessing External Data
MicroStrategy 10 showcases a completely redesigned user interface, a variety of new features for
connecting to your external data, a significant expansion in the variety of data sources to which you can
connect, and a reengineered and improved user experience for connecting to your external data.
Connect To Your Data Window
Import data in context
In MicroStrategy 10, the variety of data sources you can connect to is vastly more expansive then in
previous versions of MicroStrategy. Visual Insight users can now import data from any of the supported
sources directly from a redesigned user interface.
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The following image shows where you can add a dataset in a VI dashboard and choose its data source: Adding Data to a Visual Insight Dashboard
To import data in Visual Insight:
1. From the Dashboard Datasets panel, click Add External Data
or
In the Add data menu, select External Data to open the Connect to Your Data wizard.
2. In the Connect to Your Data wizard, select the data source type you want to which you want to
connect.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions for the data source type the file provided to you in the
supporting files folder, select it, and click Open.
Local Datasets
A new feature in MicroStrategy 10 is the ability to create a local dataset. Local datasets are similar to
derived metrics in that they can be created in the originating dashboard only and cannot be shared
across other dashboards. Any dataset that is created within a dashboard or document is local by default.
When saving a dashboard, it automatically saves any modification to its local datasets. Users also have
the option to save a local dataset as a standalone dataset from within the Visual Insight user interface.
Unlike standalone datasets, local datasets will not appear on the folder page.
Import of Excel sheets and CSV files
Prior to MicroStrategy 10, files could only be imported one at a time. Now you can select and import
multiple Excel, CSV, and other delimited text files into a single dataset. Further, when importing data
from an Excel file, users can select and import multiple spreadsheets into a single dataset via the new
Multi-table support.
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Importing Multiple Excel Worksheets
Import of data from Google Analytics, Google Drive, Google BigQuery, Dropbox, Twitter, and
Google Analytics delivers KPIs for website operators, providing insights into visitor behavior and general
website traffic statistics. Users are able to import data based on schema objects (measures and
dimensions) used in pre-defined reports in Google Analytics or build an ad-hoc report using the Google
Analytics dimensions and measures.
Importing Excel, CSV, Google Spreadsheets and other delimited text files from Dropbox and Google
Drive is now supported. After logging in, users are able to browse directories and drag & drop desired
files for upload. Importing Data from Google Drive Example
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Facebook and Twitter offer a wealth of social media data for deriving trending topics and Page Analytics. Users can take advantage of this information by importing data from a Facebook page or in the form of tweets that match a specified search term. When connecting to a Google BigQuery project, users have the option to connect live or pull data into memory by building a query graphically, executing a Freeform Query, or picking tables.
Working with any of these new cloud sources in MicroStrategy requires the use of OAuth credentials and setting MicroStrategy Web Server up to use HTTPS protocol.
To set OAuth parameters:
1. From the MicroStrategy Web Home page, click on Access Data
2. From the Data Source window, locate and hover your mouse over any of the OAuth data
sources
3. Note and click on the text Set OAuth Parameters
4. A new window will pop up, prompting for OAuth parameters
5. Provide the necessary values from the app/project you created for the data source and the data
source will now be configured for these OAuth parameters
There are 3 parameters which are required for each of the OAuth data sources:
Callback URL (sometimes referred to as Redirect URI)
Client ID (could be referred to as App key/ID)
Client Secret (could be referred to as App secret)
All three of these values are retrieved from the configured app/project on the data source. However,
the Callback URL is actually defined by the user within the configured app. In order for the OAuth data
source to connect to MicroStrategy, the Callback URL defined in the app must have the following form:
JSP: https:// /MicroStrategy/servlet/mstrWeb?evt=3172
ASP: https:// /MicroStrategy/asp/Main.aspx?evt=3172&src=mstrWeb.3172
Note: Please make sure your web browser allows pop-ups from your Web Server. Additionally, you must
access MicroStrategy Web via the exact Web Server name you entered in the Callback URL. For example,
if test.microstrategy.com is the Web Server name in the Callback URL, you will not be able to access your
data source if you login to MicroStrategy via http:// test/MicroStrategy/asp/Main.aspx?.
Note: Please review product documentation for specific instructions on OAuth setup for the data source
to which you are connecting. Instructions differ for each platform (e.g. Twitter vs Dropbox vs Google
Analytics).
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Import of data from OLAP sources Users can Connect Live to MDX cubes and access data on demand from Microsoft Analysis Services, Cognos TM1, SAP Business Warehouse and Oracle Essbase. Note: Importing from OLAP sources is only available in the Enterprise offering.
Import From Cubes Window
Access data in Hadoop/HDFS using Big Data Engine The Big Data Engine is a new query engine introduced in MicroStrategy 10. It is used for connecting to big data sources such as Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). The engine presides as a layer between the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server and big data sources to provide optimized query performance. The Big Data Engine appears as a new connection type for accessing the HDFS and leverages several other new features introduced for Data Import:
Multi-table Import
Data Wrangling
Connect Live Once connected to HDFS, users can browse and select data files.
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Connecting to HDFS
In addition to performing data wrangling, users have the option to define a custom SQL-like query to be
executed on selected HDFS files during data import. This feature enables users to run required pre-
aggregation and filtering on very large data files.
Note: Accessing data in Hadoop using the MicroStrategys Big Data Engine in only available in the
Enterprise offering. Desktop Users can fetch data from HDFS using SQL on Hadoop.
Access Search data via external Search index such as Apache Solr
Users can connect to search indices of Apache Solr via the Connect Live feature. i.e data is not stored
in memory but instead queried on demand.
With this new type of connector, a search index essentially behaves like a database that speaks
search instead of SQL, on both structured and unstructured data. A typical query for example is show
me customers whose comments include .
Note: Accessing data via external search index is only available in the Enterprise offering.
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Import of data from BI applications
Data can be imported from SAP BusinessObjects Universe, IBM Cognos Framework Manager and Oracle
BI Enterprise Edition (OBIEE). In order to import such data, the desired report or query needs to first be
exposed as a web service in the BI application.
Importing Data from BI Sources
Access Data in Databases
Users can now Connect Live or Import data in Databases by graphically building a query, typing a
freeform query, or picking multiple tables in a single dataset. Support for 64-bit driver provides
improved performance.
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Importing Data from Existing Databases
Access data from SAP HANA
MicroStrategy 10 adds support for Connect Live to SAP HANA just like any other database and in
addition supports tables input parameters. The input parameters are mapped to MicroStrategys
prompt objects and need to be answered before SQL can be generated. When a user adds an attribute
or metric from a SAP HANA source that requires input parameters, the user will be prompted to enter
the required values.
Import of data from a shared MicroStrategy file
Users can import dashboards that another user has previously created and exported using either
MicroStrategy Analytics Desktop or Analytics Express. The export and import of a dashboard file (.mstr)
captures all visualizations, filters and associated cubes.
Import manually entered or clipboard data
Users are able to create a custom dataset on the fly by entering data values manually or pasting data
from the clipboard into a table grid. For example, this option can be used to quickly create a product
lookup table by typing in product IDs and corresponding descriptions.
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Importing Data from Existing Databases
Basic editing functions, such as insert a column, delete a column, and clear sheet, are available.
Public data
Users can pull in interesting data from Wikipedia by using search terms, and then scrapping the URL.
Users are presented with a quick preview of the data in the wiki URL which allows users to pick the right
dataset. Importing Public Data from the Web
Import from URL and network location
In addition to importing files using the http, https, ftp, File protocols, users can now just paste any html
URL which has a table of data. Doing so, MicroStrategy will extract/scrape data and other formatted
information from the table in that html page.
In addition, a new option Network Browser is available that allows users to browse a specified
network location first and import multiple data files at once.
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Enhanced import of delimited text files
In addition to comma-separated (.csv) text files, the following delimited text file formats are now
supported:
Tab-delimited (.tsv)
Space-delimited (.prn)
Other-delimited (.txt)
Enhanced import from Teradata
For improved data transfer performance, Data Import now supports data retrieval from a Teradata
database using the native Teradata Parallel Transporter API for publishing large cubes as an alternative
option to ODBC.
Data Preparation
Data wrangling
Users now have a powerful capability to modify, cleanse and transform data during import. Functions
range from removing duplicate cells and rows, finding and replacing values, splitting and concatenating
columns, to various cell operations.
Manipulating Imported Data with the Data Wrangling Tool
Data wrangling is supported on the following data sources:
Local and URL files
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Clipboard and manually entered data
Hadoop via Big Data Engine
Data scraping via URL
Google Drive & Analytics, Dropbox, Twitter, SalesForce, and Facebook
Sample files
EXERCISE: Data Wrangling
Note: this exercise uses the Olympic Medals.csv file posted available in the MicroStrategy Learning
Portal. Please download this file prior to beginning this exercise.
1. On the MicroStrategy Web home screen, select Access External Data.
2. In the Data Import window, select File From Disk.
3. In Window Explorer or Finder, navigate to the location where you saved the files downloaded
from the MicroStrategy Learning Portal. Drag the Olympic Medals.csv into the specified area
within Data Import to upload the file. You can also select the Olympic Medals.csv file by
clicking Browse and navigating to the location where the file is saved.
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4. Click Prepare Data to move to the Data Import preview window.
5. In the Data Import preview window, click on the context menu for the Olympic Medals.txt
table. Choose Wrangle The Wrangle tool will open in a new window.
Note: users can also access the Wrangle tool by clicking the Wrangle link on the right side of
the Data Import preview window.
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6. From the Select Columns drop down menu, choose City.
7. In the Select Function column, choose Split on Separator.
8. Split on Period.
9. Notice that the City column has now been split into City 1 and City 2.
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10. Double click on the City 1 header. Rename the column City. Also rename the City 2 column
as Year.
11. Select the Medal column by clicking once in the column area. Note: this is the same as
choosing the Medal column from the Select Columns drop down menu in step 6.
12. Select the To Uppercase function. Note, this function also appears in the Select Function
menu drop down. The list of functions shown is a subset of suggested actions.
13. The medal column should now look like the following:
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14. Remove the Sport column by clicking on the context menu and selecting Delete.
15. Now, you rethink your choice to delete the Sport column included in the dataset. The History
Script box allows the user to undo, reset, or go back to a specific place in the refining process.
Click the undo button to return the Result column to the dataset.
16. Notice that the Delete column [Sport] column has been returned to the dataset and the line
item in the History Script has been grayed out.
17. A user may want to delete lines that contain certain information. This can be achieved by
employing text facets. Select the Medal column and Text Facet.
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18. A box containing all text facets for the Medal column and will appear at the bottom of the
Wrangle window. You would only like to include those athletes who won gold medals in your
dataset. Place your mouse over the GOLD text facet and click Include. Note: the number
next to the text facet indicates how many rows with that text facet are included in the dataset.
19. Notice now only the gold medal winners appear in the preview window.
20. Navigate to through the pages of data. Notice that Basketball is misspelled Basketbal under
the Discipline column. To fix this error, select the Discipline column and choose to Find and
Replace Cell.
21. Insert the correct find and replace inputs and click APPLY.
22. Check that basketball is now spelled correctly.
23. Click Export above the History List box to generate a reusable script. Copy and paste this script
into a text file and save.
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24. You have now finished manipulating your data. Click OK to commit the changes.
25. You should automatically return to the data preview window.
26. Click Finish to save and publish your new dataset as an Intelligence Cube.
27. This dataset is now ready to use in a dashboard or document.
28. Open Data Import and choose to import File from Disk. Again, choose the Olympic Medals.csv
file to import.
29. Wrangle you data, but this time choose to import the history script saved in step 23.
30. See your data transform according to the steps earlier in this exercise.
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Data parsing
In addition to column-based wrangling, users can skip a desired number of rows and insert new columns
by parsing the entire dataset. Included in the Parse window is an option to switch between viewing data
in a tabular and crosstab format. Parsing Imported Data
Data Modeling
Multi-Table dataset
Users now have the capability to combine datasets\tables from multiple different sources (e.g. Excel and
RDBMS) into a single unified dataset. Users can graphically create a dataset model by automatically or
manually mapping attributes across tables.
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Creating a Multi-Table Dataset
Table-join on common attributes
In previous releases, query generation relied primarily upon the definition of a schema and the
associated relationships among attributes. In MicroStrategy 10, defined attribute relationships are not
strictly required and queries can be generated based on common attributes that are automatically
detected. Users have the option to override the autojoin logic by explicitly either defining attribute
relationships or specifying which set of tables to use for a join.
Multi-form attributes
A multiform attribute allows the user to combine columns into a single attribute. Users can create a
multiform attribute via the Data Preview window by selecting at least two columns from a single table
and using a right-click menu option. Creating a Multi-form Attributes
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Exercise: Import Multiple Tables (Pick Relational Tables)
1. On the MicroStrategy Web home page, select Add External Data.
2. Click Database.
3. In the Select Import Options window, select Pick Tables.
4. Select the Tutorial Data Database Instance and add the following tables.
LU_CUST_CITY LU_CALL_CTR LU_ITEM
LU_MONTH CITY_MNTH_SLS
5. Click Prepare Data.
6. The Multi-Table Data Import (MTDI) window will open. This window shows all tables selected in
the previous screen, and the respective columns mapped as attributes and metrics. Note that
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Data Import automatically maps the table columns as attributes and metrics. Any errors in the
attribute or the metric mappings will be corrected later in this section of the workshop.
7. Users may want to add additional tables after the initial set of tables are brought into Data
Import. Add another table to the preview screen by clicking on the Add a new Table button.
Follow the Data Import workflow and select the ITEM_CCTR_MONTH_SLS (sales data at the
item, call center, and month levels) fact table. You should now see the new table in the MTDI
preview window after scrolling to the right.
8. In the MTDI preview window, notice that each column in a given table will be imported as a
separate attribute. For example, Call Ctr Id and Center Name are each listed as distinct
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attributes in the LU_CALL_CENTER table. Data Import offers the opportunity to designate two or
more columns as attribute forms within a single attribute. To create a unified CALL CENTER
attribute, highlight both Call Center Id and Center Name by holding the shift key while making
the selections > RMC > select Create Multiform Attribute. Change the attribute name to CALL
CENTER. Double-check that the form (e.g. Call Center Id) and form categories (e.g. ID) are
correctly matched. Uncheck the display form for Call Center Id to ensure that only the Call
Center DESC will appear by default on reports and documents. Click Submit to create the new
multiform attribute.
9. The LU_CALL_CTR table should now look like the following in the MTDI preview window:
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Note: The name of the attribute will change for all other tables containing at least one attribute
form. For example, the Call Ctr Id column in all other tables will also change to CALL CENTER.
10. Repeat step 10 for the following columnsall multiform attributes should be created on the
lookup table:
CUSTOMER CITY (Cust City Id, Cust City Name)
ITEM (Item Id, Item Name)
MONTH (Month Id, Month Desc)
11. Click on the All Objects View to see all attributes and metrics in a list form.
Keep the following columns labeled as Metrics:
Unit Price
Unit Cost
Month of Year
Tot Cost
Tot Dollar Sales
Tot Unit Sales
Choose Do Not Import for all other metrics. Additionally, do not import any extraneous
attribute columns that were not used in the multiform attributes created in steps 7 and 8.
Note: you can choose to not import multiple columns at once by highlighting a group of columns
using the Shift or Ctrl keys
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You can also RMC click on a given column and choose Do Not Import in the MTDI preview
window. You can choose Do Not Import for multiple columns at once by highlighting multiple
items in the table preview before right clicking and choosing Do Not Import.
+
12. In the All Objects View window, convert Month of Year from a metric to an attribute. RMC
on the Month of Year metric and select Convert to Attribute. Note: you can also convert a
metric to an attribute (and vice versa) in the MTDI preview window.
13. The metric (and attribute) names are automatically populated according to the respective the
database column names. However, these names may not accurately reflect the metrics data to
the end user. While still in the All Objects View window, RMC on the following metrics and
select Rename.
Tot Unit Sales > Unit Sales
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Keep the All Objects Window open for step 14.
14. Next, establish the Distribution Key, or Partition Attribute, from within the All Objects View
window.
Ideally, we would like to partition against the largest fact tables. Due to the fact that an in-
memory cube can only be partitioned on a single attribute, it makes sense to choose an
attribute that exists in both fact tables. In this case, the Item attribute meets that criteria.
We can also validate our choice of the Item attribute by looking at how the elements of item are
distributed across the row count of each fact table. When looking at the table
ITEM_CCTR_MONTH_SLS, we see the following:
From the screenshot above, we can see that the elements of Item are fairly evenly distributed
throughout the fact table (looking through the rest of the returned data confirms this).
Similarly, Item has a fairly even distribution in the CITY_MNTH_SLS table.
Choose 2 for the number of partitions, as these VMs typically come with 2 CPU cores. This
number can be adjusted depending on number of cores in your Intelligence Server machine.
Matching the number of cores to the number of partitions will help ensure that you are taking
advantage of in-memory analytics parallel processing functionality.
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In the All Objects View window, select ITEM as the Distribution Key and 2 and the Number
of Distributions. Click Save and return to the MTDI preview window.
15. Click Finish in the MTDI screen. Save the Cube as MTDI Workshop Cube.
This MDTI cube with the new In-Memory Analytics Intelligence Cube structure is now ready to
use in a dashboard or document.
Parent-child relationships
In MicroStrategy 10, we automatically detect relationships based on sample data that is used to explain
how the columns in a table relate to each other. For each table, users have the option to change and
define new parent-child relationships (1:1, 1:Many and Many:Many) between columns in a table. Defining Attribute Relationships
A running history list of all applied transformations allows users to undo steps or revert back to the
original dataset. A script can be saved to automatically apply as part of data refresh. When working with
a sample dataset, users have the option to save the script of applied transformations, and apply the
script later to another (e.g. production) dataset.
Incremental Refresh of Multi-Table datasets
Users can control the refresh policy for each individual table in a dataset. Refresh policy options include
Add new data, Add new data and update existing data, Update existing data and Replace existing
data. New data can be appended only when the same the set of objects (Attributes, Metrics) are
present in the table.
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Refreshing Data for Multi-table Datasets
Support for Partitioning
Thanks to the new PRIME cube architecture, when importing multiple tables from a database, users
have the option to specify a partitioning attribute (distribution key) and the number of distributions.
Due to the fact that MicroStrategy currently only supports single node architecture, the number of
distributions needs to match the number of CPU cores of the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server machine.
Access control for multi-Table datasets
Users have the option to control access to multi-source datasets. When sharing a multisource dataset,
users can set security filters on attributes contained in the dataset. Adjusting User Permissions
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Advanced Update Options
Two new advanced options are available for specifying a scheduled update of datasets. Scheduling Dataset Updates
1) Alternate Source: This setting allows users to select a different source location for updating a cube.
This option is available for Pick Relational Sources and File from URL type datasets. Use cases include
situations where the daily data for transactions is temporarily held in a smaller table rather than the
table containing all the transactions.
2) Refresh Filter: The refresh filter allows users to filter the data coming from the source by a specified
filter before merging it with the cube data. This allows for only a limited amount of data to be retrieved
from source. This option is only supported for the Pick Relational Sources type datasets.
Dataset Blending/Document-level joins across data sets
In previous releases, attribute mapping to support joins across datasets was enabled, provided users
had write access to the datasets, and with the consequence that the change would affect all other
documents that used those datasets. In the MicroStrategy 10 release, a new document-level attribute
linking feature to support joins across datasets is now enabled. Users only need write access to the
document instead of read access. It will also not affect any other documents referring to the same
datasets.
ID-description joins
In previous releases, only attribute mapping joins on ID forms was supported. In this new release, users
can now join on attribute ID-description forms. A typical example is when we want to blend an Attribute
in a Product project might have ID (numeric data), Desc forms (text data) with an Attribute in an Excel
file which only has the text data.
Connect Live Dataset
For certain data sources, users have the option to either create an in-memory dataset (cube) or connect
to the data source live. The latter implies that MicroStrategy generates queries on the fly as the user is
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interacting with the data, creating and viewing visualizations and reports. Connect Live datasets can be
created for RDBMS, OLAP sources, Google BigQuery, Hadoop files, Search as a Source, and
MicroStrategy projects (i.e. cube, report or ROLAP schema). Connecting to Data
Automatic geo enrichment and standard time dimension
When importing a new dataset, MicroStrategy automatically identifies both geographic and date
attributes. Geographic attributes are automatically assigned a corresponding geo role. For date
attributes, MicroStrategy automatically generates the corresponding time dimension attributes Month,
Quarter and Year.
In situ dataset modifications
In previous releases, modifying a dataset in any way, such as changing a column from attribute to
metric, required the cube to be republished by fetching data from the underlying sources. In the
MicroStrategy 10 release, these operations can now be performed without having to fetch data again
from the sources.
Without the need to leave the Visual Insight user interface, users can perform and save changes to a
current dataset. It is possible to modify the join relationships between tables in the current dataset, as
well as replace the current dataset with an existing one or with a newly imported one. In addition, users
can delete individual tables from the current dataset, upload and replace individual tables.
Furthermore, users can add, rename, hide and remove attributes, metrics and derived elements. The
data type of attributes can be changed easily to a different type. In case of geographic attributes, the
user also has the option to override the automatically derived geo role.
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Analytical Capabilities
Derived objects
Derived attributes
Derived attributes are a new type of object in MicroStrategy 10 that offer flexibility for end users, while
reducing dependency on administrators. A user can now create an attribute at the document-level
based on other attributes and metrics without requiring Architect privileges. Some common uses for
derived attributes include concatenating multiple attributes, extracting a substring from an existing
attribute, and converting a metric to an attribute. Creating Derived Attributes
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New derived metric editor
The derived metric editor has been redesigned with enhanced functionality in MicroStrategy 10. The
editor now offers users more assistance when building metric definitions and comes closer to parity in
terms of functionality available in MicroStrategy Developer.
Creating Derived Metrics
New shortcut metrics
The MicroStrategy 10 release introduces the following new shortcut metrics:
Diff and %Diff for quickly calculating the difference and percentage difference between two
metrics, respectively
Percent of
Percent Change
Difference
Percent Running Total
Percentile
Enhanced moving totals with more flexibility in picking the moving window
New calculation functions
The MicroStrategy 10 release introduces the following new functions for use in derived metrics and
attributes:
Data type conversion: ToString(), ToNumber(), ToDate()
String functions: Match(string, regex)
Date functions: FiscalWeek(), FiscalYear()
Financial functions
o XIRR: Internal Rate of Return for non-periodic cash flow 2 8
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o XNPV: Net Present Value for non-periodic cash flow
Statistical functions
o Weighted Standard Deviation
o Weighted Mean
o Weighted Covariance
o Weighted Correlation
New ranking functions
o PercentRank: Calculates a values relative standing as a percentage with respect to its
own data column.
o PercentRankRelative: Calculates a values relative standing as a percentage when
referencing another set of data then its own.
Manual control of aggregation and subtotaling behavior
The new derived metric editor provides an option to control how a derived metric is calculated. When
Aggregate from Base (AFB) is enabled, the metric is directly calculated against the warehouse or data
held in memory. When AFB is disabled, the metric components are calculated from the in-memory data,
but the actual metric calculation occurs as a post-query Analytical Engine calculation. The Subtotals
From Base option follows an analogous logic.
Edit Metric Aggregation and Subtotal Behavior
Group-derived elements
From within a grid view or visualization, users can create custom groupings of attribute elements. A
group-derived element combines multiple elements from a single attribute into a new derived element.
For example, a user may want to calculate revenue for the last six months of the 2012 calendar year.
However, the dataset only contains revenue data at the quarter level. The user can now combine the
attribute elements [2012 Q3] and [2012 Q4] to visualize revenue for that six month timeframe.
Creating a group can be done very quickly by simply selecting multiple elements and using the right-click
menu option Group.
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Creating a Group-Derived Element on the Fly
Alternatively, users can open the Element Group Editor to create and edit multiple groups. An option
exists in the editor to treat all remaining elements, not contained in a defined group, as either individual
elements or a separate group. Creating a Group-Derived with the Editor
Derived group elements are treated as any other basic element. This means that users can filter based
on them using the Keep Only and Exclude options.
Calculation-derived elements
A calculation-derived element allows a user to define a row-level calculation using multiple attribute
elements. For example, a user may want to show the difference in revenue between December 2012
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and November 2012 without having to create a new derived metric that calculates the difference for
every month in the report as an additional column in the report. A calculation-derived element adds a
new row that shows this specific calculation. Calculation-Derived Element Example
Similar to group-derived elements, calculation-derived elements are treated as any other basic element.
This means that users can filter based on them using the Keep Only and Exclude options.
Calculation Engine
Dynamic Dimensionality, Break By, Sort By and % of Parent
In previous releases, the dimensionality, break-by and sort-by behavior of metrics were static and would
not change when the template layout changes. In MicroStrategy 10, a metrics formula can be defined
dynamically based on the template layout and applied sorts. This new feature enables dynamic
calculation of percent of parent metrics and the correct calculation of percent of total metrics when
the template changes.
Dynamic calculation of derived metrics
In previous releases, results for % of total and running/moving shortcut metrics could get out of sync
when users modified the contents of and sorts of visualizations. In the new release, this issue has been
addressed by dynamically representing attributes and sorting behavior in different drop zones, thereby
keeping the metric results in sync with changes to the templates of visualizations in dashboards.
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Visualization and Presentation Capabilities
User Experience
New HTML5 user interface Visual Insight has undergone a redesign using HTML5 technology. The new HTML5 user interface contains the same features and functionality as the Flash version but also introduces a significant number of enhancements with respect to features, functionality, and user experience. The editor for creating dashboards and working with data uses HTML5 technology across both MicroStrategy Web and Analytics Desktop. The interface for data import has been improved and is now more tightly integrated into the workflows for using dashboards, reports and documents. As a result, Adobe Flash is no longer required to render dashboards with interactive features. Previously created dashboards will automatically render in HTML5 with no loss of functionality (exception: the Image Layout is not available yet in HTML5 VI). In case of legacy browsers (i.e. Internet Explorer 8), dashboards will still render in Flash, but without any of the functional enhancements introduced in MicroStrategy 10.
Improved workflows This new release has placed a particular focus on user experience, which has translated into countless workflow improvements. One of the most fundamental changes involves the dashboard creation process. Now when a user clicks the Create Dashboard button on the main page, a blank dashboard appears without forcing the user to select or create a dataset first.
Enhanced menu bar The top menu bar combines the functionality of list-type menus with the agility of one click icons.
Visual Insight Menu Bar
Once first-time users open the Visual Insight user interface, they will be greeted with tooltips that will help familiarize them with how the product works. The File menu now offers Open and New options.
Dashboard tabs at bottom of UI
By popular request, the dashboard tab bar now resides at the bottom of the screen to free up screen real estate and allow users to enter longer titles. The tabs can be moved back to the top using the context menu on any of the tabs.
Dock-able panels
Visualization and selector panels as well as the panels for editing properties can now be dragged and dropped to a different location on the screen. For example, this allows users to stack the visualization editor, filter and properties panels on top of each other and to the right of the dashboard canvas.
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Light-weight scrollbars
The redesigned user interface makes use of scrollbars that only appear and become active when the user moves the mouse over the location of the scrollbar. This enhancement helps to provide a cleaner UI and preserves more UI real estate for visualizations.
New visualization gallery
The workflow to change visualizations has been simplified via the introduction of a one click Visualization Gallery panel that displays by default on the right side of the screen. It allows users to quickly switch between visualization types. Moving the mouse over a visualization icon in the gallery pops up a tooltip that shows the user the required number of attributes and metrics, highlighting the number of objects missing to render the chart.
Visual Insight Visualization Gallery
Tree view for dataset objects
The panel for dataset objects has been improved in the form of a tree view control. This enables users to collapse and hide unwanted datasets and objects.
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Context menu for dataset panel
The context menu next to the dataset panel title gives users access to an expanded set of functionality. Not only are users able to add datasets but now also replace datasets with other data sources.
Dataset Panel Menu
New dataset object search
A new search box makes it easy for users to quickly identify and select the objects they would like to use in visualizations, filters etc.
Data Object Search Box
Improved graph interactivity
The drag & drop capabilities have been enhanced in this release to enable users to drag & drop objects
directly on top of bar, line, area and pie graphs. Users can drag & drop attributes and metrics onto more
granular drop zones. For example, dragging a metric onto the Numeric axis of a Bar chart, provides an
option to either replace the existing metric or add it as a secondary metric.
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EXERCISE: Building and Altering Visualizations Via Drag and Drop
This exercise assumes that users are familiar with the Data Import process. If you are not familiar with
this process, please review the previous section regarding Data Import.
1. Navigate to the Add Data button in the top toolbar.
NOTE: For the purposes of this exercise, a report containing Subcategory, Region, Revenue,
and Profit will be used. This report can be created easily using the MicroStrategy Tutorial
dataset.
2. Add Subcategory to the Rows and Revenue to the Metrics either by dragging and dropping the
objects into the drop zones or double-clicking on them in the Datasets panel.
3. Change the visualization to a Bar Chart by navigating to the Visualization Gallery panel located
on the right side of the screen, and clicking on the Bar Chart option. The Bar Chart is located
third from the top.
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NOTE: If you cannot see the Visualization Gallery, navigate to the VIEW menu at the top of the
screen and click on Visualization Gallery to surface it on the dashboard template.
4. Drag and drop the Subcategory attribute from the Datasets Panel into the Color By drop zone in
the Editor Panel. This will color each of the bars by the appropriate Subcategory.
5. Now that you have created a Bar Chart similar to the one below, drag and drop Region directly
onto the graph matrix, and let go when the blue heuristic appears for the left vertical axis. As
you can see, a tooltip will also appear atop whichever axis you are hovering over. In this case, it
will say Add Region since you have selected the Region attribute.
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6. Your dashboard should now look like the following:
Dragging and Dropping Directly on Charts
Taking into account the graph in the screenshot above, lets take a closer look at some of the finer
points of dragging and dropping directly on charts using the Profit metric.
1. Build a Bar Chart similar to the one constructed above:
Vertical: Region, Revenue
Horizontal: Subcategory
Color By: Subcategory
Ensure that Profit or another metric exists in your dataset
2. Drag and drop Profit onto the vertical axis. As you do this, you will notice that there are three
possible drop zones for your metric. Each of these drop zones answers a slightly different use
case, so lets take a look at what each of them do. Please note that you can move Profit around
the chart either by removing it from the graph (sending it back to the Datasets Panel) or by
grabbing the Profit metric header and moving it around.
TOP DROP ZONE: A Profit metric series will be created ON TOP OF the existing Revenue metric
series within each of the Regions.
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MIDDLE DROP ZONE: A Profit metric series will be MERGED with the existing Revenue metric series
within each of the Regions and Subcategories.
NOTE: For this example, the Color By drop zone was changed from Subcategory to Metric Names to
emphasize the fact that the metric values are displaying side by side (Revenue = blue, Profit = red).
BOTTOM DROP ZONE: A Profit metric series will be created BELOW the existing Revenue metric
series within each of the Regions.
As you can see, dragging and dropping addresses several common use casesmaking it much easier
than ever to build visualizations to match various business needs.
Revamped advanced sorting
The advanced sort editor offers a new look and feel. In addition, users can now easily change the order
of multiple sort clauses via drag & drop.
New right-click context menus
Extensive options to sort, drill and change various properties of graph elements are made available via
right-click context menus. Right-clicking in different areas of a visualization allows users to directly set
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the properties of objects/elements and add/create objects/elements (e.g. groups, derived
attribute/metric, trend line etc.).
For example, right-clicking on a metric label in a visualization enables users to quickly sort, change the
number format, create a derived metric, add a trend or reference line, or access various other options.
When selecting one or more elements in a grid or graph, users have the option via the right-click menu
to keep only or exclude the selected elements.
Export to PDF
Dashboards can now be exported in the form of a PDF document.
Warning before session times out
A new user preference has been added which allows users to be warned before the session times out
due to inactivity. This setting is disabled by default.
Time Out Notification
Auto-save and session recovery
MicroStrategy automatically performs background save operations. When a user session times out, the
user has the option to restore the session and recover the last saved state of the dashboard.
Warning of unsaved dashboard
Users are warned when trying to close an unsaved dashboard.
New and Enhanced Visualizations
Enhanced combo and dual-axis graph
More options are provided for creating combo and dual-axis graphs. Whereas in the previous release
only a bar-line combo chart was supported, users can now combine different graph types (Bar, Line,
Area, Circle, Square, and Tick) into a combo chart.
Dual-axis Graph
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Configuring a graph with dual axes does no longer require using a dedicated visualization type. When
applicable, users are now able to simply drag & drop two or more measures onto their designated axis
drop zones.
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EXERCISE: Create a Combination Chart Using Advanced Drag and Drop
1. Starting with the same base graph used in Exercise 2 in the previous section, drag and drop
Profit to the graphs right vertical axis, as seen in the screenshot below. Note that the familiar
blue heuristic will appear on the graph. Heres a reminder of what this looked like:
Vertical: Region, Revenue
Horizontal: Subcategory
Color By: Subcategory
Ensure that Profit or another metric exists in your dataset
2. As you can see below, dropping the Profit metric onto the right vertical axis creates a dual-axis
graphmore commonly known as a Combo Chart.
NOTE: Combination Charts can also be created by clicking on the appropriate icon in the Visualization
Gallery; however, the drag and drop on the graph matrix method gives power users more control over
the end result.
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3. Now that the Combo Chart has been created, lets change the shape of the Profit Metric series
from Line to Area. Right-click on the Profit metric label, navigate to the Change Shape option
and select Area.
4. To better display the data, drag and drop the Metric Names object into the Vertical Axis and
use it to replace the Subcategory attribute in the Color By drop zone. Each metric will now have
its own color.
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Enhanced formatting and configuration options
In order to empower users to make the most of their dashboard experience, formatting and
configuration properties have been enabled for all graphs, visualizations, and template objects (such as
text boxes, images, selectors, and more) available in the dashboard template. This includes not only an
improved Properties Panel, but also a subset of these properties contained in a toolbox made available
to users in a formatting mode when the user right-clicks on the canvas.
Visual Insight now offers a more complete set of graph properties, many of which have been ported
over from MicroStrategy Analytics Developer. Richer formatting options include but are not limited to
setting background color, shape fill color, border color, font properties, show/hide headers, opacity
adjustment, gradients, show/hide axis titles, matrix lines.
Enhanced heat map
Various new formatting options are available, including control of color and font properties of headers,
legend and background. The position of the headers can now be set either to top or middle relative to
the box. Furthermore, an improved legend can be collapsed and positioned on either the left or right
side of a heat map.
Enhanced network graph
Various new formatting options are available, including control of color, size and font properties of
network nodes, legend and background. A new theme option allows users to quickly choose between a
light and dark appearance of the network graph. An improved legend can be collapsed and positioned
on either the left or right side of a network graph.
Enhanced ESRI Maps
MicroStrategy supports maps across the Web, iOS, and Android platforms. The MicroStrategy 10 release
provides extensive mapping functionality leveraging ESRI, Google and Apple Maps.
Users can now choose from several base map styles (e.g. Street, Satellite, Topographic etc.) using ESRI
maps. ESRI maps support the following map types:
Area map
Density map
Marker map
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ESRI Map
Consistent with the use of other visualization types, ESRI maps now supports options to show data for
selected markers/regions and using selections to serve as a filter on other visualizations in a dashboard.
ESRI maps feature an enhanced toolbar to facilitate selections and formatting. This new toolbar now
supports searching for places and automatically centering the map on a resulting location.
Trend, forecasting and reference lines
Users can quickly add a trend or reference line to a visualization. A trend line can be generated using a
choice of linear, logarithmic, exponential, power and polynomial models, including an option to enable
forecasting. By default, MicroStrategy automatically selects a model that best fits the data.
One or more reference lines can be drawn based on the max, min, avg, first, or last value in the measure
series or on a constant value. Reference lines can assist the end user in quickly evaluating whether or
not KPIs or other indicators lie above or below expectations.
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ESRI Map
Users can control the calculation level for both trend and reference lines as follows:
Per cell: calculates the reference line independently for every cell in the Graph
Matrix
Per row: calculates the reference line based on the cells in the same row (horizontal)
Per Column: calculates the reference line based on the cells in the same column (vertical)
Entire table: calculates the reference line based on all cells in the visualization, resulting in the
same reference line in every cell
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EXERCISE: Utilizing Forecasting and Reference Lines
Add a Forward Forecasting Line to a Dashboard
1. In MicroStrategy Web, create a report with the objects Month, Revenue, and Units Sold. Save
your newly created report as Trend Lines and Reference Lines Report.
2. Right click on the Trend lines and Reference Lines Report created in step 1, and select Create
Dashboard.
3. Delete any automatically populated visualizations by clicking on the context menu in the right
corner of the visualization and clicking Delete.
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4. Create a new visualization by clicking the Insert Visualization button in the top menu.
5. If the Visualization Gallery does not automatically show on the right side of the dashboard,
open it by navigating to View > Visualization Gallery in the top menu.
6. Using the Visualization Gallery, switch the visualization type to Bubble Chart. Notice that the
drop zones change when the visualization type is changed.
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7. Drag Month in the Horizontal drop zone and Revenue into the Vertical drop zone area.
8. The resulting visualization should look like the following screenshot.
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9. Right-click on the Revenue metric and select Enable trendline for Revenue.
10. The trend line will automatically populate as follows:
11. In the Editor panel, switch to the Properties tab.
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12. Choose to view the Trend and Reference Lines properties.
13. Check the box to Enable Forecasting. Extrapolate forward by 3.
14. The bubble chart should now look like the following screenshot.
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15. Place your mouse over the trend line to see the trend line function and other statistical
information.
16. Disable forecasting and change the Model to Linear to see a line of best fit for the data at hand.
17. You visualization should now look like the following:
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Note: You can also change the trend line color and line type within the properties menu.
18. Save your new dashboard as Trend Line and Reference Line Dashboard.
Add a Reference Line
19. Right-click on the metric label in the existing visualization. Navigate to Add a Reference Line and
choose Minimum.
20. Your visualization should now look like the following screenshot.
21. Navigate to the Trend and Reference Lines properties panel.
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22. Add a second Constant reference line using the Reference Line section in the properties panel.
Input 1000000 as the value and click OK.
23. You will now see the constant reference line on your visualization. Place your mouse over the
line to see the reference line value.
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24. Right click on the newly-created constant reference line. Change the reference line color. Note:
the user can select a custom color by clicking on the palette in the top toolbar.
25. In the Trend and Reference Line properties panel, choose to show labels. Note that the user can
expose labels for the reference line type, metric name, and line value for each reference line on
a given visualization.
26. The visualization should now look similar to the following screenshot.
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Show/hide null and zero values
Visual Insight users can control whether or not null and zero values are displayed.
New and improved visualization properties
The following new visualization properties are available for users of Web, Analytics Desktop and Express:
Color setting at the element level. For example, users can set the fill color of a bar chart directly
via a right-click menu option
New option to set a specific color for an attribute value. When setting a specific color in a
visualization, the setting automatically applies to any other visualization using the same
attribute
This setting is persisted and applied when the dashboard is saved
New color palette
Formatting of axis, labels, legend, colors
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New threshold editor
The MicroStrategy 10 release provides users with advanced options to determine how thresholds are
calculated and rendered. Options include:
Image vs. color type threshold
Choice of pre-defined color schemes
Reversal of the order of colors in a scheme
Threshold calculation based on Value, Lowest, Highest, Lowest % and Highest %
Threshold Editor
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Quick view of data
When working with visualizations and selections, users can quickly view the data in the form of a simple
table by choosing the right-click menu option Show Data. In the Show Data window, users have the
option to export the data as an Excel, PDF or CSV file, or add the data in the form of a new grid
visualization to the current dashboard.
Show Data Window
Local number formatting
The format of a metric used in a visualization can now be specified without affecting the format of the
same metric used in other visualizations.
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Display attribute forms
A new option exists to display additional attribute forms in a visualization.
Visualization themes/styles
The MicroStrategy 10 release introduces the concept of dashboard styles. Users can quickly switch
between different styles (e.g. dark, light) and choose a default color palette.
Third party plug-in and custom visualizations
MicroStrategy 10 enables developers to extend Visual Insight by supporting the deployment of custom
JavaScript-based visualization types (for example D3) as plug-ins. The MicroStrategy Software
Developers Kit (SDK) has long empowered users to add advanced functionality to the core capabilities of
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the MicroStrategy platform. The ability to use third party plug-in and custom visualizations is not new,
but support has been enhanced for MicroStrategy Visual Insight. Built-in support for Google Charts has
been added to the product.
Layout and Filtering
Support of new layout objects
In addition to visualizations, Visual Insight users can add filter, text, image and HTML Container objects
to a dashboard template.
Filter: In the previous release, users were only able to add filter controls to the filter panel. Now
users have the ability to add filter controls to the dashboard template. The new template-level
filters function identically to the ones contained in the filter panel, except that the user has full
control over the targeting behavior of each individual filter.
Text: Using drag & drop, users can add attributes and metrics to be displayed inline with
manually entered text.
Image: Providing a URL to an image file specifies an image to be displayed in the dashboard.
Users are able to set the image size, borders, hyperlink, and other properties in the Properties
panel.
HTML Container: Users can either enter HTML code or a URL to an existing web page to include
HTML content in a dashboard.
Both Text and Image objects provide an option to serve as hyperlinks to an external URL.
New Use as Filter option
In addition to serving as a filter on other visualizations, selections on a visualization can be used to
highlight corresponding values in other visualizations.
Improved filter selector controls
MicroStrategy 10 introduces various enhancements of filter controls:
The appearance of attribute sliders has been enhanced to be more consistent with the look and
feel of metric sliders.
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Global filters of type checkbox now provide an only option to quickly allow users to select a
single element.
Dropdowns are enhanced to support multi-select.
Search box selectors allow selecting multiple search results in a single search.
Filter object positioning and targeting
A filter object can be positioned relative to all other dashboard objects and configured to apply to one or
more visualizations and other filters in the dashboard. This enables the creation of local filters as well as
cascading filters.
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MICROSTRATEGY ANALYTICS DESKTOP
INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION
Architecture and Supported Platforms
Availability on Apple Mac Desktop
Analytics Desktop is now certified to run on OSX Mountain Lion (10.8.x) and OSX Mavericks (10.9.x).
Extended Windows OS support
Certification and support of the following Windows OS versions was added in the MicroStrategy 10
release.
Certified:
Windows 8.1 all editions (on x86 or x64)
Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard (on x64)
Supported:
Windows XP Professional Edition SP3 (o