Course Guide
warranty of any kind by either MicroStrategy Incorporated (“MicroStrategy”) or anyone who has been involved in the creation, production, or distribution of the Course or Software, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the Course and Software is with you. Should the Course or Software prove defective, you (and not MicroStrategy or anyone else who has been involved with the creation, production, or distribution of the Course or Software) assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction.
In no event will MicroStrategy or any other person involved with the creation, production, or distribution of the Course or Software be liable to you on account of any claim for damage, including any lost profits, lost savings, or other special, incidental, consequential, or exemplary damages, including but not limited to any damages assessed against or paid by you to any third party, arising from the use, inability to use, quality, or performance of such Course and Software, even if MicroStrategy or any such other person or entity has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for the claim by any other party. In addition, MicroStrategy or any other person involved in the creation, production, or distribution of the Course and Software shall not be liable for any claim by you or any other party for damages arising from the use, inability to use, quality, or performance of such Course and Software, based upon principles of contract warranty, negligence, strict liability for the negligence of indemnity or contribution, the failure of any remedy to achieve its essential purpose, or otherwise.
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U.S. Government Restricted Rights. It is acknowledged that the Course and Software were developed at private expense, that no part is public domain, and that the Course and Software are Commercial Computer Software and/or Commercial Computer Software Documentation provided with RESTRICTED RIGHTS under Federal Acquisition Regulations and agency supplements to them. Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFAR 252.227-7013 et. seq. or subparagraphs (c)(1) and (2) of the Commercial Computer Software—Restricted Rights at FAR 52.227-19, as applicable. The Contractor is MicroStrategy, 1850 Towers Crescent Plaza, Vienna, Virginia 22182. Rights are reserved under copyright laws of the United States with respect to unpublished portions of the Software.
Copyright Information
All Contents Copyright © 2011 MicroStrategy Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
Trademark Information
MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy 6, MicroStrategy 7, MicroStrategy 7i, MicroStrategy 7i Evaluation Edition,
MicroStrategy 7i Olap Services, MicroStrategy 8, MicroStrategy 9, MicroStrategy Distribution Services, MicroStrategy MultiSource Option, MicroStrategy Command Manager, MicroStrategy Enterprise Manager, MicroStrategy Object Manager, MicroStrategy Reporting Suite, MicroStrategy Power User, MicroStrategy Analyst, MicroStrategy Consumer, MicroStrategy Email Delivery, MicroStrategy BI Author, MicroStrategy BI Modeler, MicroStrategy Evaluation Edition, MicroStrategy Administrator, MicroStrategy Agent, MicroStrategy Architect, MicroStrategy BI Developer Kit, MicroStrategy Broadcast Server, MicroStrategy Broadcaster, MicroStrategy Broadcaster Server, MicroStrategy
Intelligence, Centralized Application Management, Information Like Water, Intelligence Through Every Phone, Intelligence To Every Decision Maker, Intelligent E-Business, Personalized Intelligence Portal, Query Tone, Rapid Application Development, MicroStrategy Intelligent Cubes, The Foundation For Intelligent E-Business, The Integrated Business Intelligence Platform Built For The Enterprise, The Platform For Intelligent E-Business, The Scalable Business Intelligence Platform Built For The Internet, Industrial-Strength Business Intelligence, Office Intelligence, MicroStrategy Office, MicroStrategy Report Services, MicroStrategy Web MMT, MicroStrategy Web Services, Pixel Perfect, Pixel-Perfect, MicroStrategy Mobile, MicroStrategy Integrity Manager and MicroStrategy Data Mining Services are all registered trademarks or trademarks of MicroStrategy Incorporated.
All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Specifications subject to change without notice. MicroStrategy is not responsible for errors or omissions.
MicroStrategy makes no warranties or commitments concerning the availability of future products or versions that may be planned or under development.
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 and 7,970,782. Other patent applications are pending.
How to Contact Us
MicroStrategy Education Services
1850 Towers Crescent Plaza Vienna, VA 22182 Phone: 703.848.8600
Fax: 703.848.8610
E-mail: [email protected] http://www.microstrategy.com/education
MicroStrategy Incorporated
1850 Towers Crescent Plaza Vienna, VA 22182 Phone: 703.848.8600
Fax: 703.848.8610 E-mail: [email protected]
T
ABLE
O
F
C
ONTENTS
Preface Course Description... 11
Who Should Take this Course ... 12
Course Prerequisites ... 12
Follow-up Courses ... 12
Related Certifications... 12
Course Objectives ... 13
About the Course Materials ... 14
Content Descriptions ... 14
Learning Objectives ... 14
Lessons ... 14
Opportunities for Practice ... 15
Typographical Standards ... 15
Other MicroStrategy Courses*... 18
Core Courses... 18
1. Introduction to Report Services Lesson Description ... 19
Lesson Objectives ... 20
Beyond Basic Grids and Graphs ... 21
MicroStrategy Report Services ... 21
The Benefits of MicroStrategy Report Services ... 22
Overview of the MicroStrategy Web Interface ... 24
Reporting Capabilities... 28
Enterprise Reports ... 28
Document Display Modes and Export Formats ... 31
DHTML Modes... 31
Design Mode... 36
Export to PDF ... 37
Export to Microsoft Excel ... 38
Selecting Available Display Modes ... 38
Selecting Available Export Formats ... 39
Accessing Links to Reports and Documents ... 40
Document Subscriptions... 42
Document Subscriptions to History List ... 42
Document Subscriptions to Email, File, and Printer... 43
Lesson Summary... 45
2. Creating Documents Lesson Description ... 47
Lesson Objectives ... 48
Introduction to the Document Editor ... 49
Dataset Objects ... 50
Document Structure ... 52
Notes ... 53
Related Reports ... 54
Layout Area ... 55
Creating Documents ... 59
Creating Documents from Existing MicroStrategy Reports.... 59
Creating Documents from a Document Template... 61
Document Objects ... 63
MicroStrategy Grid/Graphs ... 63
Attributes, Metrics, Custom Groups, and Consolidations ... 67
Text ... 69
Auto Text ... 70
Images ... 73
Lines & Shapes... 74
HTML Container ... 75
Arranging Objects on a Document... 77
Moving Objects ... 78
Snap to Grid... 78
Alignment and Distribution ... 79
Sizing Objects ... 80
Ordering Objects... 81
Subsections ... 86
Section - General Properties... 88
Section - Size Properties ... 89
PDF-Specific Properties ... 90
Page Breaks ... 90
Watermarks ... 92
Lesson Summary... 94
Exercises: Creating Documents ... 97
Basic Document... 97
3. Document Design Concepts Lesson Description ... 107
Lesson Objectives ... 108
Banded Layouts... 109
Detail Section Behavior ... 110
Custom Sections and Grouping ... 113
Grouping Properties... 115
PDF-Specific Properties... 119
Headers & Footers... 121
Zone-Based Layouts... 123
Combined Banded and Zone-Based Layouts... 126
Lesson Summary... 128
Exercises: Document Design Concepts ... 129
Combined Layout... 129
4. Documents and MicroStrategy OLAP Services Lesson Description ... 137
Lesson Objectives ... 138
Datasets Based on Intelligent Cubes... 139
Intelligent Cubes as Datasets ... 139
Reports that Run Against Intelligent Cubes as Datasets ... 140
Derived Metrics... 142
Summary Metrics... 145
View Filters ... 147
Derived Elements ... 150
Custom Grouping of Elements... 150
Lesson Summary... 153
Exercises: Documents and MicroStrategy OLAP Services ... 155
5. Useful Design Techniques
Lesson Description ... 161
Lesson Objectives ... 162
Useful Design Techniques... 163
Calculated Expressions ... 163
Conditional Formatting... 164
Tooltips ... 168
Dynamic Images ... 169
Drilling on Grid/Graphs ... 171
Creating Multiple Layout Documents... 173
Lesson Summary... 177
Exercises: Useful Design Techniques ... 179
Conditional Formatting and Dynamic Tooltips ... 179
Create Multiple Layout Document... 182
Optional Exercise: Balanced Scorecard Document ... 184
6. Linking from Documents Lesson Description ... 189
Lesson Objectives ... 190
Document Linking ... 191
Linking a Document to a Web Page ... 191
Linking to a Specific Report or Document... 194
Linking from a Dynamic Text Box to Simulate Drilling ... 196
Linking from a Prompted Document to a Prompted Target . 199 Linking from a Document to Multiple Targets ... 202
Hyperlinks in a Document ... 203
Lesson Summary... 205
Exercises: Linking from Documents ... 207
Links to Prompted Targets and a Website... 207
Link from a Prompted Source to a Prompted Target ... 211
7. Multiple Dataset and Performance Considerations Lesson Description ... 215
Lesson Objectives ... 216
Multiple Dataset Join Behavior ... 217
Compound Joins and Virtual Datasets... 217
Join Behavior - Primary and Secondary Datasets ... 223
A. Report Services in MicroStrategy Desktop
Document Creation Features... 236
Property List in the Document Editor ... 236
Document Templates... 237
Document Autostyles ... 240
Multiselect Reports to Create Document ... 241
Document Caching ... 241
Desktop Formatting Features ... 243
Distribution Relative to Layout ... 243
Grid/Graph Styles ... 244
Project-Level Watermarks... 245
Links to Datasets in MicroStrategy Desktop ... 246
Advanced Links in MicroStrategy Desktop ... 247
P
REFACE
Course Description
This 1-day course provides an overview of enterprise reporting using
MicroStrategy Report Services™ in MicroStrategy Web. The course introduces the many features that enable you to create sophisticated, boardroom-quality documents. You will learn how to design and create a Pixel Perfect™ document using the Document Editor in MicroStrategy Web. You will also learn how to add datasets, various objects such as grids, graphs, text boxes, images and so on to your document. The course covers some useful document designing and formatting techniques and also the implementation of OLAP services features within your document. Lastly, the course explains the implication of using multiple datasets and some data optimization best practices.
Who Should Take this Course
This course is designed for:• Document Developers
Course Prerequisites
Before starting this course, you should know all topics covered in the following courses:
• MicroStrategy Web for Reporters and Analysts • MicroStrategy Web for Professionals
OR
• MicroStrategy Desktop: Reporting Essentials
Follow-up Courses
After taking this course, you might consider taking the following course: • MicroStrategy Report Services: Dynamic Dashboards
Related Certifications
To validate your proficiency in the content of this course, you might consider taking the following certifications:
Course Objectives
• Understand the benefits of MicroStrategy Report Services, identify the main types of report designs, list the document display formats and
more. (Page 20)
• Identify the different areas of the Document Editor and describe the ways to create a document. Describe the various types of objects you can add in a document. Understand some of the important section-specific properties that affect a document’s display. Apply techniques for formatting and arranging objects. (Page 48)
• Understand the use of detail and custom sections. Create documents that employ any of the three different categories of layouts: banded, zone-based, or combined layouts. (Page 108)
• Use a variety of OLAP Services features to enhance the aesthetic quality and utility of your documents. (Page 138)
• Use a variety of Report Services features and design techniques to enhance the aesthetic quality of your documents. (Page 162)
• Use links to enable navigation to websites and additional documents and reports, passing prompt answers if desired. (Page 190)
• Understand the implications of using multiple datasets in Report Services documents. Describe best practices for improving the performance of your documents. (Page 216)
About the Course Materials
This course is organized into lessons and reference appendices. Each lesson focuses on major concepts and skills that help you to better understand MicroStrategy products and use them to implement MicroStrategy projects. The appendices provide you with supplemental information to enhance your knowledge of MicroStrategy products.
Content Descriptions
Each major section of this course begins with a Description heading. The Description introduces you to the content contained in that section.
Learning Objectives
Learning objectives enable you to focus on the key knowledge and skills you should obtain by successfully completing this course. Objectives are provided for you at the following three levels:
• Course—You will achieve these overall objectives by successfully
completing all the lessons in this course. The Course Objectives heading in this Preface contains the list of course objectives.
• Lesson—You will achieve these main objectives by successfully completing all the topics in the lesson. You can find the primary lesson objectives directly under the Lesson Objectives heading at the beginning of each lesson.
• Main Topic—You will achieve this secondary objective by successfully completing the main topic. The topic objective is stated at the beginning of the topic text. You can find a list of all the topic objectives in each lesson under the Lesson Objectives heading at the beginning of each lesson.
Opportunities for Practice
A Workshop is a reinforcement and assessment activity that follows two or more lessons. Because a Workshop covers content and applied skills presented in several lessons, it is a separate section on the level of a lesson.
The following sections within lessons provide you with opportunities to reinforce important concepts, practice new product and project skills, and monitor your own progress in achieving the lesson and course objectives: • Review
• Case Study
• Business Scenario • Exercises
Typographical Standards
The following sections explain the font style changes, icons, and different types of notes that you see in this course.
Actions
References to screen elements and keys that are the focus of actions are in bold Arial font style. The following example shows this style:
Click Select Warehouse.
Code
References to code, formulas, or calculations within paragraphs are formatted in regular Courier.New font style. The following example shows this style:
Data Entry
References to literal data you must type in an exercise or procedure are in bold Arial typeface. References to data you type in that could vary from user to user or system to system is in bold italic Arial font style. The following example shows this style:
Type copy c:\filename d:\foldername\filename.
Keyboard Keys
References to a keyboard key or shortcut keys are in uppercase letters in bold Arial font style. The following example shows this style:
Press CTRL+B.
New Terms
New terms to note are in regular italic font style. These terms are defined when they are first encountered in the course material. The following example shows this style:
The aggregation level is the level of calculation for the metric.
Notes and Warnings
A note icon indicates helpful information.
A warning icon calls your attention to very important information that you should read before continuing the course.Heading Icons
The following heading icons are used to indicate specific practice and review sections:
— Precedes a Case Study
— Precedes a Business Scenario
— Precedes ExercisesOther MicroStrategy Courses*
Core Courses
• Implementing MicroStrategy: Development and Deployment • MicroStrategy Architect: Project Design Essentials
• MicroStrategy Desktop: Advanced Reporting • MicroStrategy Desktop: Reporting Essentials
• MicroStrategy Mobile for Apple® iPad™ and iPhone® • MicroStrategy Report Services: Document Essentials • MicroStrategy Report Services: Dynamic Dashboards • MicroStrategy Web for Professionals
• MicroStrategy Web for Reporters and Analysts
1
I
NTRODUCTION
TO
R
EPORT
S
ERVICES
Lesson Description
This lesson introduces you to the basic concepts related to MicroStrategy Report Services™. You will learn about the different types of documents you can create with Report Services. The lesson also explains the various display modes and output formats for the documents. You will learn how you can subscribe to receive documents to your History List as well as email, file and printer.
Lesson Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
Understand the benefits of MicroStrategy Report Services, identify the main types of report designs, list the document display formats and more.
After completing the topics in this lesson, you will be able to:
• Describe MicroStrategy Report Services and the benefits of Report Services documents. (Page 21)
• Navigate the MicroStrategy Web interface. (Page 24) • Describe the types of reports you can design with Report
Services. (Page 28)
• Describe the possible output formats for Report Services documents. (Page 31)
• Create subscriptions to receive Report Services documents to your History List, an email address, a file server, or a printer. (Page 42)
Beyond Basic Grids and Graphs
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
Describe MicroStrategy Report Services and the benefits of Report Services documents.
MicroStrategy Report Services
MicroStrategy Report Services is an enterprise reporting engine of the MicroStrategy Business Intelligence platform. It is an add-on product to MicroStrategy Intelligence Server. With the purchase of Report Services, the product installs on the same machine as your Intelligence Server. After you install it, you use the Document Editor in MicroStrategy Desktop or
MicroStrategy Web to access Report Services functionality. The objects you create with this editor are called documents.
A document displays your organization’s data, where several grid and graph reports can be viewed at the same time, along with images and text.
High-quality, Pixel Perfect™ documents allow you to display your business data in a user-friendly way that is suitable for presentation to management for boardroom-quality material. Examples of documents include scorecards and dashboards, managed metrics documents, production and operational documents, and more.
MicroStrategy Report Services enables users to combine many reports into one dashboard and even multiple documents into a single location so all the data is synchronized and in a single place.
The Benefits of MicroStrategy Report Services
MicroStrategy Report Services was created to address the reporting needs of an entire organization. For example, in any given company, report designers may need to produce reports for a wide range of recipients and those recipients may require specific styles and formats for their reports. Executives may want to see high-level dashboards, while operational managers may want to see detailed operational scorecards, and customers may need to see personalized invoices. As you can see, the recipients for business reports can span all levels of an enterprise, including external recipients, such as customers.
Report Services provides the following benefits:
• Rich data access—Taking full advantage of the MicroStrategy platform on which it exists, Report Services documents have the ability to display large volumes of data from disparate data sources. Documents can even use advanced calculations, such as predictive or data mining analytics.
• WYSIWYG Report Layout and formatting that is Pixel Perfect™ on the screen and print-perfect on paper—Using Report Services in
MicroStrategy Web, business users can produce reports in full WYSIWYG mode through a zero-footprint Web interface. Business users no longer need to rely on report developers to create reports to their exact
specifications. The reports you build in MicroStrategy Web display as well on the screen as they do on paper in portable document format (PDF). • All types of scorecards, dashboards, and enterprise reports—Report
Services makes it possible to create virtually any type of report, including multitabbed report books.
• Full interactivity for all scorecards, dashboards, and enterprise reports—The menus, toolbars, and drag-and-drop actions in Report Services make it easy to rearrange the design of any report.
• Scalable, secure documents—Report Services is the enterprise reporting engine of the MicroStrategy platform. It inherits all the benefits of the platform, including iron-clad security, scalability, centralized
administration, unified metadata, and delivery to various outputs. • Personalized reporting—You can answer any number of questions
(prompts) before running a Report Services document. The answers you specify dictate the content that the document displays.
• Seamless user experience—The Report Services Document Editor in MicroStrategy Desktop and MicroStrategy Web makes it easy for you to design reports without any additional programming knowledge.
As you explore the many facets of Report Services in this course, you will learn how all of these features are possible.
Overview of the MicroStrategy Web Interface
After completing this topic, you will be able to: Navigate the MicroStrategy Web interface.
MicroStrategy Web provides a highly interactive, easy-to-use interface for reporting and data analysis. It is a grouping of Web pages, which includes a welcome page, login page, project home pages, and specific pages that allow you to browse folders, reports, or documents and view results. MicroStrategy Web displays any project objects in the metadata to which you have access. As you run reports and documents, it returns results from your data warehouse and displays them to you in the browser.
The following sections describe the various pages you use to access a document in MicroStrategy Web.
Home Page
The home page displays the names and descriptions of all the available projects.You can access any project for which the administrator has granted you permission.
Login Page
Depending on your web configuration, before you can access a project in MicroStrategy Web, you generally have to log into the project with a user name and password.
Login Page
To access the MicroStrategy Tutorial project:
1 Depending on the configuration of your training environment, to connect to MicroStrategy Web, do one of the following:
On the Windows desktop, click the Start menu, point to Programs, point to MicroStrategy, point to Web, and select Web.
OR
Open your Internet browser and type the URL (address) provided by your administrator.
If your MicroStrategy Web is not configured with MicroStrategyIntelligence Server, you will see a page that has the link to go to the Web Administrator page. On the Web Administrator page, add your
Intelligence Server machine name and click Connect. To return to the Home page, click MicroStrategy Web Home.
3 On the Login page, in the User name box, type administrator and click Login.
The password is blank for this login by default.Project Home Page
After you log in to a MicroStrategy project, the project home page displays, which displays several options. The following image shows the project home page:
Project Home Page
The project home page contains the following options:
Shared Reports—This folder contains public reports, documents, and other objects that are shared with other users.
History List—This option enables you to access your personal History List, which displays messages about the reports and documents that you have scheduled to run. You can click these messages to retrieve results for these reports and documents.
My Subscriptions—This option enables you to view and modify report and document subscriptions. Whenever you schedule a report or document to run, you create a subscription to it. You can also view any scheduled deliveries you have defined, which enable you to send reports and documents on a scheduled basis to email, printer, or a file server.
Create Report—This option enables you to create a grid or graph report from scratch or from a template.
Create Prompt—Create a prompt to ask for user input.
Create Document—Create an enterprise report, scorecard, or dashboard from scratch or from a template.
Create Filter—Create a qualification to narrow down your result set. Import Data—Import external data into MicroStrategy from a local file, relational database, or by joining multiple tables from different sources. Custom Group—Create a Custom Group object to segment report data. Preferences—This option enables you to change preferences for a variety of settings, including report display, printing and exporting properties, and more. Search—This option allows you to access the MicroStrategy Web search function, which can help you locate folders, reports, documents, and other objects.
Intelligence Server Administrator—This option enables administrators to configure MicroStrategy Intelligence Server settings.
Reporting Capabilities
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
Describe the types of reports you can design with Report Services.
In this topic, you will focus on the types of reports that you can create with Report Services.
Enterprise Reports
Operational Reports
Operational reports organize data into densely populated documents that contain various rows of detail grouped in an easy to read fashion. The image below shows an example of an operational document created with Report Services:
Classic Business Reports
You create classic business reports using charts and grids, which you group together so that the data is easy to read. Classic business reports can satisfy many types of reporting needs. The image below shows an example of a classic business report created with Report Services:
Invoices and Statements
Invoices and statements are typically very personalized. They serve the
purpose of billing or communicating with recipients. These documents employ a predefined and structured format with text and dynamically populated fields. The image below shows an example of an invoice created with Report Services:
Document Display Modes and Export Formats
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
Describe the possible output formats for Report Services documents.
In MicroStrategy Desktop and MicroStrategy Web, you can view documents in the following display modes:
• Export to Microsoft Excel • Design Mode
The following display modes are available only when you view documents in MicroStrategy Web:
• DHTML modes (Express Mode, Interactive Mode, and Editable Mode) • Flash Mode
The next sections explain each of these modes.
MicroStrategy Desktop offers basic HTML and Flash preview modes.DHTML Modes
With Report Services, documents you view in MicroStrategy Web have the same functionality as documents you view in MicroStrategy Desktop. You can create, edit, and print documents using MicroStrategy Web or Web Universal. In MicroStrategy Web, you can view documents in a partially interactive format (Express Mode), an interactive DHTML format (Interactive Mode), in a fully editable DHTML format (Editable Mode), or in a fully dynamic Flash Mode.
Express Mode
This display mode is the recommended display mode for viewing a document. Even though Express Mode is less interactive than other modes, you can still perform several manipulations on documents such as sorting, pivoting and drilling on grid/graphs, using selectors to change panels or grid/graph reports, linking to reports and documents, saving, printing, exporting, and using the Grouping panel.
For more information on panel stacks and selectors, refer to the MicroStrategy Report Services: Dynamic Dashboards course.Express Mode reduces the size of the HTML output, which in turn optimizes the performance of document execution. The image below displays a document in Express Mode. The sorting and pivoting options are displayed when you click on the down arrow next to the subcategory header. Notice that there are no menus displayed and limited toolbar options are available:
Express Mode
Express Mode is supported on Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 (and higher) and Firefox 3.0 (and higher). You can also choose to disableTo switch to Express Mode, do one of the following:
1 Run a document.
2 On the Home menu, select Express Mode. OR
On the Home toolbar, click Express Mode:
Editable Mode
If you need to perform formatting changes and extensive document manipulations, you can switch toEditable Mode. Editable Mode offers WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) document creation and editing capabilities in an HTML format. In Editable Mode, you can apply formatting to any object and view the result immediately. You can drag objects onto a
document, remove objects, add text, and perform simple OLAP manipulations (such as page-by, grouping, and sorting) all within the Web browser. Editable Mode is the recommended display mode when you are fine-tuning a Report Services document.
The image below displays a document in Editable Mode. Notice the additional menus and toolbars, particularly when compared to Express Mode. Also, notice the Profit Margin text box that is selected in the document so that formatting changes can be applied to it.
Editable Mode
The features listed below are additional advantages of working in Editable Mode:
• You can apply Pixel Perfect™ positioning.
• You can display alignment grids to help you understand the structure of the document.
• You can undo and redo your formatting actions.
To switch to Editable Mode, do one of the following:
1 Run the document.
2 On the Home menu, select Editable Mode. OR
Interactive Mode
For documents that contain special interactive objects called panel stacks and selectors, you can toggle to Interactive Mode.
For more information on Interactive Mode, panel stacks, and selectors, refer to the MicroStrategy Report Services: Dynamic Dashboards course.To switch to Interactive Mode, do one of the following:
1 On the Home menu, select Interactive Mode. OR
On the Home toolbar, click Interactive Mode:
Flash Mode
If you want to view a document that includes Adobe Flash functionality (such as Flash widgets and Flash-specific formatting), you can toggle to Flash Mode.
For more information on Flash Mode and its functionality, refer to the MicroStrategy Report Services: Dynamic Dashboards course.To switch to Flash Mode, do one of the following:
1 On the Home menu, select Flash Mode. OR
Design Mode
In addition to Editable Mode, Web Professionals can create and format documents in Design Mode. Working with a document in Design Mode in MicroStrategy Web is recommended when you need to build a document quickly, without viewing any actual data, and when you want to set basic formatting properties for the document and its objects.
There are a few key differences between Design Mode in MicroStrategy Desktop and Design Mode in MicroStrategy Web. Unlike Desktop where you use Design Mode, in MicroStrategy Web, you perform grid and graph
formatting and sorting in Editable Mode. Also, Design Mode in MicroStrategy Web (as shown on the next page) does not display the Property List window that you see in the Document Editor in Desktop.
For more information on the Property List window in the MicroStrategy Desktop Document Editor, see “Document Creation Features” starting on page 236.Design Mode
To switch to Design Mode, do one of the following:
1 On the Home menu, select Design. OR
On the Home toolbar, click Design:
Export to PDF
Adobe® Acrobat Reader version 5.0 or higher is required to view PDF output. When MicroStrategy Desktop users execute a document, the output
automatically renders in PDF format in Adobe Acrobat Reader. In
MicroStrategy Web, users export documents to PDF. The PDF output displays a document as it will look when printed (with page breaks, pagination, and so forth).
When you execute a Report Services document in MicroStrategy Desktop, the MicroStrategy Desktop machine generates the PDF output. On the other hand, when you execute a document in MicroStrategy Web, the Intelligence Server machine generates the PDF output. This is one key difference between PDF generation in Desktop versus MicroStrategy Web.
To view a document in PDF in MicroStrategy Web, do one of the following:
1 Run the desired document.
2 On the Home menu, point to Export, and select PDF. OR
On the Home toolbar, click PDF.
The document designer must enable PDF as an available export mode for users to see the PDF options as described in the above procedures. ORLocate the desired document and click the PDF link that displays under the document name.
Export to Microsoft Excel
When you export to Microsoft Excel, you send the document data to a
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, retaining the data and the formatting. In fact, a document's appearance largely remains the same whether you view it in PDF, Microsoft Excel, or in the MicroStrategy Web DHTML modes. Graphs that export to Microsoft Excel get exported as Microsoft Excel graphs, not as images. As a result, you can perform manipulations on these graphs in the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, using Microsoft Excel functionality.
You can select the Excel format for export (that is, Excel 2003, 2007, and so on) from Preferences.
To select the Export Excel Format for Documents:
1 At the top of the project home page, click Preferences.
2 On the left-pane, under Preferences Level, select User Preferences. 3 On the left-pane, under Preferences, select Export Reports.
4 Under Excel options, from the Excel version drop-down list, select the desired Excel format.
5 Click Apply.
Selecting Available Display Modes
By altering the Document Properties, you can specify which display modes are available for your documents as well as which display mode is the default display mode.
To specify available display modes and the default display mode for documents:
1 Open the document in Design or Editable Mode. 2 On the Tools menu, select Document Properties.
3 In the Properties window, on the left panel, under Document Properties, select Document.
4 Under Run Modes, under Available Display Modes, select the check boxes for each mode in which this document should display. Clear the check box for any mode that should not be available.
5 In the Run by default as drop-down list, select the desired default display mode.
6 Click OK to return to the document.
When you view a document in any of the DHTML modes (Express, Interactive, or Editable), it looks the same as if you were viewing it in PDF. However, the DHTML modes display the content of a document continuously, with no section or page breaks. Therefore, all pagination-related settings apply only to the PDF.
Selecting Available Export Formats
Before you can export a document, you need to enable the available export formats.
To specify the available export formats for a document:
1 Open the document in Design or Editable Mode. 2 On the Tools menu, select Document Properties.
3 In the Properties window, on the left panel, under Document Properties, select Document.
1 Under Run Modes, under Available Export Formats, select the check boxes for each format to which you want to export. Clear the check box for any format that should not be available.
2 Click OK to return to the document.
You can export a document to Flash format (an MHT or PDF file). For information on Flash documents and MHT/PDF Flash files, refer to the MicroStrategy Report Services: Dynamic Dashboards course or the Report Services Document Creation Guide product manual.Accessing Links to Reports and Documents
In MicroStrategy Web, you can view the link to a report or a document,which gives you quick access to the URL that runs the selected report or document. To access links for reports and documents:
1 In MicroStrategy Web, browse to the specific report or document. 2 Right-click the report or document and select Show Link.
The Show Link window opens and allows quick access to a URL that runs the selected report or document.
3 Using the Advanced Options, you can customize the size of the iFrame and the other sections, such as header, navigation bar, toolbar, tools panel and footer.
The image below shows the Show Link window for the Revenue Forecast report.
Document Subscriptions
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
Create subscriptions to receive Report Services documents to your History List, an email address, a file server, or a printer.
Because Report Services integrates seamlessly into the MicroStrategy platform, you can take advantage of certain platform features to view documents in other media or applications.
A History List is a collection of pre-executed reports and documents that have been sent to a user’s personal History folder. These pre-executed reports and documents are called History List messages.
Document Subscriptions to History List
You can subscribe to a document, just as you would a report, by choosing a schedule as defined in Intelligence Server. When the schedule is triggered, Intelligence Server executes the document to your preferred output format and places a message in your History List.
You must posses the appropriate privileges to be able to create subscriptions.The image below shows the subscription options you select when you subscribe to a document in MicroStrategy Web.
For more information on subscribing a document to the History List, refer to the MicroStrategy online help.Document Subscriptions to Email, File, and Printer
If MicroStrategy Distribution Services is installed and configured on your system, you can schedule subscriptions to the following outputs:
• Email • File server • Printer
You can also set up an immediate email delivery of a document and email delivery notifications for your History List subscriptions.
In previous versions of MicroStrategy, subscriptions to email, file, and printer were available after integrating MicroStrategy Web withWhen you subscribe to receive a document by email, you can choose from the following delivery formats:
• Flash
• HTML
• Excel • PDF
For more information on subscribing to receive a document to email, a file server, or a printer, refer to the MicroStrategy online help.
Lesson Summary
In this lesson, you learned the following:
• Report Services is an add-on product to Intelligence Server and it seamlessly integrates into the entire MicroStrategy platform. • Report Services offers the following advantages:
– Rich data access
– WYSIWYG Report Layout and formatting that is Pixel Perfect™ on the screen and print-perfect on paper
– Ability to create different types of scorecards, dashboards, and enterprise reports
– Scalable, secure documents
• You can view documents in the following display modes: – Design Mode
– DHTML modes (Express, Interactive, and Editable) – Flash Mode
– Export to Microsoft Excel
• You can create document subscriptions to go to your History List. • With MicroStrategy Distribution Services, you can create document
subscriptions to: – Email
– File servers – Printers
2
C
REATING
D
OCUMENTS
Lesson Description
This lesson introduces you to the Report Services Document Editor in MicroStrategy Web and explains the various ways that you can create documents. It also teaches you about the different types of objects you can include in Report Services documents and the various ways in which you can manipulate and format those objects.
Lesson Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
Identify the different areas of the Document Editor and describe the ways to create a document. Describe the various types of objects you can add in a document. Understand some of the important section-specific properties that affect a document’s display. Apply techniques for formatting and arranging objects.
After completing the topics in this lesson, you will be able to: • Identify the components of the Document Editor. (Page 49)
• Create documents using existing reports or using out-of-the-box document templates. (Page 59)
• Describe the various types of objects you can include in documents. (Page 63)
• Use a variety of methods for moving objects and arranging them in the Layout area of the Document Editor. (Page 77)
• Describe various shortcuts for formatting objects in Report Services documents. (Page 83)
• Explain the purpose of certain section-specific properties. (Page 86) • Describe certain formatting properties that apply only to PDF. (Page 90)
Introduction to the Document Editor
After completing this topic, you will be able to: Identify the components of the Document Editor.
When you want to create a new document or edit an existing document in MicroStrategy Web, you use the Document Editor in Design Mode (shown below). This document display mode shows the following sections:
• Accordion with the Dataset Objects pane, the Document Structure pane, the Notes pane, and the Related Reports pane
Depending on your privileges, you may not see all of the above panes.• Layout area • Grouping panel
To open the Document Editor for a new document:
1 On the project home page, click Create Document.
2 On the Create Document page, keep the View document in Design Mode option selected.
3 Select a template from either Dashboard Templates or Document Templates.
Depending on the template you select, the Document Editor displays different sections and different objects in the Layout area.To open the Document Editor for an existing document:
1 Right-click the document and select Edit. OR
Run the document and switch to Design Mode.
Dataset Objects
Datasets are preexisting MicroStrategy reports. The Dataset Objects pane shows you the datasets that are available as source data for your document. Before designing a document, you must either create a report or ensure that a report already exists with the appropriate data for your document.
To view the Dataset Objects pane:
1 Open a document in Design or Editable Mode.
2 If you do not see the Dataset Objects pane on the left, on the Tools menu, select Dataset Objects.
To add a dataset in the Dataset Objects pane:
1 Open a document in Design or Editable Mode.
2 If you do not see the Dataset Objects pane on the left, on the Tools menu, select Dataset Objects.
3 In the Dataset Objects pane, click Add Dataset:
4 In the Select Dataset window, browse to the report you want to add as a dataset and select it.
5 Click OK.
The objects that make up a dataset (attributes, metrics, and so forth) display with the same icons that you see in Desktop. By clicking the + sign next to the attribute, you can expand it and display the attribute forms for the selected attribute. You can place either the attribute itself on a document, or you can add individual attribute forms to a document.
Replace Dataset
You can replace an existing dataset with another dataset in the Dataset Objects pane. This option is useful when users want to update a grid with data from another report. However, you must ensure that the new dataset’s template contains all objects used by the document’s layout.
To replace a single dataset:
1 In the Dataset Objects pane, right-click the desired dataset and select Replace Dataset.
2 In the Select Dataset window, browse to the new dataset, select it and click OK.
You can also replace all existing datasets with a single dataset report or an Intelligent Cube. This is particularly useful since users can replace all existing datasets with a single Intelligent Cube, provided the cube can meet the data requirements of the document.
To replace all datasets with a single dataset:
1 In the Dataset Objects pane, right-click any dataset and select Replace all datasets.
2 In the Select Dataset window, browse to the new dataset, select it and click OK.
Document Structure
With the Document Structure pane, you can view the complete definition of a document in a tree view. This method for viewing the entire contents of a document provides a simplified view of the document structure. It also makes it easier to select individual objects.
In the document below, the Document Structure pane shows the contents of each document section. You can select an object in the pane and the object becomes selected in the document. You can also right-click an object and choose from a variety of placement and formatting options, as shown below:
The Document Structure pane is especially useful when designing dynamic enterprise dashboards, which contain special objects called panels and panel stacks. Document designers can easily reposition objects from one panel to another using the Document Structure pane.
To learn more about dynamic enterprise dashboards, refer to the MicroStrategy Report Services: Dynamic Dashboards course. To use the Document Structure pane in the Document Editor:1 Open a document in Design or Editable Mode.
2 If you do not see the Document Structure pane on the left, on the Tools menu, select Document Structure.
3 Expand individual sections to view their contents.
4 First select and then right-click objects to perform manipulations through the right-click menu.
Notes
The Notes pane enables you to add notes or comments to a document. Document designers can communicate important information about the document to end users. They can advise users on how to navigate through the results, how to use the most optimal drill paths, how to interpret thresholds, and so on. End users, on the other hand, can share their feedback with
document designers by adding comments about the usability of the document or the relevance of metrics.
The ability to use the Notes pane depends on a user’s MicroStrategy Web privileges. A user with Web Professional privileges can add notes and modify or delete existing entries.
Notes are linked to the document definition, but are not saved with it. When you add, modify, or delete notes, you do not invalidate the report or document cache.To add notes to a document:
1 In Design or Editable mode, on the accordion-like left-hand pane, click Notes.
OR
On the Tools menu, select Notes. 2 In the bottom box, type a note. 3 Click Submit.
Related Reports
The Related Reports pane lets you quickly access reports or documents that are stored in the same folder as the document you are viewing.
Layout Area
You define the content of the document in the Layout area. The Layout area consists of several different sections: Page Header, Document Header, Detail Header, Detail, Detail Footer, Document Footer and Page Footer. Each section determines where content displays in the final output.
Layout Area Sections
In the preceding image, the sections are indented to illustrate the hierarchy of a document. As you can see, the Page Header and Page Footer are the outermost sections, and the Detail section is the innermost section. In the final output, content in the outer sections surround content in the inner sections.
The Layout area displays a ruler, which is an actual measure of the size of your content. By default, the measurement displays in inches.You can change the measurement units in MicroStrategy Desktop. On the Tools menu, select My Preferences. In the My Preferences window, under Editors, under Options, specify the Measurement Units.Before you create a document, you need to understand the behavior and purpose of each section in the Document Editor, as described below:
• Page Header— Items you place in this section display at the top of each page of the document.
– Useful for page numbers, corporate logos, disclaimer statements or images that you want to display on every page of a document.
– If you design a multilayout document, the contents of the Page Header display on all layouts by default.
• Document Header— Items you place in this section display once by default, immediately below the Page Header section, toward the top of the first page of the document.
– Useful for an introductory statement, or for producing a cover page, since items in this section display only once.
– Also useful for displaying grand totals and other summary data.
• Detail Header— Items you place in this section display directly above the detailed data.
– Useful for labeling data in the Detail section with column headers. – Also useful for displaying entire MicroStrategy grids and/or graphs. • Detail— Items you place in this section constitute the detailed data
displayed in the document. One row prints for each row of data in the document’s dataset.
– Useful for displaying detailed level data, such as attribute elements and metric values.
• Detail Footer— Items you place in this section display only once, directly below the detailed data.
– Useful for displaying subtotals and labels for data in Detail section. • Document Footer— Items you place in this section display once, on the
last page of the document.
– Useful for a closing statement, or for producing a summary page, since items in this section display only once.
• Page Footer— Items you place in this section display at the bottom of each page of the document.
– Useful for page numbers or images you want to display on every page of a document.
– If you design a multilayout document, the contents of the Page Footer display on all layouts by default.
• Custom Headers and Footers— In addition to the above sections, you have the ability (by forming groups of data) to create custom sections. For example, by adding Region and Year attributes to the Grouping panel of the editor, you can make header and footer bands for each of these attributes, as shown below:
For information on grouping and custom sections, see “Custom Sections and Grouping” starting on page 113.Hiding Sections of the Layout Area
You can specify whether you want to hide or display certain sections of the Layout area in the Document Editor. By hiding the sections that you are less likely to use as you design a document, you can lend more screen space to the sections that you use more often.
To hide sections in the Document Editor:
1 Open a document in Design mode. 2 On the Tools menu, select Sections.
3 In the Properties window, clear the check box for any section you want to hide:
You cannot hide all sections. At least one section must be displayed. 4 Click OK to return to the document.Creating Documents
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
Create documents using existing reports or using out-of-the-box document templates.
Creating Documents from Existing MicroStrategy Reports
You can create a Report Services document directly from a MicroStrategy report. When you right-click any report and select Create Document, a new document opens and the following actions take place automatically:• The source report, with all of its attributes and metrics, becomes the dataset of the document.
• The dataset displays in the Detail Header section as a grid (for a grid source report) or as a graph (for a graph source report).
• The grid or graph displays the same attributes and metrics as the source report.
For example, in the source report, if any attributes, metrics, or other objects are in the Report Objects pane of the Report Editor but not in the report template, the grid/graph in the document does not display them. However, these objects will display under the dataset in the Dataset Objects pane of the Document Editor.
• The grid or graph uses the source report’s formatting.
• Any prompt answers that are stored in the source report are copied to the document.
• If the source report has an object in the page-by panel, this object becomes a grouping object in the document. The document automatically displays a header and footer section of the grouping object. Also, a dynamic text box containing the object’s name, such as {Region}, displays in the custom header section.
• If the source report has a view filter, it is applied to the grid/graph in the document.
For more information on grouping, see “Combined Banded and Zone-Based Layouts” starting on page 126.In the example shown below, a document is created using the Category Sales Report. The report’s Category page-by becomes the document’s Category grouping attribute. Also, the {Category} text box displays automatically in the Category Header. The grid (with formatting) displays in the Detail Header:
Document Created from Category Sales Report
To create a document from an open report:
1 Run the report.
2 On the Tools menu, select Create Document. OR
Creating Documents from a Document Template
When you launch the Document Editor, before the editor comes into view, you should see a set of dashboard and document templates. These out-of-the-box templates are designed to help speed up the document creation process. They provide a predefined structure that helps you create a traditional document with multiple sections. They come in a variety of formats as shown below:
Dashboard and Document Templates
To create a document using Blank Document template:
1 On the project home page, click Create Document.
2 On the Create Document page, keep the View document in Design Mode option selected.
3 Under Document Templates section, Select Blank Document.
The iPad and iPhone templates help you create documents that are correctly sized for display on the iPad and iPhone.
Desktop Designers can also create custom document templates and make them available to MicroStrategy Web Professionals. A custom document template might include corporate colors, fonts, and images that give documents a standardized look and feel. Desktop Designers can also import and export templates from one MicroStrategy project to another. For more information, see “Document Templates” starting on page 237.Document Objects
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
Describe the various types of objects you can include in documents.
Now that you understand the sections of the Document Editor and know how to create a document from scratch, you are ready to explore the many types of objects that you can use to define the contents of a document. MicroStrategy objects, such as grids, graphs, attributes, metrics, and so forth, are the most common types of document objects.
MicroStrategy Grid/Graphs
After you add a dataset in the Dataset Objects pane, you can add it to any header or footer section in the Layout area. When you drag a dataset into a header or footer section, it becomes a grid/graph object. You cannot include grid/graphs in the Detail section.
In most cases, when you want to design a document to show grids and graphs, you should use one of the dashboard templates. These templates display only the Detail Header section by default, so any grid/graphs you place in the Layout area of the document automatically go into this section. In addition, the templates contain placeholders for document objects. The placeholders make it easier to size and position in the grid/graphs on the document.
The explanations in this lesson assume that you are creating a document based on the Blank Document template. This template shows all Layout area sections by default. It serves as the best example for learning the rules of document behavior.To add a grid/graph to the Layout area, do one of the following:
1 Select the desired Layout area section to which you want to add the grid/graph.
2 Right-click the dataset and select either Add to Section with Formatting, Add to Section without Formatting or Add to Section as Shortcut.
OR
Drag the dataset to the desired Layout area section. This resulting grid/graph will retain its original formatting.
Shortcut to Dataset
When you right-click a dataset and select Add to Section as Shortcut, you ensure that the grid/graph within the document maintains a link to the original report. If you modify the formatting, template definition, or filter definition on the original report, your changes automatically take effect within the
document.
For example, in the document shown below, the grid displays the original formatting for the document’s dataset:
Document with Original Report Formatting
With the shortcut to dataset, when you change the formatting of the original report and run the document again, the document automatically displays as follows:
After you design a document using shortcuts to datasets, you always have the option to remove the link to the source report. When you remove the link, you can format the dataset differently from the original report.
For example, when you use the shortcut to dataset option, the grids/graphs you include in the document based on that dataset must contain all of the dataset’s attributes, metrics, and so forth. However, when you remove the shortcut, you can create grids/graphs based on that dataset that contain subsets of the original attributes and metrics. Without the shortcut option, the grids/graphs based on the dataset can have independent formatting and can hold a subset of the contents from the original dataset.
To remove the shortcut to dataset functionality:
1 Right-click the desired grid/graph and select Properties and Formatting. 2 In the Properties and Formatting window, under Properties, select Layout. 3 Under Grid, clear the Shortcut option.
4 Click OK.
Report Modifications that Affect Document Grid/Graphs
Whether or not you use shortcuts to your datasets, there are certain report changes that will always affect your document. For example, if you remove an object (such as an attribute or metric) from the original report, the object is also removed from the document’s dataset and any grid/graphs based on that dataset no longer display the object.If you have a dynamic text box for that particular object in the document, a static text box displays in the document’s output instead. For instance, your original report contains the Profit metric. You place {Profit} in the Detail section of a document that uses the report as its dataset. If you delete Profit from the original report, the document no longer lists Profit as a metric in the dataset and the {Profit} text box in the Detail section displays the static text {Profit} instead of any Profit values.
For more information on dynamic text boxes, see “Attributes, Metrics, Custom Groups, and Consolidations” starting on page 67.Furthermore, if you add a new object (like a metric or attribute) to the original report in the Report Editor, when you close and reopen the document that uses that report as its dataset, the Dataset Objects pane automatically displays the new object under the dataset.
MicroStrategy OLAP Services
™Features in Grid/Graphs
When you add a dataset to a document, any derived metrics that are defined in the original report are also available within the document. Furthermore, you can define additional document-level derived metrics.
For more information on creating document-level derived metrics, see “Derived Metrics” starting on page 142.If the original report that serves as a dataset in a document contains a view filter, you can retain the view filter by right-clicking the dataset and selecting Add to Section with Formatting. The resulting grid/graph object
automatically retains the original report’s view filter. If you want to retain the original report’s formatting but do not want to retain its view filter, after you add the grid/graph to the section with formatting, you can right-click it, select Edit View Filter, and either clear or modify the view filter definition.
For more information on creating document-level view filters, see “View Filters” starting on page 147.Grid/Graph Components from a Single Dataset
A grid/graph object that you insert in the Layout area of a document can only contain objects (attributes, metrics, and so on) from a single dataset. You cannot mix attributes and metrics from multiple datasets within a single grid/graph object.
You can always specify the source dataset for a grid/graph using the object properties.
3 Under Grid, in the Data source drop-down list, select the desired source dataset.
4 Click OK.
Inserting MicroStrategy Reports
To make the process of inserting datasets and grid/graphs quicker and easier, you can insert a report directly into a document.
To insert a report into a document:
1 Select the section to which you want to add the grid/graph. 2 On the Insert menu, select Report.
3 Use the cross-hairs cursor to position and size the placeholder for the grid/graph.
4 In the Select Dataset window, select the desired dataset and click OK. Inserting a report inserts the dataset and the grid/graph into the document in one step.
Attributes, Metrics, Custom Groups, and Consolidations
You can add the individual attributes, metrics, custom groups, and consolidations from datasets to any section of a document.• All of these objects can come from one or more datasets.
• When you add any of these objects, they are denoted with braces { }, for example, {Region}.
