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

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 . ...

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...

Settings for Outer Join between metrics in MicroStrategy

Settings for Outer Join between metrics in MicroStrategy MicroStrategy adopts multi-pass logic to determine the execution plan for a report. This means that every metric is evaluated in separate SQL passes. Outer Joins come into play when MicroStrategy Engine merges the results from all SQL passes into one report. For a multi-pass report, different Outer Join behaviors can give the user completely different results. In addition, report metrics can be of different types which can, in some cases, influence the result of the outer join. In MicroStrategy, there are two settings that users can access to control Outer Join behavior : Formula Join Type and Metric Join Type . Metric Join Type: VLDB Setting at Database Instance Level Report and Template Levels Report Editor > Data > Report Data Options Metric Level Metric editor > Tools > Metric Join Type Control Join between Metrics Formula Join Type: Only at Compound/Split...

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:...

Custom Subtotal Displays in MicroStrategy

Defining custom subtotal displays in MicroStrategy By default, when users apply subtotals in a report, the name of the subtotal is displayed in the subtotal line items that appear in the report. Users can use custom subtotals to give more control over the characteristics of a subtotal. Custom subtotals allow users to define custom subtotal line items that appear on the reports U sers can make the subtotal name dynamic by typing special characters in the subtotal name field as listed in the following table. Character Description #A The name of the attribute under which the subtotal appears. #P The name of the attribute to the left of, or above the attribute under which the subtotal appears. #0 All the forms of the parent element. #1 The first form of the parent element reading from left to right or from top to bottom. #2 The second form of the parent element reading from left to right or from top to bottom. #3 The third form of th...

Fact tables levels tables in Microstrategy explained

Fact tables levels in Microstrategy: Fact tables are used to store fact data. Fact tables should contain attribute Id's and fact values which are measurable. All the descriptive information about the fact tables should stored in Dimension tables either in Star Schema fashion or Snow Flake Schema fashion which is best suited to your reporting solution. Since attributes provide context for fact values, both fact columns and attribute ID columns are included in fact tables. Facts help to link indirectly related attributes using these attribute ID columns. The attribute ID columns included in a fact table represent the level at which the facts in that table are stored. So the level of a fact table in the Fact_Item_Day_Customer can be the attribute Id's which is at Day, Item & Customer Id level. For example, fact tables containing sales and inventory data look like the tables shown in the following diagram: Base fact columns ver...

Error. Engine Attribute Role Limit Exceeded! To get rid off this error: (1) Turn off Engine Attribute Role setting in VLDB dialog

Error. Engine Attribute Role Limit Exceeded! Some times Microstrategy will give the below error when updating the schema after an attribute is created. MicroStrategy Developer --------------------------- Error(s) occurred while loading schema: [DFCSCHEMA] Population Exception: The object shown in the following hierarchy no longer exists in schema: -Table LKUP_TEST_FEE_SHIPMENTS error. Engine Attribute Role Limit Exceeded! To get rid off this error: (1) Turn off Engine Attribute Role setting in VLDB dialog; OR (2) Use Table Alias featureDSSSQLEngine: Schema loading error: Message from GetErrorInfo : Report cache is not found.. Error(s) occurred while loading schema: 63. CAUSE: This error message means that the table shown in the error text needs to be split into a very large number tables. MicroStrategy has a limitation that only allows one table to be split into no more than 100 tables. The error above is shown when this limitation is surpassed....

Microstrategy Dossier training videos

Microstrategy Dossier training videos Adding data to a Dossier: Creating a visualization filter in Dossier: Sending Dossier to User libraries: How to format Dossiers: Adding a designer filter to a Dossier: Use Bookmarks in Dossiers: Dynamic Links in Dossier: Recreating documents from Dossiers: Exploring and searching in Dossiers: Exploring sample dossiers in MSTR library: Using Page to Page Targets in Dossiers:

Relative path for images in Microstartegy

Best practices on how to reference an image specified using a relative path for exported documents in MicroStrategy If possible, users should use HTTP paths to reference an image other than relative path or absolute path. If it is necessary to use a relative path to reference image, multiple locations need to store the copy of image as shown in the following table: Important notes: MicroStrategy Web Server is not involved in storing image when exporting. Image should be stored in Intelligence Server or MicroStrategy Developer Client For MicroStrategy Developer export, local MicroStrategy Developer handles the export, image should be placed on every single Developer machine If you don't know your Common Path or MSTR Home Path you can obtain them from the following registry keys if using windows or msireg.reg if using Unix HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE --> SOFTWARE -->Microstrategy --> DSS Server -> Casetor -->Home Path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE --> SO...

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 Analytics

Search This Blog