MicroStrategy Mobile allows designers to create micro applications, or apps, that can be used on an iPhone, iPad, or Android device. An app designed in MicroStrategy consists of an organized set of reports and dashboards combined to provide a guided workflow for the end user. (A dashboard is a type of document in MicroStrategy.)
A micro application can be created using a dashboard as the home page, with navigation and workflows based on buttons and links added to the home page. The example below shows a sample app created in MicroStrategy:
Apps can be quickly designed, without using code, and you can customize the look, feel, and behavior of each app using mobile device-optimized displays and controls. Users of these apps can explore information by tapping, swiping, rotating, and shaking, as well as connecting to the camera, voice GPS, email, and other features on an iPhone, iPad, or Android device.
The steps below explain how to create a simple iPhone or iPad app consisting of a Welcome screen and links to a grid report and a graph report. These grid and graph reports are displayed as widgets, which are designed specifically for iPhone or iPad display.
Prerequisites
• Reports are created that will be used as parts of the app workflow. For details on creating reports, and steps to define a report to be displayed as a widget, see Creating a report, page 83 and Defining a report for display on a mobile device, page 91.
To create a Welcome screen for an iPhone or iPad app
1 From the Start menu, point to Programs, then MicroStrategy Products, then select Web.
2 Log into the MicroStrategy project using the default administrator account, by typing Administrator as the User Name and leaving the
Password field blank.
3 Click Create Document at the top of the page.
4 From the list of templates, select one of the following, depending on whether you want to create an app for display on an iPhone or an iPad:
• iPhone Portrait Micro Application • iPad Landscape
These templates are optimized for the smaller format of iPhone and iPad apps. The templates allows you to better control the user’s experience and interaction with the app. For complete details on all the templates available for the iPhone and iPad, see the MicroStrategy Web Help.To insert a text field to be used as a link to a report
A link is a connection in an app to another app, dashboard, or report. Tapping a link lets a user execute another app, dashboard, or report (the target) from an app or dashboard (the source), and to pass parameters to answer any prompts that are in the target. You can link from a text field or an image. These steps create a text field.
5 From the Insert menu, select Text. When you move the cursor to the layout area, the pointer changes to crosshairs.
6 Click in the layout area where you want to place the text field. If you click and drag in the area, you can resize the text field.
7 Type the text to be displayed to users.
The text field is automatically formatted in a default style, but you can change the formatting. For details about formatting text fields, click ? to open the Help or see the MicroStrategy Report ServicesDocument Creation Guide.
To retrieve link information for the target report or dashboard
To convert the text field into a link, you must locate and provide the object ID of the target report or dashboard as well as the rest of the correct link syntax (the link’s URL).
8 In MicroStrategy Web, navigate to the target report or dashboard, right-click the name, and select Properties. The Properties dialog box opens.
9 Right-click the URL next to Link, and select Copy Shortcut. This URL is the information that will enable a link to trigger the execution of this report or dashboard.
10 Click Cancel.
To create a link in an iPhone or iPad app
11 In the app template that you were working in above, right-click the text field that you added and select Properties and Formatting. The
13 In the Hyperlink field, delete the “http://” text that is displayed by default, and paste the URL to be triggered when the user taps the text field/link. Press Ctrl+V to paste the copied URL.
14 Click OK. The text field is now underlined, indicating that it is a link.
15 Save your dashboard.
Links can also trigger applications that are stored on your mobile device, such as email, phone, text messages (SMS), maps, and YouTube videos. For more information on linking to reports, documents, and apps, see the
Designing Reports and Documents for Mobile Devices chapter in the MicroStrategy Mobile Design and Administration Guide.
For complete details on creating dashboards as apps, adding prompt parameters to links, and configuring how an app interacts with other apps installed on a mobile device, see the Designing Reports and Documents for
Mobile Devices chapter in the MicroStrategy Mobile Design and Administration Guide.