Skip to main content

Metadata Doctor (MD Doctor) in Microstrategy

Metadata Doctor (MD Doctor) in Microstrategy

Metadata Doctor (MD Doctor) is a utility that detects and fixes certain physical inconsistencies in MicroStrategy 9.4.x - 9.5.x metadatas that may prevent MicroStrategy 9.4.x - 9.5.x products from functioning correctly. 
In simple terms, it detects physical inconsistencies by running SQL against different metadata tables and then comparing results.  If an entry is found in one table but not in the main lookup table of the metadata then that denotes a physical inconsistency and MD Doctor will delete that orphan entry. 

Note: MD Doctor is not a supported tool for MicroStrategy 10.x metadatas.
NOTE:  MD Doctor should be used only after a metadata backup has been taken.  MD Doctor should not be used repeatedly.  It is meant to primarily serve as a quick-fix to physical inconsistencies and get environments up and running.  If repeated use of MD Doctor is needed then a possible recurrent-metadata physical inconsistency is being encountered.  
MSTR WARNING:
Manually editing values in the MSTR Metadata incorrectly may cause serious, project-wide problems that may make your project unusable. Since these are user-initiated changes, they are not covered by any MicroStrategy warranty. Users are strongly encouraged to backup the metadata prior to any alteration.
Pre-Requisites for using MD Doctor:
The following are pre-requisites for the use of MD Doctor:
  • MicroStrategy Developer 9.4.x - 9.5.x installed.  The product and metadata versions should match exactly.
  • Direct (2-tier) Project Source to the target Metadata. 
MD Doctor Best Practices
Remember the following Best Practices when running MD Doctor:
  • Running MD Doctor should not be a routine operation.  MD Doctor is meant to be used as a fix once Technical Support identifies that there is a metadata physical inconsistency causing an issue in the platform.
  • Before running MD Doctor (fix/scan mode), all operations against the metadata should be stopped.
  • Before running MD Doctor (fix mode), a backup of the metadata must be taken. 
  • Always save the MD Doctor logs.

Using Metadata Doctor:
  1. Run the setup.exe and follow installations instructions.
  2. Go to the Start menu and look for the MD Doctor executable under MicroStrategy -> Tools
  3. Select the Direct MicroStrategy data source which points to the metadata to be checked. If a direct data source to the metadata does not exist, use MicroStrategy Developer or MicroStrategy Configuration Wizard to create one before running this application.


    Metadata Login-- Connection information to the actual metadata repository. Login and Table Prefix are read from the select Direct Datasource created through Desktop.  The user must specify a password.

    Data Source Login-- MicroStrategy login and password in order to be able to check the metadata translations table.    
  4. Select Detect and Fix options:
    Detect only. Do not fix errors -- Also known as running MD Doctor in scan-mode.
    Prompt me to fix errors-- Also known as running MD Doctor in fix-mode.  Every time an error is encountered the user will be prompted to fix it.  Used for targeted fixes.
    Fix all errors automatically -- Also known as running MD Doctor in fix-mode.  No prompts to the user when an error is encountered. Used for fixing all encountered inconsistencies. 

    IMPORTANT:  Users should always backup their entire metadata before allowing Metadata Doctor to fix any inconsistencies. 

    Log File-- The location of the log file.  MD Doctor produces a detailed log file that records metadata statistics, errors log and actions taken; moreover it can include the SQL run against the metadata when the Include SQL in log file option is enabled. By default, the log file is generated in the same directory where the MD Doctor executable resides. A new log is created each time MD Doctor is run, and the log file name has a timestamp of the corresponding execution.

  5. Select the 'Start' button to begin. MD Doctor may be interrupted by clicking on the 'Stop' button. However, do not stop/interrupt MD Doctor while it is fixing inconsistencies in the metadata.
  6. A Status window will appear to display the checks performed by MDf Doctor:



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Microstrategy Report Services documents and dashboards

Microstrategy Report Services documents vs Dashboards A MicroStrategy Report Services document displays data coming from multiple reports, with the data laid out and designed in presentation-quality format. Most data on a document is from one or more underlying datasets. A dataset is a standard MicroStrategy report. Other document components that do not originate from the dataset, such as static text used for a title or heading, page numbers, and images, are added by the document's designer and are stored in the document's definition. A Report Services (RS) dashboard is a special type of document. An RS dashboard is commonly only one page long, is intended to be viewed online, and usually provides interactive features that let analysts change how they view the dashboard’s data, as well as what data they are viewing. A broad selection of widgets and a wide variety of formatting options allow you to design a customized, interactive dashboard. Both documents and RS dashb...

Metric values are repeated across rows when a report is executed in MicroStrategy

Metric values are repeated across rows when a report is executed in MicroStrategy When comparing report results between DB Query Tool and MicroStrategy, some reports show repeated metric values in MicroStrategy where there were none in DB Query Tool. To illustrate the issue, a fact table CAT_ITEM_SLS has been added into the MicroStrategy Tutorial project and populated with a small set of three rows. CAT_ID ITEM_ID REVENUE  1 1  10   1 2  20  2  2  30  Report results in DB Query Tool: Report results in MicroStrategy: In MicroStrategy, the row for "Art As Experience" in the Spring 2007 catalog repeats the $20 value from the Winter 2007 catalog, where DB Query Tool shows the $30 value from the fact table. CAUSE The discrepancy occurs because the attribute elements for Catalog and Item are in a many-to-many relationship, but the attribute relationship in the MicroStrategy schema is defined incorrectly w...

Microstrategy Dossiers explained

Microstrategy  Dossiers With the release of MicroStrategy 10.9, we’ve taken a leap forward in our dashboarding capabilities by simplifying the user experience, adding storytelling, and collaboration.MSTR has  evolved dashboards to the point that they are more than dashboards - they are  interactive, collaborative analytic stories . Ultimately, it was time to go beyond dashboards, both in concept and in name, and so  the've  renamed VI dashboards to  ‘ dossiers ’.  Dossiers can be created by using the new Desktop product or Workstation or simply from the Web interface which replaces Visual Insights. All the existing visual Insights dashboards will be converted to Dossiers   With MicroStrategy 10.9, there was an active focus on making it easier to build dashboards for the widest audience of end users. To achieve this, some key new capabilities were added that make it easier to author, read, interact and collaborate on dashboards ...

Custom formatting Microstrategy metric format into 1M 2M etc

Custom formatting metric values of 1,100,000 into a 1.1 million 1.1M type format  In addition to the the pre-defined options for metric formatting, MicroStrategy supports custom formatting. The MicroStrategy Tutorial project is used to explain how users can customize numbers from "1,000,000" to a "1.00" format. Consider a report containing row data values greater than a million, as illustrated below: To format these metric values to use a decimal (i.e., 1.1) instead of showing all the numerals, right-click on the metric (' Revenue ' , for this example) and select  Formatting > Revenue Values , as shown below: Select " Custom " as a category in the Number tab and enter ' 0,,.## ' (without quotation marks), as shown below: Confirm that the format applied properly:

Case functions Microstrategy

Ca se functions Microstrategy Case functions return specified data in a SQL query based on the evaluation of user-defined conditions. In general, a user specifies a list of conditions and corresponding return values. Case This function evaluates multiple expressions until a condition is determined to be true, then returns a corresponding value. If all conditions are false, a default value is returned.  Case  can be used for categorizing data based on multiple conditions. This is a single-value function. Syntax Case ( Condition1 ,  ReturnValue1 ,  Condition2 , ReturnValue2 ,...,  DefaultValue ) Example Case(([Total Revenue] < 300000), 0, ([Total Revenue] < 600000), 1, 2) sum(Case (Day@DESC in (“Sat”,”Sun”), Sales, 0) {~+} Sum(Case(Category@DESC In("Books","Electronics"),Revenue,0)){~+} CaseV (case vector) CaseV  evaluates a single metric and returns different values according to the results. It can be used to perfo...

Activate MicroStrategy Geospatial Services

Activate MicroStrategy Geospatial Services MicroStrategy 10.11 introduces our new mapping capability: MicroStrategy Geospatial Services, powered by Mapbox. This enhanced map visualization is available for dossiers on all interfaces including MicroStrategy Desktop, Workstation, Web and Library (Mobile included). With MicroStrategy Geospatial Services, MicroStrategy now offers advanced geospatial analytics features that allow users to get more out of their location data. This new feature is available in addition to the out-of-the-box ESRI maps. MicroStrategy Geospatial Services allows users to: Plot polygon shapes for most countries, down to the zip code level Perform powerful interaction between layers (progressively hide or show data layers as zoom levels change) Identify and resolve location name conflicts Add thresholds to data points, size markers for metrics, and color by for both attributes and metrics Fine tune clustering behavior when aggregating data on a ma...

Custom Tooltips in Microstrategy developer and Web

Custom Tooltips in Microstrategy developer and Web The following table describes the macros you can use to customize graph tooltips in both MicroStrategy Developer and MicroStrategy Web: Macro Information Displayed {&TOOLTIP} All relevant labels and values associated with a graph item. {&GROUPLABEL} Name of the graph item's category. This value is often the graph item's attribute element information, as attributes are commonly used as the categories of graph reports. {&SERIESLABEL} Name of the graph item’s series. This value is often the graph item's metric name information, as metrics are commonly used as the series of graph reports. {&VALUE} The value of a given data point. {&XVALUE} The X-value of a data point. Only applicable to Bubble charts and Scatter plots. {&YVALUE} The Y-value of a data point. Only applicable to Bubble charts and Scatter plots. {&ZVALUE} The Z-value of a data point. Only applicable to Bubble charts and Scatter plots. {...

Purge Web Caches in MicroStrategy Web

Purge Web Caches in MicroStrategy Web By executing the mstr server by embedding the blue text below with admin privileges purges web server cache. https:// mstrserver.com /MicroStrategy/asp/Admin.aspx//mstrWebAdmin/?pg=purgecaches MicroStrategy Web and Web Universal caches various properties that are related to the user, project, or the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server. This helps in reducing the response time for every request by delivering the properties from a closer location than the original MicroStrategy Intelligence Server. In majority of the cases, the default caching properties should be applicable to the business intelligence infrastructure. There are 3 types of caches used in MicroStrategy Web. These are described below: Session Cache - Specific to a user and exists only while the user is logged in. This cache is deleted when the user logs out or if there's no activity for a specified timeout interval. The default value for a timeout is 1200 seco...

MicroStrategy URL API Parameters

MicroStrategy URL Structure The following table summarizes the root URL structure used for every request to MicroStrategy Web. Environment Main Application URL Administration URL J2EE http://webserver/MicroStrategy/servlet/mstrWeb http://webserver/MicroStrategy/servlet/mstrWebAdmin .NET http://webserver/MicroStrategy/asp/Main.aspx http://webserver/MicroStrategy/asp/Admin.aspx Every request sent to MicroStrategy Web calls a central controller. Parameters are appended to  Main.aspx  or  mstrWeb  (in a .NET and J2EE environment, respectively) to indicate to the controller how the request should be internally forwarded and handled. The following examples show a URL for accessing a MicroStrategy folder when the user does not have an existing session. The URL contains not only the parameters needed to connect to MicroStrategy Web, but also the parameters needed to log on and create a session. J2EE environment: <a href="http:...

mstrio – Python and R wrappers for the MicroStrategy

mstrio – Python and R wrappers for the MicroStrategy REST APIs Connecting to MicroStrategy  Create a connection to the Intelligence Server using   Connection()   and    connect()  in Python and R, respectively. Required arguments for the   Connection()  function are the URL for the MicroStrategy REST API server, MicroStrategy Intelligence Server username and password, as well as the MicroStrategy project name. By default, the   connect()  function anticipates your MicroStrategy Intelligence Server username and password. LDAP authentication is also supported. Use the optional argument    login_mode=16    in the    connect()  function for LDAP authentication.  Extract data from cubes and reports  To extract data from MicroStrategy cubes and reports, use the   get_cube()  and   get_report()  functions. Use...