Bursting file subscriptions Microstartegy

Bursting file subscriptions: Delivering parts of reports across multiple files:

Large MicroStrategy reports and documents are often broken up into separate pages by attributes. In a similar way, with Distribution Services, you can split up, or burst, a report or document into multiple files. When the subscription is executed, a separate file is created for each element of each attribute selected for bursting. Each file has a portion of data according to the attributes used to group data in the report (page-by axis) or document (group-by axis).

Ex:, you may have a report with information for all regions. You could place Region in the page-by axis and burst the file subscription into the separate regions. This creates one report file for each region.

As a second ex:, if you choose to burst your report using the Region and Category attributes, a separate file is created for each combination of Region and Category, such as Central and Books as a report, Central and Electronics as another, and so on.

When creating the subscription for PDF, Excel, plain text, and CSV file formats, you can use macros to ensure that each file has a unique name. For example, if you choose to burst your document using the Region and Category attributes, you can provide {[Region]@[DESC]}, {[Category]@[DESC]} as the file name. When the subscription is executed, each file name begins with the names of the attribute elements used to generate the file, such as Central, Books or Central, Electronics.

To burst a file subscription across multiple files

1

Create a file subscription in MicroStrategy Web.

2

In the Subscription Editor, click Burst… The Select Bursting Criteria options are displayed. All attributes used to group data in the report or document are shown in the Available Attributes list.

3

From the Available Attributes list, select the attributes to use to break up the data, then click the right arrow to move those attributes to the Selected Attributes list.

4

To change the order of attributes for bursting, select an attribute in the Selected Attributes list, then click the up or down arrow.

5

In the File Name field, type a name for the burst files. You can use macros to ensure that each file has a unique name.

6

Click OK to save the subscription.

Delivering parts of reports across multiple files: Bursting file subscriptions to subfolders

Large MicroStrategy reports and documents can be divided into separate pages by attributes. In a similar way with Distribution Services, you can break, or burst, a report or document into multiple subfolders, with each subfolder containing report or document with a portion of data divided by the attributes in the report’s page-by or the document’s group-by axis. When the subscription is executed, subfolders are dynamically created, if they do not already exist, with the names of the attribute elements. To do this, you provide macro text as part of the bursting subfolder name when creating the file subscription. Each attribute in the macro uses the syntax {[Attribute Name]@[Attribute Form]}.

For example, if your report has Manager in the page-by axis, you may burst the report into subfolders using the Manager’s last name. In this case, you provide macro text {[Manager]@[Last Name]}as the bursting subfolder name.

You can create multiple levels of subfolders if your report or document is grouped by multiple attributes. As a second example, you could have Manager folders with Category subfolders in each. This macro text may be entered in the subfolder name as {[Manager]@[Last Name]}-{[Manager]@[First Name]}\{[Category]@[DESC]}. The result of this bursting example is shown in the image below. One of the subscribed reports with books data is in the Books subfolder in the manager’s subfolder named Abram-Crisby.

In the example above, the Reports\FileDev1 path was defined as part of the file device used for the subscription. The file name has the date and time appended to the report name because the file device definition has the Append timestamp to file name check box selected.

To burst a file subscription across multiple subfolders

1

Create a file subscription in MicroStrategy Web.

2

In the Subscription Editor, click Burst… The Select Bursting Criteria options are displayed. All attributes used to group data in the report or document are shown in the Available Attributes list.

3

From the Available Attributes list, select any attribute to use to create the subfolders, then click the right arrow to move the attribute to the Selected Attributes list. The Sub-folder field displays below or to the right of the File Name field.

4

To change the order of attributes for bursting, select an attribute in the Selected Attributes list, then click the up or down arrow.

5

In the File Name field, type a name for the files to be created. You can use macros to ensure that each file has a unique name.

6

In the Sub-folder field (the one below or to the right of the File Name field), type a macro to dynamically create the subfolders.

7

Click OK to save the subscription.