Wish List 2

[nlim]

I'm not sure we have enough members here yet, but maybe we can start a wish list for the next MSTR release...here're some of mine

- table grid format in addition to crosstab.
- fix pie chart color based on attribute elements
- create schedules for subscriptions over web

 

[reisw]

Great idea nlim. Here are a few of mine.

1. "True" IS Clustering not just failover.
2. WYSIWIG report formatting in desktop that appears in web. Kind of like Gutenberg. Similar to documents but more functionality built in to the tool that doesn't require a lot of HTML coding.
3. Better integration between Web and Narrowcast Portal. So that NC Services can be subscribed to in Web
4. This one just came up today, but, some kind of simple write back ability would be nice. Not Transactor.
5.Better ability to control prompts. For example in a Hierarchy prompt it would be nice if you could limit the top level folder and the bottom level folder.
6. Being able to group items together and being able to select them in a prompt. For example picking "Shipped" metrics that actually add Shipped $, MTD Shipped $, and YTD Shipped $ to a report.


That's it for now but I'm sure I'll have some more.

 

[chael]

How about this: when a page by report is exported to Excel, and the entire report is chosen, the resulting Excel doc has the page-by functionality built-in already as a pivot table...

Also, I wish the grpahing engine in MicroStrategy was a little better. It is nice, but it could be a lot nicer. No specific observations, just a general impression. Anyone else agree???

 

[reisw]

I agree with your comments on the graphing engine. It seems a little cmbersome to use sometimes. Automatic Pivot table in Excel would also be nice.

 

[reisw]

Offline Cube analysis (From other discussion)

 

[chael]

Thanks reisw for adding the above...

Another enhancement that might be considered would be the drilling on graphs. Currently this is only a drill down by clicking on the image file generated by the graphing engine. From 6.x to 7.x MicroStrategy took a step back, although it is tough to do this now with the zero-footprint interface vs. the ActiveX graphing control.

 

[reisw]

Here's another one,

The ability to define a subset of attributes and metrics that can be used in design mode similar to OLAP services but that is not a cube. The goal is to limit what people can drag onto a report but not have a cube built.

 

[reisw]

Some more,

It would be nice if there was a way to develop some workflow into a report that could guide the user on what options to pick. We try and build prompted reports that help people answer there own questions but sometimes there is a possibiltiy of incorrect selections giving you inaccurate results. Being able to limit future selections based on subsequent selections would be great.

 

[nlim]

reisw,

"It would be nice if there was a way to develop some workflow into a report that could guide the user on what options to pick. We try and build prompted reports that help people answer there own questions but sometimes there is a possibiltiy of incorrect selections giving you inaccurate results. Being able to limit future selections based on subsequent selections would be great."

I think this is already possible today with 723. Try this and see if it is what you are asking for.

1) create a report R1 with Attribute A1 on it
2) create a filter F1. Drag R1 onto the filter definition.
3) create a prompt P1 on A1. Filter the element choices down using F1
4) use P1 in another report R2.

This allows you to use reports as cascading filter choices...

R1 is used in F1 that is used in P1 that is used in R2...

it can get confusing after a while. thank goodness for "find dependent objects"

 

[hparamahamsan]

Ability to move multiple attribute forms for an attribute anywhere within the report. Currently they are always clustered togethor in a report. This, if implemented should reduce the number of attributes that need to be created.
-HP

 

[omarmtz]

I agree with the offline cubes, cause this is now an advantage of Business Objects... i know that the core of Microstrategy is the intelligence server, and that you save memory on clients, but an option that permits offline would be great!!

Also i would like that when you define the relationship between attributes, not only the equal operation was possible, also the <=, >=, <>, etc.

 

[omarmtz]

In Microstrategy web 7.2.0, the elements (attributes, consolidations, etc.) that are in the page-by can't move of position. And this is a problem when there's selected subtotals in the elements.

 

[angi]

1. Desired Enhancement: The ability to see the answers that were given to each prompt of a prompted report on the &quot;Wait&quot; page while the report is being generated. This would be very similar to what is seen on the Report Details page after a report has run.

Benefit: In the event that a user &quot;thinks&quot; that they may have answered a prompt incorrectly*, they would be able to actually see what they have entered. Currently, because they don't know for sure if they have answered a prompt incorrectly, they have to decide (off of a hunch) whether to cancel the current request or wait for the report to be done. It sure would be nice to just let them see their prompt answers up front during execution. This way the user will know whether or not they should cancel execution.

2. Desired Enhancement: (Related to the first one). If a user cancels a report request from the &quot;Wait&quot; page, send the user back to the prompt page (with the prompts still filled in from the previous request) for that report rather than sending the user back to the report list page. (Or, provide the administrator with a project level preference setting as to what page we want to send our users to after they have canceled a report request.)

Benefit: If a user realizes that they have answered a prompt incorrectly* and cancels their report request during execution, it is a waste of time for them to have to re-select their report, re-select ALL of their prompts, and then re-execute their report. Why not just send them back to the prompt page, allow them to fix their one or two mistakes, and proceed? This would be much more user-friendly.


* Just to clarify: In all cases where I mention &quot;answer a prompt incorrectly&quot;, I am referring to cases where the user makes a mistake such as selecting year &quot;2002&quot; when they really wanted &quot;2003&quot; or selecting a region of &quot;Midwest&quot; when they really wanted a region of &quot;Southwest&quot;. I am not referring to cases where the user only selected two values for a prompt that requires 3 values since these types of mistakes are already handled well.

 

[chael]

1.) On behalf of OV I will add this:

Ability for users to see security filter details after running a report.

*I think the Administrators should have the ability to turn this on/off for users. In some instances I can see this being useful, but in others where security is a concern users may be mislead when they see security filter details.

2.) Pause button in CM
Add the ability to pause a running Command Manager script.

 

[mstrNate]

I've heard these might be coming by the end of the year, but just in case they think about slacking and that we don't care (well, I care at least), here are a couple more enhancements.

1. I-Server sits on Unix. Similar to the universal web product they have now. Currently our database sits on Unix and then the I-server is on an NT 4 SP 6 box... course, we could have a newer version of NT, but if it was on Unix, then the whole warehouse would pretty much be there. Plus, from previous experience, I know that some companies have based their product selection on whether the product could be installed on Unix, eliminating MicroStrategy at the time.

2. The ability to tune each pass of sql to what we want. I have heard this was coming also, but ... again, just to re-iterate. Basically, it would be nice to take generated sql and modify it to what I want exactly.

3. Don't know if this is possible now, but the ability to broadcast a message to all the users machines who are logged into a project, if we needed to shutdown the service, for example. I think you can do this in NT somehow (i.e. at the OS level), but I don't think you can in MicroStrategy. I'll come up with more later I'm sure.

Good idea Nlim.

Nate

 

[chael]

mstrNate:

#1 is in development, so I am told...this will be an important milestone for MicroStrategy, and it will definitely broaden MSTR's ability to sell. Will most definitely be more expensive than an NT-based iServer.

#2 - long awaited request...having the ability to custom write SQL into a report object would be a direct knock against BO, and I personally think it would broaden the integration of MSTR into custom applications (avoid the use of ADO, ODBC in a web-based custom interface for database calls, for example).

#3 - This is already available through command manager.

 

[mstrNate]

Ah. Thanks for the tip Chael. Yet another reason my company should get the Command Manager tool then.

Nate

 

[uptnogd]

A recycle bin for deleted objects.

 

[OV]

This is more of a change then an enhancement that relates to user groups and security filters. Let me give an example of what I would like to see:
Let us say that for a company A, user group A1 is the top tier for that company, that can see all the data. A filter called A1 is associated with that group. User goups A21, A22 A23 etc. are subgroups of A1 and make up the second tier. Filters A21, A22, A23 are associated with each group. This level can be the regions, for example. And I can have a few more levels depending on the company structure.
Currently, If a user is assigned to A21 then the security filters of A1 and A21 are combined with an &quot;OR&quot;, which means that the user can see all the data for A1 and not just A21. This makes it impossible to reflect the company hierarchy using users and user groups.
Ideally, what I would like to see is the following: If a user falls into sibling groups then the filters will be combined with an &quot;OR&quot;. If they are related as parent-child or parent-grandchild and so on, they will be combined with and &quot;AND&quot; statement.

OV

 

[bojisheng]

NT Validation via Web to optionally happen on the I-Server.
When the MSI Web Servers are in a DMZ, they do not have access to the internal Domain.