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.
A 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:

Run the setup.exe and follow installations instructions.
Go to the Start menu and look for the MD Doctor executable under MicroStrategy -> Tools
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.
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.
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.
A Status window will appear to display the checks performed by MDf Doctor:

Comments

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...

Control the display of null and zero metric values

Show Control the display of null and zero metric values in a grid report You can determine how to display or hide rows and columns in a grid report that consist only of null or zero metric values. You can have MicroStrategy hide the rows and columns in the following ways: Hide rows and columns that consist only of null metric values Hide rows and columns that consist only of zero metric values Hide rows and columns that consist only of null or zero metric values (default) Once you have defined how MicroStrategy hides null and zero metric values in the grid, you can quickly show or hide the grid using the Hide Nulls/Zeros option in the Data menu, as described below, or by clicking the Hide Nulls/Zeros icon in the Data toolbar. To determine how null and zero metric values are displayed or hidden in a grid report Open the report in Edit mode. From the Tools menu, select Report Options . The Report Options...

Microstrategy Report Pre and Post Statements

Microstrategy Report Pre and Post Statements Report Post Statement The Report Post Statement settings insert custom SQL statements after the final SELECT statement but before the DROP statements. The settings are numbered 1-5. Each text string entered in Report Post Statement 1 through Report Post Statement 4 is executed separately as a single statement. To execute more than five statements, insert multiple statements in Report Post Statement 5, separating each statement with a semicolon (;). The SQL Engine breaks them into individual statements at the semicolons and executes each separately. The custom SQL is applied to every intermediate table or view. Report Pre Statement The Report Pre Statement settings insert custom SQL statements at the beginning of the report SQL. The settings are numbered 1-5. Each text string entered in Report Pre Statement 1 through Report Pre Statement 4 is executed separately as a single statement. To execute more than five statem...

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:...

Disable data blending in MicroStrategy

Disable data blending in MicroStrategy Starting in MicroStrategy 9.4 data blending was made available for documents and dashboards. This permits grid, graph and widget objects to source data from multiple different datasets at the same time. This is available under the analytical engine VLDB properties inside of project configuration. The property is named "document grids from multiple datasets" and defaults to enabled but can be set to disabled. Below are the steps to enable/disable the settings of data blending: 1. Go to project configuration by right clicking on specific project(You need admin rights to do this). 2. In the Project configuration windows as shown below select Configure under Project level VLDB settings section. 3. Now it will open the VLDB settings window, select + on " Analytical Engine Settings " and then click on " Document Grids from multiple datasets " option. You will be presented with two...

Multi-Table Data Import(MTDI) from one or more supported data sources

Multi-Table Data Import(MTDI) from one or more supported data sources In MicroStrategy Analytics Enterprise Web 10 onewards, users can now simultaneously import two or more tables from one or more supported data sources, this feature is called Multi-Table Data Import (MTDI) which has been renamed as Super Cubes in MSTR 2019 (Does it sound like multisourcing for all the users without admin help?) Currently, all connectors in MicroStrategy Web 10 except " OLAP " and " Search Engine Indices " support Multi-Table Data Import. Users are able to add multiple tables/files when doing data import from single connector, as shown below: Users are also able to combine multiple tables/files from different sources and store them into one single Intelligent Cube, as shown below:

The logical table size calculation in Microstrategy

The logical table size calculation in Microstrategy The logical table size is an integer number that represents the granularity or level of aggregation of a particular table. It is called 'logical' because it is not related to the physical size of the tables (number of rows). It is calculated according to the attribute IDs that are present in the table and their level in the system hierarchy. Even though, the number does not reveal the actual number of rows in the table, it is an accurate way of measuring a table size without having to access its contents. MicroStrategy Engine utilizes an algorithm based on attribute keys to calculate the Logical Table Size (LTS): Given the following tables: The algorithm that calculates the table sizes performs the following steps: Calculate the number of levels per hierarchy: Hierarchy 1: 3 Hierarchy 2: 4 Calculate each attribute individual weight according to the level in the hierarchy (level in hierarchy/number of ...

Update the data on an Intelligent Cube without having to republish the entire cube in MicroStrategy

Update the data on an Intelligent Cube without having to republish the entire cube in MicroStrategy MicroStrategy has introduced a feature known as, Incremental Refresh Options, which allow Intelligent Cubes to be updated based on one or more attributes, by setting up incremental refresh settings to update the Intelligent Cube with only new data. This can reduce the time and system resources necessary to update the Intelligent Cube periodically versus a full republish. For example, if a user has an Intelligent Cube that contains weekly sales data, the user may want this Intelligent Cube to be updated at the end of every week with the sales data for that week. By setting up incremental refresh settings, he can make it so that only data for one week is added to the Intelligent Cube, without affecting the existing data and without having to reload all existing data. Users can select t...

Apply or Pass-through functions in Microstrategy

Ap ply (Pass-Through) functions MSTR Apply functions provide access to functions or syntactic constructs that are not standard in MicroStrategy but are provided by various RDBMS systems.. Syntax common to Apply functions Apply Function Name ("expression with placeholders", Arg1, Arg2, Arg3, …ArgN) where: Apply Function Name – is a generic name used for the predefined pass-through functions described above expression with placeholders – is the string describing the actual expression or syntax that the engine uses while generating the SQL and which is sent to the RDBMS. The placeholders are represented by #0, #1, and so on. "#" is a reserved character for MicroStrategy. Arg – is an argument that replaces the parameter markers in the pattern. Arg1 replaces #0, Arg2 replaces #1, and so on. There are five pre-defined Apply functions to replace regular, predefined functions of the same type. For more details, cli...

Components of the MicroStrategy Engine

Components of the MicroStrategy Engine The MicroStrategy Engine consists of three engines: • SQL Engine • Query Engine • Analytical Engine These individual engines work together to fulfill report requests submitted by MicroStrategy that can be resolved by pure SQL alone. The SQL Engine is responsible for generating optimized SQL and producing result sets that can be resolved by pure SQL alone. The Query Engine is responsible for executing the SQL generated by the SQL Engine. The Analytical Engine is responsible for performing any calculation that cannot be resolved with SQL alone.

Microstrategy Analytics

Search This Blog