Answering Question About Data

FAQ on Data in Microstrategy

Filtering data

A report filter sifts the data in your data source to bring back the information that answers exactly what you require.

OLAP Services view filters and regular filters

The MicroStrategy OLAP Services product lets MicroStrategy Desktop, Web, and Office users slice and dice data in reports without having to re-execute SQL against the data source.

Viewing a filter’s definition

Use the appropriate procedure below to view a report’s filtering information in MicroStrategy Desktop or MicroStrategy Web.

To see a report’s filtering information in Desktop:

1. Open a report.
2. From the View menu, select Report Details. The Report Details pane appears, showing a Report Description and the details of any filter that is included on the report.

To see a report’s filtering information in MicroStrategy Web:

1. Open a report.
2. From the File menu, select Report Details. A new page opens and displays the details of any filter that is included on the report.

Customizing the Report Details pane:

You can configure the following report details:

Filter details, which display the report filter and report limit by default, although other types of filters can be displayed
Report limit details, which display the report limit
Prompt details, which display the prompt information for all prompts in the report
Report details, which display the report description, prompt details, filter details, and template details.
Template details, which display the complete template details, including attribute and metric details

To disable Desktop Preferences for report details:

1. In Desktop, from the Tools menu, select Desktop Preferences. The Desktop Preferences dialog box opens.
2. Expand the Reports category, and then select Report Details.
3. To use the report details properties instead of the Desktop Preferences, clear the Apply these Desktop preferences to the Report Details check box.
4. Click OK to save your changes.

Understanding hierarchies
Most data calculation in a business reporting environment is based on the concept of levels. Hierarchies are an important part of understanding levels in MicroStrategy.

Business attributes
An attribute is a business concept, such as Store, Employee, Geographical Region, or Year.
Behind the scenes, attributes are MicroStrategy objects associated with one or more columns in a lookup table within your data source.

Hierarchies
A hierarchy is made up of a group of related business attributes that are conceptually related to each other.

Drilling into related data

Drilling allows you to view report data at levels other than that displayed in the report.

Methods for drilling on a report

Depending on the drilling method you choose, you can drill on the entire report or only a part of the report.
To drill on a grid report in Desktop:
1. Open a grid report.
2. From the Data menu, select Drill. The Drill dialog box opens.
3. From the Selected object drop-down list, select the object on which to drill.
4. In the Drilling options pane, browse to the attribute you want to drill to. It should look similar to the image below.

5. Select Yes from the Keep parent drop-down list to display the parent attribute (the attribute from which you are drilling) on the new report.
6. If your report contains thresholds, choose whether to keep thresholds on the new report. If your report does not contain thresholds, this option is unavailable.
7. If you are using an attribute in the page-by field on the original report, the When drilling, add the current page-by element check box is enabled. Select this check box to view this page-by element in the new report.
8. Click OK to view the new report that is automatically created and executed based on your chosen drilling action.

To drill on a grid report in MicroStrategy Web:

1. Open a grid report.
2. Right-click on the object on which you want to drill.
3. Point to Drill, then select the attribute you want to drill to. The new report is automatically executed based on your chosen drilling action.

Saving a report
After you save a report, you and others can execute it in the future. You might save a report you have added formatting to, or you might save a report you have drilled to.

To save a report:

1. From the report’s File menu, select Save As.
2. Navigate to the location in which you want to save the new report.
3. Give your new report a name that reflects its use as a business intelligence data analysis tool.
4. Click Save.

To enable drilling:

Drill anywhere: Users can view data associated with the object they drill from, no matter which direction in the attribute’s hierarchy they drill: up, down, or across. Examples are provided above.
Drill down only: Users can only view data associated with objects lower in the hierarchy than the attribute on which they are drilling. Examples are provided above.

5. Click OK to save your settings and close the Report Data Options dialog box.

Keeping or removing the drilled-from attribute in the new report

When you drill on a report, you can have the drilled-from attribute and its related data displayed in the resulting report, or you can choose to not display the drilled-from attribute on the resulting report.

To keep or remove the drilled-from attribute when drilling:
1. If you have not already done so, open a grid report. For steps to open a report, see Opening a report, page 7.
2. From the Data menu, select Report Data Options. The Report Data Options dialog box opens.
3. Expand General, then select Drilling.
4. Select one of the following options:

To ensure the drilled-from attribute appears on the drilled-to report, select Yes from the Keep Parent While Drilling drop-down list.
To ensure the drilled-from attribute does not appear on the drilled-to report, select No from the Keep Parent While Drilling drop-down list.

5. Click OK to save your settings and close the Report Data Options dialog box.

Drilling on a report with threshold formatting

Thresholds are conditional formatting that appears on report data when certain, specified conditions are met.

To keep or remove thresholds when drilling

To ensure thresholds appear on the drilled-to report, select Yes from the Keep thresholds while drilling drop-down list.
To ensure thresholds do not appear on the drilled-to report, select No from the Keep thresholds while drilling drop-down list.

5. Click OK to save your settings and close the Report Data Options dialog box.

To customize drilling on a report that has page-by fields

1. If you have not already done so, open a grid report.
2. From the Data menu, select Report Data Options. The Report Data Options dialog box opens.
3. Expand General, then select Drilling.
4. You can set the following drilling options, which determine how the page-by on the drilled-from report affects the drilled-to report, as described in the examples above:

Any page-by field: The page-by object is added to the filter of the drilled-to report when you drill from a page-by field. If this is selected, choose one of the following:
Any other part of the report: The page-by object is added to the filter of the drilled-to report when you drill from anywhere on the report’s grid. You choose to locate the page-by drilling feature in the body of the report, where most users drill from the data. – Apply to current page-by field: Only the page-by object that is currently visible is added to the filter of the drilled-to report. – Apply to all page-by fields: All page-by objects are added to the filter of the drilled-to report.

5. Click OK to save your settings and close the Report Data Options dialog box. When you drill on this report in the future, your settings will determine how the page-by field affects the results displayed in the drilled-to report.

To show or hide subtotals when drilling from a report with across-level subtotals:

1. If you have not already done so, open a grid report.
2. From the Data menu, select Report Data Options. The Report Data Options dialog box opens.
3. Expand General, then select Drilling.
4. Specify whether or not the subtotals are displayed in the drilled-to report:

To display subtotals in the drilled-to report, set Inherit across-level subtotal from parent to Yes.
To hide subtotals in the drilled-to report, set Inherit across-level subtotal from parent to No.
To use the value set in the drill path, set Inherit across-level subtotal from parent to Default. For information about creating drill paths, see the MicroStrategy Advanced Reporting Guide. Subtotals are still displayed unless Keep parent while drilling is set to No and you drill from the object that is the level of the subtotal.