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 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 ...

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:...

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...

Configure a report for use with Bulk Export in MicroStrategy

Configure a report for use with Bulk Export in MicroStrategy The Bulk Export feature enables a large report to be saved as a delimited text file. Using this feature, it is possible to retrieve result sets from a large dataset without having to load the entire dataset into memory. PS:  Once a report is setup for bulk export it cannot be used as a regular report. So if the report needs to be run as a normal report and as a bulk export report, the first step is to make a copy of the report for use with bulk export. Configure Bulk Export Bulk Export options are only available in MicroStrategy Developer. Open a 3-tier connection using MicroStrategy Developer and edit the desired report. Go to 'Data' on the top menu bar. Select 'Configure Bulk Export': Specify any additional desired configuration options. General Settings Bulk export database instance : This is the database instance to use to store the bulk export results. Temporary tables w...

Data Mart Reports in Microstrategy

Creating Data Mart Reports in Microstrategy   When there is requirement to store all the report results to a database table you can use the interesting feature in Microstratgey called Data Mart Reports. To create a data mart table, you first create a data mart report that defines the columns of the data mart table. You then create the data mart table and populate it with data. The steps below walk you through the process of creating a data mart report and then executing the report to create a data mart table. The steps also include an example for most steps, based on Tutorial sample data in the MicroStrategy Tutorial project.                Follow the simple steps below to create a datamart report: 1 In MicroStrategy Developer, create a new report or select an existing report to use as the data mart table. The report should contain the attributes...

Microstrategy Document Editor Sections Important Notes:

Microstrategy Document Editor Sections Important Notes: The Layout area is in the center of the Document Editor interface and provides the framework for precisely controlling where controls (such as text fields, grid and graph reports, images, and widgets) are displayed when the document is viewed in different display modes, printed, exported, emailed, and so on. To add data to the document, drag objects from the  Dataset Objects  panel and drop them into the  Layout  area. Controls are rendered differently depending on what section they are placed in, as described below:   Page Header : The control is displayed at the top of each page in the document. By default, if a document contains multiple layouts, the same Page Header is displayed for all layouts in the document. You can change this setting so that each layout has a separate Page Header. Document Header : The control is displayed once at the beginning of the document, immediately below the Page Header sec...

Export a Report Services document to Excel with formatting using URL API

Export a Report Services document to Excel with formatting using URL API in MSTR Web In order to export a document in excel format using the URL API, the executionMode must be set to 4.  If excutionMode is not provided in the URL, by default PDF will be used as executionMode.   Below are the list of parameters that the URL must contain in order to execute correctly.   evt= 3069 src= Main.aspx.3069 executionMode= 4 documentID= 7E1644CA424F482DA811569FCE8127FF( Replace the document Id with your document ID)   Sample URL for .NET environment: http://WebServerName/MicroStrategy/asp/Main.aspx?evt=3069&src=Main.aspx. 3069 &executionMode= 4 &documentID= 7E1644CA424F482DA811569FCE8127FF    

Microstrategy Custom number formatting symbols

Custom number formatting symbols If none of the built-in number formats meet your needs, you can create your own custom format in the Number tab of the Format Cells dialog box. Select  Custom  as the Category and create the format using the number format symbols listed in the table below. Each custom format can have up to four optional sections, one each for: Positive numbers Negative numbers Zeros Text Each section is optional. Separate the sections by semicolons, as shown in the example below: #,###;(#,###);0;"Error: Entry must be numeric" For more examples, see  Custom number formatting examples . To jump to a section of the formatting symbol table, click one of the following: Numeric symbols Character/text symbols Date and time symbols Text color symbols Currency symbols Conditional symbols Numeric symbols For details on how numeric symbols apply to the Big Decimal data type, refer to the  Project Design Guide . ...

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...

Microstrategy Caches explained

Microstrategy Caches Improving Response Time: Caching A  cache is a result set that is stored on a system to improve response time in future requests.  With caching, users can retrieve results from Intelligence Server rather than re-executing queries against a database. To delete all object caches for a project 1 In Developer, log into a project. You must log in with a user account that has administrative privileges. 2 From the  Administration  menu, point to  Projects , and then select  Project Configuration . The Project Configuration Editor opens. 3 Expand  Caching , expand  Auxiliary Caches , then select  Objects . To delete all configuration object caches for a server 1 Log in to the project source. 2 From the  Administration  menu in Developer, point to  Server , and then select  Purge Server Object Caches . 4 Click  Purge Now . To purge web cache follow the steps in the link ...