Advanced

Mobile Applications

Core learning for: Mobile Architects

CONTENTS

1. Create a Robust App

Design advanced mobile apps for your enterprise ....................................... 6
Enhance your mobile app with images ............................................................. 8
Reference images using an absolute path................................................ 8
Reference an image using a relative path ................................................. 9
Make navigation easier: Transparent images ........................................10
Design for multiple mobile devices...................................................................11
Unified design: Mobile Views.......................................................................12
Creating Mobile Views....................................................................................14
Adding objects to Mobile Views .................................................................15
Determining the best view to display on mobile devices.................16
Additional editing options for Mobile Views .........................................16
Exercise 1.1: Create the Commonwealth Transportation app
template ..............................................................................................................17
Creating layers of documents: Multi-layout documents ...........................21
Provide additional information to users: Information Windows ............21
Define the display of an Information Window on a mobile
device ...................................................................................................................22
Exercise 1.2: Import the app datasets .......................................................24
Exercise 1.3: Create the Roadwork page layout ....................................27
Exercise 1.4: Deploy your app to MicroStrategy Mobile ............................36

2. Enhance your App Add interactivity to mobile apps: Mobile widgets.......................................42

with Mobile Widgets Data Cloud widget...........................................................................................42
and Navigation Map widget ........................................................................................................44
Multimedia widget ..........................................................................................46
RSS Reader widget ...........................................................................................48

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Contents Advanced Mobile Applications

Video Player widget ........................................................................................52

Time Series widget...........................................................................................54
Date Selection widget ....................................................................................56
Interactive Grid widget ..................................................................................58
Exercise 2.1: Create the Traffic Planning page layout .........................59
Connecting app pages: Intuitive navigation..................................................73
App links: Buttons ............................................................................................74
App links: Tab bar navigation for iOS devices........................................74
Customizing app links: Mobile URL API ...........................................................75
Execute non-MicroStrategy actions ..........................................................75
Execute MicroStrategy actions....................................................................77
Exercise 2.2: Create the app landing page ..............................................79

3. Enhance user Data discovery with dossiers................................................................................86

experience with Bring your dossier to life: Add data and visualizations.......................87
Dossiers, Library, and Survey-Based Transactions in a Dossier...........................................................90
Survey-Based
Exercise 3.1: Create a dossier that uses Survey-based
Transactions Transactions .......................................................................................................91
Exercise 3.2: Download and configure MicroStrategy Library 
Mobile...................................................................................................................98
Introduction to Transaction Services ................................................................99
Examples of Transaction Services on mobile devices.......................100
Activity: Interact with a Transaction Services app or document 
on your mobile device..................................................................................103

4. Code-free
Customizations
Customize your app without using code ......................................................104
Let users customize displayed data with prompts ....................................104
Geo Location prompts..................................................................................105
Barcode Reader prompts.............................................................................106
Activity: Explore prompt styles..................................................................106
Configure the home screen for your mobile device..................................108
Display the contents of a folder ................................................................108
Display a custom home screen .................................................................109
Exercise 4.1: Complete your Landing page and set a custom 
home screen.....................................................................................................112

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Advanced Mobile Applications Contents

5. Understand the Introduction to Mobile administration ..........................................................116

Impact of Mobile Governing the mobile workforce: Enterprise Mobility 
Administration on Management ...........................................................................................................116
App Design MicroStrategy Mobile and EMM: Integrated or AppConfig ............118
Demo: AirWatch EMM deployment.........................................................120
Deploy a MicroStrategy Mobile app................................................................120
Additional deployment methods.............................................................120
User notifications ...................................................................................................121
Automatically deliver reports and documents: Subscriptions ......122
Notify users when conditions are met: Alerts Editor.........................123
Configure MicroStrategy Mobile to receive push notifications ....124
Improve user experience.....................................................................................124
App performance indicators: Logs...........................................................124
Build more efficient apps using mobile statistics...............................125
Prepare content for offline mode.....................................................................126
Folder caching.................................................................................................126
Pre-caching.......................................................................................................127

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Contents Advanced Mobile Applications

5 © 2020 MicroStrategy, Inc.

 1
CREATE A ROBUST APP

Design advanced mobile apps for your

enterprise
In today's mobile world, users expect to have access to data-driven insights,
regardless of their location. With MicroStrategy Mobile, you can design and
customize apps to adhere to your enterprise’s corporate standards while
incorporating best practices that enable users to perform analysis anywhere.
Design apps that bring together analytics, write decisions back to your database
using Transaction Services, and embed multimedia that empowers users across
any business function while ensuring everyone accesses a single version of the
truth.

This course focuses on how to design and create advanced enterprise mobile
applications. As a mobile app designer for a transportation company, you have
been asked by the Mobile Architect, who is responsible for managing your
company’s mobile applications, to create an app analyzing roads and traffic in the
Commonwealth of Virginia. He requested the following:

• Use of the corporate white and blue color scheme

• Custom landing page

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

• An email link so users can request more information directly from the app

• A roadwork project planning page

• Information windows to provide additional data on a project status grid

• A page analyzing traffic planning, such as average commute time

• A commuter details page, where you can submit a survey and view its
real-time results

• Design for multiple devices

Below is a mock-up of the application you create:

After creating the Commonwealth Transportation app, we learn about the impact
of mobile administration on your app design process, such as deploying your app
to users, setting up alerting, and analyzing app usage for future redesign
decisions. For an in-depth class on mobile administration, take the Administration
for Enterprise Mobility 11.321 course.

To learn more about the Mobile Architect role, certification, and the Intelligent
Enterprise, take the Mobile Architect 11.033 course and 11.063 certification.

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Enhance your mobile app with images

Images are an excellent way to add visual appeal to your app. Images include your
company logo, the background for your app, or buttons, and can provide easy
navigation and aesthetic appeal. Keep in mind that images should not detract
from the key data available. Images can be added by using either an absolute or a
relative path.

The following image types are supported:

• GIF

• JPEG

• PNG

• BMP

Reference images using an absolute path

An absolute path points to the same location regardless of the working directory.
There are two methods for creating an absolute path to images: use a URL or a
shared network drive location.

Best An advantage of using an absolute path is that the images do not need to be
Practice duplicated onto each machine. If the image is available on the web server,
MicroStrategy Web and the Intelligence Server can access the image from the
same central web server. It is recommended that you save the image file on a web
server that all your MicroStrategy products, including the MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server, can use and access.

To use an HTTP path, enter the URL into the Source field of the Properties and
Formatting window. In the example, the following URL is used for the image path:

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https://www.microstrategy.com/getmedia/
018aeeed-a511-472a-8d31-6371bfb6fc91/
microstrategy-logo_red.

If you cannot store and access images on a web server, you can store images in
alternative network locations and use a full (absolute) or partial (relative) path. An
example of a full path is:\\my_computer\shared\myimage.jpg.

Remember that the Intelligence Server and the web server need to be able to find
this location. Paste the full path into the Source field of the Properties and
Formatting window for the image to display.

Reference an image using a relative path

A relative or partial path can also be used as an image source. In this case, the
image file is saved in multiple locations. The advantages of using partial or
relative paths are:.

• The path of the image is not part of the document definition. If the path
changes, you do not have to manually change the image path in the
document.

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• The image is copied onto different machines, so users do not need to access
the same machine.

• A different image can be displayed in a document for each machine used to

access the image.

An example of a relative image path is: images/logo.jpg.For this image to

be visible in Web and on a mobile app, the logo.jpg file needs to be saved in the
images folder on the Web and Mobile servers.

The table below indicates where the image file needs to be saved and where they
are visible.

File Location
Product Desktop Web Mobile

Desktop MicroStrategy\Desktop\images X

Intelligence MicroStrategy\Intelligence X
Server Server\images

Web Server tomcat\webapps\MicroStrategy\ X

J2EE images

Web Server MicroStrategy\Web ASPx\images X

.NET

Mobile Server tomcat\webapps\ X

J2EE MicroStrategyMobile\images

Mobile Server MicroStrategy\Mobile Server X

.NET ASPx\images

Although there are numerous ways to insert an image into a mobile app, using an
HTTP path is the most common approach.

Make navigation easier: Transparent images

Best
Practice
Transparent images are GIF files that appear invisible on the document.
Transparent images can be placed around buttons, increasing the button's
clickable space. As a design best practice, you want to ensure that users can easily
locate and tap these buttons. Sometimes, due to design and screen constraints,
the buttons may not take up a large enough area on the screen.

Buttons are often used to navigate between the pages of the document.

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Below is an example of a transparent image placed over a navigation button. The

transparent image is indicated by the dashed line around the button in Design
Mode. The transparent image is invisible in Presentation Mode and on a Mobile
device.

Transparent images can help save users time and frustration if they aren’t able to
tap exactly on the button. If you add a button to your document to link to another
page of the app, you can place a transparent image around that button, then
apply the document link to the button and the transparent image. When a user
taps the button or the area of the transparent image around the button, they
navigate to the linked document.

MicroStrategy provides an out-of-the-box transparent image in each of the

following locations:

• C:\\Program Files (x86)\MicroStrategy\Developer\Images

• C:\\Program Files (x86)\MicroStrategy\Mobile Server ASPx\Images

• C:\\Program Files (x86)\MicroStrategy\Web ASPx\Images

The following image files are transparent images:

• 1ptrans.gif

• 1pyellow.gif

• spacer.gif

You insert a transparent image the same way you insert a regular image. If using
one of the out of the box files, you enter the appropriate path in the Source field.
To use the transparent image as a link, you must enter the hyperlink for the image.

Design for multiple mobile devices

As the app designer, you need to determine how the app is accessed by users
with a potential variety of devices.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

One approach is a dedicated design approach. Using this approach, you design a
different app for each device (phone vs. tablet and brand). While this yields the
most user-friendly results, it may also take more time to maintain and deploy the
apps to users.

A second approach is creating a unified design, or one app that can be used
across multiple devices. With this approach, you can enable Mobile Views and
customize the objects visible in each view.

Unified design: Mobile Views

Enabling Mobile Views allows designers to create a single app with different views
for different devices and screen orientations. With this approach, you need to
consider what devices the app is being designed for and how the app looks and
functions on each device. For example, if you are creating a single app that can be
viewed on both a phone and tablet, will the app be designed for portrait,
landscape, or both? Will the same objects be available in portrait and landscape
mode? Are the screen sizes different? Will you need to create a separate view for
each device resolution?

In the following example, each view contains the listed objects:

• Tablet-Both: Title, ESRI map, Bar graph, Line Graph, and Pie graph.

• Phone-Portrait: Title, Bar graph, and Line graph.

• Phone-Landscape: Title and Line graph only.

Since the title and Line graph are visible on each view, they can be added to all
views. The ESRI map and Pie graph are only visible on the Tablet-Both view, so
these should not be added to any other views. Since the Bar graph is on the
Phone-Portrait view, but not the Phone-Landscape view, it can be added to all
views, then removed from the Phone-Landscape view.

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The following images represent the different views for this app. The first image is
the Tablet-Both views.
Tablet-Both views

The next image is the Phone-Portrait view. Select this view as the Current View in
the Manage Views window to resize and organize the visualizations.
Phone-Portrait view

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

The last image is the Phone-Landscape view. With this view selected as the
Current View, the Bar graph is removed and only the Line graph is visible. The Line
graph is repositioned and the image below reflects the changes.
Phone-Landscape view

Creating Mobile Views

A newly opened blank document already has a default view applied. In the
example below, the name of the view is the same as the document template: iPad
Retina Display. MicroStrategy automatically suggests an appropriate resolution
and orientation for the chosen device, but these can be changed.

The orientation can be set to Portrait only, Landscape only, or both so users can
view the app in either orientation. Since tablet screens tend to be large, it may not
be necessary to customize the available objects. However, you may need multiple
views for the same app to be used on a phone and a tablet.

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In the image below, the document has three Mobile Views. The first is for a tablet
where all objects are visible in Landscape and Portrait mode. The next two views
are for phones. Creating one Portrait and one Landscape view allows you to make
different objects available in each orientation. When the user rotates their phone
between Portrait and Landscape, the objects on the screen change.

You can also adjust the screen resolution for different views. A tablet screen and
phone screen are different sizes, so the resolutions have been changed to the
appropriate size. In this example, the iPhone resolution is set for an iPhone 8.
Manage Views window

To easily differentiate between your different views, you can rename them by
placing your cursor in the Name field and typing a new name. Selecting the Show
hidden objects in Design Mode check box enables you to see all objects when
designing the app even if they are not visible in each view. To avoid blank spaces
or overlapping objects when designing, keep hidden objects out of sight.

Adding objects to Mobile Views

Once you create Mobile Views for your document, each time you add an object
Best
Practice you are prompted to choose which view(s) that object should be available in. For
example, if your app has a Microcharts widget on the iPad view, and you created a
view for the iPhone, you could hide the Microcharts widget. It is best practice to
enable Mobile Views before you add objects to the document.

When adding object to multiple views, it is important to keep track of which view
is the current view. By default, the initial view is the current view, and the view
that displays in Web. In the Manage views example, the iPad-Both view is the
current view.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

Determining the best view to display on mobile devices

When a document with multiple views is opened on a mobile device, the device
locates the most appropriate view based on the resolution of the devices screen.
Next, the supported orientation option determines which layout is displayed. For
example, when an iPhone user opens the app with the Mobile Views listed above,
the orientation of the phone determines which view they see. When an iPad user
opens the app, they can toggle between the different orientations and see the
same objects in each view.

Additional editing options for Mobile Views

In addition to determining what objects are visible in each view, there are a
variety of independent options that you can determine for each object in a view:

• The position and size of the object on the document

• Whether the size of the object is fixed, or automatically determined

• The size of a document section and whether or not it shrinks or grows based
on the amount of data it contains

You can create a view for each device with the corresponding layout height. The
objects on each layout can have different sizes and positions. Multiple views allow
you to quickly and easily determine how the elements of a document are
displayed in the following scenarios:

• When users rotate their devices; for example, you can resize a graph to take
advantage of the extra horizontal space when the device is held in landscape
orientation, or rearrange the controls on the document to accommodate the
extra vertical space when the mobile device is held in portrait orientation.
• When users access the same document from different devices, which may
have different screen sizes; for example, you can size text to take up less room
on a mobile phone in one view, or enlarge an image to fit a tablet in another
view. The document is automatically displayed using the view that most
closely matches the height and width (resolution) of the device’s screen.

When you use multiple views, controls in the document keep the same basic
settings in different views. For example, if a selector containing a list of regions
targeted a graph displaying revenue data and a user chooses the Southeast
region from the selector, revenue information for Southeast is displayed in the
graph. When the user rotates the mobile device from landscape to portrait,
Southeast remains selected and the data displayed in the graph is unchanged.

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

Exercise 1.1: Create the Commonwealth Transportation

app template
You can create and save a document as a template, and pattern new documents
based on that template. Any new document made using the template contains
the same underlying datasets, objects, formatting, and layout.

To make the app look and feel consistent across all of its pages, create a document
template that has a formatted title bar and Mobile Views enabled. You then use
the template to create the pages in the app. After a new document is created from
the template, format the document as needed.

In this exercise, you:

• Access MicroStrategy Web

• Create a new document to be used as a template for the app

• Enable multiple views for the document

• Add and format the title bar

• Add an image on the title bar

Access the MicroStrategy Cloud environment

1 Access MicroStrategy Web using the link provided to you by your instructor.

2 In the User Name and Password boxes, type (or copy and paste) the login
credentials provided by your instructor.

3 Click Login.

4 On the Welcome to MicroStrategy landing page, hover over MicroStrategy

Web, and click Launch. You arrive at the MicroStrategy Tutorial Home Page.

5 Click Go to Microstrategy Web. The Shared Reports folder opens.

Create a new document with multiple views

1 From Create, point to New Document, and select the 02 Title and Content
document template.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

2 Click Tools, then Manage Views.

3 In the Actions column of the Manage Views window, click the blue Duplicate
icon, under Actions, two times. You should now have a total of three rows.

4 Update the rows to match the image below:

5 Select your device type as the current view.

 Bymadeselecting your device type as the current view, objects that are
visible on the current view only, display on your device.
Remember, the device itself selects the appropriate view and
orientation to display on the mobile device.

6 Click OK.

Now with multiple Mobile Views created, each time you place an object on the
document you are asked if you want that object visible on all views.

Add the document title

1 Select the text box at the top of the document, and use the Format toolbar to
change the Fill Color to Dark Teal.

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

2 Click Insert and select Text. Because multiple views have been created, you
are prompted with this message:

3 Click Yes so that the titles are visible on all the views.

4 Draw the text box on the title bar.

5 In the text box, and type: Transportation Department.

6 Use the Format tab to make the following changes:

• Text Size: 12

• Style: Bold

• Fill Color: No Fill

• Text Color: White

• Border and Line Style: None

7 Insert another text box.

8 Click Yes so that the titles are visible on all the views.

9 Draw the text box on the title bar.

10 Double-click the text box and type: Commonwealth of Virginia.

11 Press Enter and type: Project Details.

12 Use the Format tab to make the following changes:

• Alignment: Center

• Fill Color: No Fill

• Font Color: White

• Border and Line Style: None

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

13 Move the new text box underneath the Transportation Department text box
to match the image below. Resize the text boxes as needed.

14 Click Save.

15 Name the document App Template and save it in the Shared Reports/Users/
user(number) folder.

16 Click Return to Design Mode to continue formatting the template.

Add an image to the template

1 From the Insert menu, select Image.

2 Click Yes, to make the image visible in all other views.

3 Draw the image in the title bar, to the left of the titles. The Properties and
Formatting window opens.

4 Browse to the exercise files provided by your instructor, select VCT Logo, and
click Open.

5 Click OK. Your template should look like the image below.

6 Save and close the document.

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

Creating layers of documents: Multi-layout

documents
A document can display different layouts, with each layout containing its own
individual document. Using multiple layouts, you can combine independently
maintained documents into a single, unified “book” of documents. A multi-layout
document can be used to separate information at different levels of detail or
presented in different ways.

You switch between the document layouts using the tabs at the top of the
document. The image below is an example of a multi-layout document with two
tabs.

Provide additional information to users:

Information Windows
Information Windows are panel stacks configured to pop up over the selected
object, displaying an additional visualization or additional information based on
that object. In the example below, when the user holds their finger on Audio

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

Equipment, the Information Window opens and displays monthly revenue for
Audio Equipment:

In addition to displaying more data, Information Windows can also be used as

navigation. Since you can place any objects on the window, it is possible to place
navigation buttons on the Information Window as well.

A user can display an Information Window by tapping:

• An attribute element in a grid or graph

• A button
• An image
• An item in a selector

• An object in a widget

For example, a user can tap a store’s location in a Map widget to display
the store’s address, phone number, and ratings.
• A text field

Define the display of an Information Window on a

mobile device
Once the panel stack that serves as the Information Window has been added to
the document and you have decided on the objects to place in the Information

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

Window, you can customize the following options within the Properties and
Formatting window:

• How the window opens: flipping up, sliding over, or increasing in size.

• How the window closes, either with a close button or when the user taps away
from the window.

• Where the window is located on the screen.

Additional formatting options for the Information Window can be found within
Effects in the Properties and Formatting window.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

Exercise 1.2: Import the app datasets

The data needed to build the Commonwealth Transportation app is not currently
saved in the Tutorial project. Data can be imported from different sources into the
MicroStrategy platform using the many out-of-the-box data connectors. The data
can then be prepared and saved as an Intelligent Cube.

An Intelligent Cube stores data, and can be added to documents and dossiers as a
dataset. Cubes expedite performance time; when you are executing a report or
visualization, the data is pulled from the Intelligent Cube rather than from the
data warehouse. Intelligent Cubes are created when you import external data
directly into Web; you can also create an Intelligent Cube manually.

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

Add the Commuter dataset

1 From MicroStrategy Web, click Create and select Add External Data.

2 In the list of data connectors, choose File From Disk.

3 Click Choose Files, select the Virginia Transportation.xlsx file, and click
Open.

4 Click Prepare Data.

The Prepare Data feature allows you to view the data quality before importing.
You can make changes to the columns, manage blank rows or columns, sort
attributes and metrics, and complete a variety of other data preparation
actions.

5 Select the All worksheets check box, and click Select.

6 In the Daily Vehicle Miles dataset, right-click Column 2, and select Do not
import.

7 Click Finish.

8 Change the Save in drop-down list to your user folder located in the Shared
Reports/Users folder.

9 Click Create New Folder.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

10 Name the new folder Mobile Datasets, and click OK.

11 Name the dataset Virginia Transportation and save it in the Mobile

Datasets folder.

12 You are prompted to Start Your Analysis. Do not select any of these options.
Close the window.

Import Road Projects dataset

1 Click Create, and select Add External Data.

2 From the list of data connectors, choose File from Disk.

3 Click Choose files, and add the Road Projects.xlsx file.

4 Click Finish.

5 Rename the file Road Projects, and save it in the Mobile Datasets folder
under Shared Reports/Users/user(number).

6 You are prompted to Start Your Analysis. Do not select any of these options.
Close the window.

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

Exercise 1.3: Create the Roadwork page layout

The Mobile Architect for the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation app wants
the pages of the app in a single document. This allows all of the pages to share
datasets and makes them easier to maintain. The solution is to create a
multi-layout document. Using a multi-layout document allows each member of a
team of document designers to simultaneously create different documents and
then place them on separate layouts within a single document.

In this exercise, you:

• Use the App Template to create the Commonwealth Transportation

multi-layout document

• Insert a dataset and grid into the Roadwork layout

• Use grouping so users can view data by jurisdiction

• Add dynamic text to highlight the number of projects and total expenditures

• Add Information Windows to display additional information

Use the App Template document to create a multi-layout document

1 From the Shared Reports/Users/user folder, open the App Template

document in Design mode.

2 Click Document Home, and select Save As.

3 Save the document in your My Reports folder, and name it Commonwealth

Transportation Document.

4 Click OK and Run newly saved document.

5 Select Edit from the menu to go to Design Mode.

6 Click Insert, and select Layout.

7 Select Browse Documents, and choose Shared Reports/Users/user from the

Select a document drop-down list.

8 Select the App Template document and click OK.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

Rename each layout

9 Right-click Layout 1, and select Rename.

10 Type Roadwork and click OK.

11 Right-click App Template (layout 2), and select Rename.

12 Type Traffic Planning, and click OK.

You document layouts should look like the image below:

13 Save the document.

Complete the Roadwork layout

1 Select the Roadwork layout tab.

2 Click Add a Dataset and select the Road Projects cube from your Shared
Reports/Users/user/Mobile Datasets folder.

3 Click OK.

Add a grid

4 Click Insert and select Grid.

5 Click Yes to make the grid visible on all views.

6 Use your cursor to draw the grid on Panel Stack 1.

7 Drag the following dataset objects, in this order, onto the grid (attributes
should be added as rows, metrics as columns):

• State Highway desc

• Project Status desc

• Program Manager

• Description

• Route

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

• Total Expend

Format the grid

8 To remove the Metrics column, right-click the grid, and select Properties and
Formatting.

9 Select Grid from the list of Properties on the left, and select the Remove extra
column check box.

10 Select Layout on the left, and make the following changes:

• Width: Fixed at 780 pixels (7 inches)

• Height: Fit to contents

11 Click OK.

12 With the grid selected, click Grid on the toolbar.

13 Click the (Custom) drop-down list to access grid layout options. Choose
Agent.

14 Save your document.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

Add dynamic data

1 From the Dataset Objects pane, drag the Jurisdiction desc attribute, and the
Row Count and Total Expend metrics to Panel Stack 1 (not the title bar). Make
them visible in all views.

2 Move the text boxes to the right end of the title bar.

3 Select all boxes (Ctrl+click), and make the following changes:

• Alignment: Left

• Font Color: White

• Fill Color: No Fill

• Border and Line Style: None

4 Add a text box to the left of the dynamic text boxes for their labels. Make the
text box visible in every view.

5 Type: Jurisdiction: (including the colon).

6 Change the Font Color to White and the Fill Color to No Fill.

7 Right-click and duplicate the Jurisdiction text box, move it below Jurisdiction,
and change the text to: Number of Projects:.

8 Duplicate it again, move it below Number of Projects, and change the text to:
Total Expenditures:.

9 Click Save.

10 Switch to Editable Mode and align the text boxes to your liking.

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications


The Jurisdiction dynamic text box has no data, because the grid is
displaying data for all jurisdictions. This field populates when we group by
jurisdiction in the next part of this exercise.

You can make these adjustments in Design Mode as well, however Editable Mode
is useful as the objects on the document resemble how they look to users on the
app.

Add Jurisdiction to the Grouping

To give users the ability to narrow the data down to a specific district, add the
Jurisdiction attribute to the grouping pane.

1 Return to Design Mode.

2 Drag Jurisdiction desc from the Dataset Objects pane into the Grouping
pane. A header and footer appear on the document.

To clean up the look and formatting of the document, remove the Jurisdiction
group header and footer.

3 Click Tools, then Document Properties.

4 Click Sections on the left under Layout Properties.

5 Clear the Jurisdiction desc Header and Footer check boxes.

6 Click OK.

7 Click Save.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

8 View the document in Presentation Mode. Use the drop-down list to select a
new jurisdiction to view the filtered project details.

Add Information Windows

There are some dataset objects that are not shown in the grid. These objects can
be displayed in an Information Window. Information Windows allow users to
access additional information without extending the size of the grid and adding
too much detail to smaller screens.

1 Select Edit from the menu to return to Design mode.

2 Click Insert, and select Panel Stack. Click Yes to make it visible in all views.

3 Draw the panel stack anywhere on the document.

 The Information Window panel stack can be placed on top of existing
objects on the screen. Information Windows are only visible when the user
taps to enables it.

4 Right-click the panel stack and select Properties and Formatting.

5 Select General from the list of Properties on the left and change the Name to
Info Window.

6 Clear the Show Title Bar check box.

7 Select Use as Information Window.

8 Change Placement to Above.

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

9 Select Color and Lines on the left, and change the Fill Color to Grey-80%.

10 Click OK.

Use a selector to target the Information Window

11 Right-click the Description column header in the grid and select Use as
Selector.

12 Right-click the column again and choose Edit Selector.

13 Click Info Window in the Available Targets list and use the right arrow to
move it to Selected Targets, if not already there.

14 From the Panel Stack drop-down list under Information Windows at the
bottom, select Info Window.

15 Click OK.

Insert a grid onto the Information Window

16 At the top of the panel stack, click Add Content and select Grid.

17 Click Yes to make you grid visible in all views.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

18 Drag the Project Manager and Federal Eligibility desc attributes onto the
rows of the grid.

19 Select the grid on the Information Window panel stack, and change the style
to Classic using the Grid tab on the toolbar.

20 Save the document.

Test the Information Window

21 View the document in Presentation Mode.

22 Click a cell in the Description column to view the Information Window.

23 Return to Design mode to resize the Information Window as needed.


The Information Window should only take up a small amount of space
around the grid, as seen in the image below.

Add an additional Information Window

1 In Design mode, insert a text box, visible in all views, above the State Highway
Desc column in the grid.

2 Type More Information in the text box.

3 Insert a panel stack that is visible in all views.

4 Right-click the panel stack and select Properties and Formatting.

5 Select General from the list of Properties on the left.

6 Name the panel: More Information, and clear the Show Title Bar check box.

7 Select Use as Information Window.

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8 Change Placement to Right and Window mode to Scale up. In the app, the
Information Window opens from the center of the page.

9 Select Color and Lines on the left, then change the fill color to Dark Teal.
Click OK.

10 Insert a text box onto the panel stack that is visible in all views.

11 Change the font size to 12 and font color to White. Type: Tap a cell in the
Description column for Project Manager and Federal Eligibility details.

12 Right-click the More Information text box and select Properties and
Formatting.

13 From General, select More Information from the Panel Stack drop-down list
under Information Window. Click OK.

Remember that Information Windows are only visible when you tap a selector to
trigger them.

14 Right-click Panel Stack 1, and select Properties and Formatting.

15 Select General from the list of Properties on the left, and clear the Show Title
Bar check box.

16 From Color and Lines, change the Fill Color to White, and click OK.

17 Click Save on the Document Home toolbar.

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Advanced Mobile Applications Create a Robust App 1

Exercise 1.4: Deploy your app to

MicroStrategy Mobile
Best
To assist in the app development and design process, it is best practice to view
Practice the app periodically on your device. Here, you can make small adjustments
throughout the development process and ensure that all the objects are visible
and accessible on the device.

Download MicroStrategy Mobile

1 On your device, download the MicroStrategy Mobile app from the App Store
or Google Play Store.

2 Take a few minutes to explore the sample apps in the App Gallery.

Access the Mobile Administrator page

1 On your computer, return to the Welcome to MicroStrategy landing page.

2 Hover over MicroStrategy Mobile Administration, and click Configure.

3 Enter the mstr credentials from your instructor, and click Login.

The MicroStrategy Mobile Administrator page opens.

Create a new mobile configuration

1 Click Mobile Configuration on the left side of the screen.

2 On the Mobile Configuration page, click the Define New Configuration link,
select your device type from the Device drop-down list, and click OK.

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 1 Create a Robust App Advanced Mobile Applications

A new Mobile configuration opens.

3 Select the Connectivity Settings tab.

4 In the Configuration name box at the top, type your user name provided by
the instructor as the new configuration name. For example, user1.

5 Click the Configure New Mobile Server link.

6 Make the changes below to configure a new Mobile server:

• Mobile Server name: env-XXXXXX.customer.cloud.microstrategy.com

where XXXXXX is replaced with your environment number.

• Mobile Server port: 443

• Mobile Server type: J2EE

• Request type: HTTPS

Embed credentials in the configuration

As a best practice, you should not embed user credentials in the configuration
Best
in your production environment. Users should be required to enter their
Practice
credentials at least once when logging into the app.

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7 Under Default Project Authentication, in the Authentication Mode

drop-down list, select Standard.

8 In the Login ID and Password text boxes, type the user ID and password for
class provided by your instructor (not the mstr credentials).

Configure projects for this configuration

9 Click the Configure New Project link.

10 Ensure MicroStrategy Tutorial project is selected in the Project Name

drop-down list.

11 Click Save.

Send the access URL to your mobile device

1 Click the Generate URL icon under Actions.

2 On the Generate Configuration URL window, change the value of each field
below:

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• Server name: If this name is not automatically filled in, type the domain
name of the machine listed in the URL of the MicroStrategy Cloud landing
page. Example: env-23638.customer.cloud.microstrategy.com.

• Include port: 443

• Request type: HTTPS

• Authentication Mode: Anonymous

3 Due to a requirement of the Android operating system, a short URL must be

created when sending the configuration URL to users. To generate a short URL
for Android devices, select Use short URL.

4 Click Generate URL.

The URL is displayed in the box below the Generate URL button.

5 Copy and paste the URL into an email and send it to an email account
accessible from your mobile device.
As an alternative to emailing yourself the link, you can use tinyurl.com to create a
shorten URL that can easily be typed into a browser on your mobile device.

6 Click Save to save the URL settings if they were updated.

The Generate Configuration URL window closes, and the authentication mode
and host are saved for the next time a URL is generated for this configuration.

Open MicroStrategy Mobile and view the document

1 Open the email with the generated URL on your mobile device.

2 Tap the link or paste the URL in a browser on your device to configure the
MicroStrategy app.

3 Click Open on the Open in MicroStrategy window.

4 From the Shared Reports folder, navigate to Users/user(number) and open

the Commonwealth Transportation Document.

5 Click through the document. Make any changes in Web and save the
document. Close and re-open the document on your app to see the changes.

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6 As you are planning to add a landing page to allow users to access each layout
directly, users don’t need to view the title bar. To remove the title bar, in Web,
click the Tools menu, then select Document Properties.

7 In the Document area, select Always open this document in full screen
mode.

8 Click OK and then save your work.

9 Refresh your app and notice the title bar is no longer visible as the page takes
up the full device screen.

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41 Exercise 1.4: Deploy your app to MicroStrategy Mobile © 2020 MicroStrategy, Inc.
 2
ENHANCE YOUR APP WITH
MOBILE WIDGETS AND
NAVIGATION

Add interactivity to mobile apps: Mobile

widgets
Mobile widgets are sophisticated visualizations that combine with rich
interactivity to enable users to understand data more effectively in a different
manner than traditional grids and graphs. MicroStrategy provides a number of
native widgets for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Reports, grids, and graphs
can all be converted to widgets in a document. The widgets listed below are the
most commonly used in MicroStrategy Mobile apps.

Data Cloud widget

The Data Cloud widget displays attribute elements in various sizes to depict
differences in their respective metric values. This widget is similar to the Heat Map
widget as the size of the attribute elements are dependent on metric values. The

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Data Cloud widget displays an actual list of the attribute elements, so the widget
is comprised of words of different sizes as seen in the image below.

You can hover over an attribute element in the widget to see a tooltip that
provides the metric data. The widget requires one attribute and at least one
metric.

The Data Cloud widget is available for iOS devices by default, but can be viewed
in DHTML (Presentation Mode in MicroStrategy Web) if selected. To customize the
look and feel of the Data Cloud widget, view the widget in Presentation Mode.
From the Properties window you can adjust the alignment, font size, and color of

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the widget. The default styles displayed in the example Data Cloud above are
shown in the Properties window below.

Map widget
You can display your data as markers or areas on an interactive map using the
Map widget. For example, you can create a Map widget that displays how
customer households are clustered in different parts of the country using a
density map, or display retail locations as a series of map markers that users can
click to view additional information about stores in their area.

With the Map widget, users can:

• Mark points of interest on the map using various pre-set markers.

• Place points on the map to mark metric values for geographic locations. For
example, in a map showing profit by city, Chicago would show a bubble with
total profit dollars displayed.

• Configure the points to display as thresholds and provide more information

about the marked location.

• Configure points to display dynamic bubbles where size and hue correspond
to a metric value.

• Configure arcs that display between related points on the map.

• Display areas of higher or lower density.

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The Map widget can use geolocation prompts to narrow the map area that
displays. For example, the widget can show locations within a given distance from
the user’s current location.

With the Map widget, you can analyze your geographical data in the following
modes:

Bubble and image markers: You can use bubble and image markers to identify
important locations on the map, such as stores, airports, and sales visits. For
example, the map below shows the population of deer in North Carolina to help
analyze the prevalence of Lyme disease in each city.

The color and size of the bubbles help users quickly understand the data. The size
of the bubbles is determined by the metric data, and the color of the bubbles is
defined by thresholding applied to the metric data.

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Density map: Density maps help users see patterns in their data. Colors represent
the density of specific metric data at different points on the map.

Use as a path on the map: The line used to represent the path is displayed
thicker for larger metric values and thinner for smaller metric values. For example,
you can display ridership at different stops along a train route, with the most
popular stations displayed with the thickest lines extending from the station.

Area map: Display your data as areas color-coded based on the population
density of locations on the map. For example, you can display areas with a high
concentration of stores in red, and areas with a low concentration of stores in
blue.

Multimedia widget
Using the Multimedia widget, users can browse and view files, such as
documents, images, and videos, in a web folder. On a mobile device, the
Multimedia widget displays a list of the available files that users can view and

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download. When the device is offline, users can view files that have been
previously downloaded. An example of a Multimedia widget is shown below.

The following file types can be used in the Multimedia widget:

• Audio and video files

• ePub files

• Excel
• HTML

• Image

• PDF

• Plain text

• PowerPoint

• Word

Before you insert the Multimedia widget into your app, ensure that your database
administrator has set up a WebDAV directory, created an XQuery database
instance to retrieve the web folder contents, and created an XQuery report to
access the web folders that contains the files to be displayed in the widget. The
necessary XQuery code for the Multimedia widget can be found in the
MicroStrategy Advanced Reporting Guide.

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Once the XQuery report is created, this is added as the dataset to a document.
Drag the dataset onto the document and convert the grid to the Multimedia
widget. The Multimedia widget can be displayed on all mobile devices; however,
Presentation Mode in Web does not reflect its final appearance on mobile devices.

RSS Reader widget

The RSS Reader widget allows you to add a news feed to your document. RSS
(Really Simple Syndication) is a data format used to display updated web content
when you click a URL. An RSS document is called a feed, and generally contains a
summary of the content from an associated website. The RSS Reader widget only
displays on iOS devices.

You can compare data in your interactive document to real-time information in

the RSS Reader. For example, if you work for an investment firm whose data
reflects current market trends, investments, and portfolios, having an RSS Reader
that displays current financial trends would be a useful addition to your mobile
app.

In the example below, an RSS Reader widget is used on the Market Analysis page
of a mobile app.

To extend the relationship between your business data and the recent news, you
can configure an RSS feed to be connected to specific attributes. For example, you
can click a customer’s name in your report to view updated RSS news related to
that customer.

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Static and dynamic RSS feed

You can create either a static or dynamic RSS feed. A static feed displays a default
set of news about a general topic, such as business or technology. For this type of
feed, the RSS feed’s URL is used. You can search for relevant RSS feeds online.
Below is an example RSS feed URL for Yahoo! Business News:

http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/business

Dynamic RSS feeds are modified to display information about a specific topic. To
create a dynamic RSS feed, use the base RSS URL then add one of the following:

• To display news about a particular attribute, document, or datasets, insert an

autocode for the object in the URL’s query parameter. For example: http://
rss.news.yahoo.com/rss?p={[Customer State]}&ei=
UTF-8&fl=0&x=wrt.
 For a document use {[#name of document#]}
 For a dataset use {[#name of dataset#]}

• To display news about an attribute element, use a dynamic RSS feed URL such
as: http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=
{[Category]}$ei=UTF-8&fl=0&x=wrt

In this case, the RSS widget’s grid contains the attribute, and the attribute
is set to be a selector. The selector then targets the RSS widget.

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Customize your RSS Reader widget

To access customization properties, insert an RSS Reader into your document,
select DHTML as a display mode, and view in Presentation Mode. The following
message is displayed:

Enter the RSS URL into the Default RSS Field. Give the RSS feed a title and make
any formatting adjustments to the widget’s font, text, and color options from this
menu. You can also determine how frequently the feed refreshes and whether or

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not you allow users to open the full article. In the image below, sample RSS
Reader options are entered.

As the RSS feed is not viewable in Presentation Mode in Web, when you click OK
after entering the RSS URL, an error message opens as shown in the image below.

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The RSS Reader widget for the sample link used above displays as like the image
below on a mobile device.

Video Player widget

The Video Player widget is available for iOS devices. The widget loads and plays
video from a remote location or a local cache. The widget can display:

• An online video from a streaming service such as YouTube.

• An online video from a file server location.

• A cached video from the WebDAV cache, in offline mode. The WebDAV cache
can be populated by a manual download request.

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An example of a Video Player widget is seen in the document below.

When a user requests to play the video, the widget checks for a local copy stored
on the device regardless of whether it is online. If a cached file is found, the video
starts playing without loading the full file into memory. If the video is not yet
cached, then the widget requests the video from the source which could be on a
web server or through a streaming video site.

When a video is launched from a streaming site, the video is buffered and plays as
it downloads. By default, the video file is discarded when the MicroStrategy
Mobile app is closed.

When caching of online content is enabled, the video is available offline. A video
file download (such as from a web server) is fully downloaded to the client before
it can be played. You can pre-cache the video so that it downloads prior to the
user requesting it, allowing for a quicker response time.

When cached, the video is saved to the WebDAV Content Manager cache store so it
can be shared by other instances of the Video Player widget or the Multimedia widget.
The video source URL is used as the key of the cache so it can be matched to other
requests to the same video. Steps for configuring a WebDAV folder are found in the
Advanced Reporting Guide.

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It is also possible to create different locations for online and offline access to the
video. You can configure the Video Player widget to use YouTube as the online
source, with the offline cache source pointing to a URL that has the full video file.

To configure your video, the following properties are available:

• Source: Select one of the following:


Video streaming: Select this option to stream the video on the iPhone or
iPad, then complete the following:

Embed video HTML: Used for online live requests initiated by users. Type
or copy the HTML needed to embed the video in a site. For example, the
HTML for a MicroStrategy Express demo on YouTube is: <iframe width=
"560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AH4Z9fEybF8"
frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 Alternate download URL: Used for offline requests. Type the URL of the
cache source that serves the full video file in the field.

• Video download: Select this option to download the video onto the iPhone
or iPad, then complete the following:

Video URL: Type or copy the URL needed to access the video.

• Thumbnail

Video thumbnail URL: Used to display a thumbnail for the video. Type or
copy the URL needed to access the thumbnail.

Note: If the video is streamed but an alternate URL is not provided, the Video
thumbnail URL field is not available.

Time Series widget

A Time Series widget displays data over a specific period of time, allowing you to
choose the section of the time period you want to view with a slider. You can use

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the slider to adjust the length and area of time to view data. See the Time Series
widget below.

You can configure the Time Series widget to provide data across multiple time
intervals. Add intervals to the widget by configuring the widget’s properties. You
can also display multiple series and choose to display the data as an Area or Line
graph. The image below shows a Time Series widget displayed as a Line graph
with multiple series.

A Time Series Slider widget can be combined with an interactive selector so you
can change the attributes that are displayed in the widget. For example, in a
widget showing revenue by region, you can select the Southwest region to have
the Time Series Slider widget display the Revenue values for Southwest, in the
time frame selected in the widget.

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Date Selection widget

The Date Selection widget is an interactive calendar available in Month, Week, or
Day views on the iPad. While the Date Selection widget can also be viewed in
Presentation Mode, the calendar looks different on an iPad, which should be kept
in mind when designing the widget. An example of the Date Selection widget is
seen below on an iPad screen.

You can use the Date Selection widget in a variety of ways, such as keeping track
of appointments or event information, and displaying Information Windows for
particular events. You can also use the widget as a filter for data in your
document. To do this, while in Design Mode, define an attribute in the grid of the

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widget to act as a selector. In the example below, an Information Window opens

with meeting and client details.

Data requirements
The grid for the Date Selection widget includes at least two attributes on the
rows, and one metric in the columns, or three attributes on the rows. The
attributes must meet the following criteria:

• The first attribute represents each day displayed in the calendar and must
contain elements of the Date data type.

• The second attribute provides the events displayed in the calendar.

• The third, potentially optional, attribute provides the category name of each
event in the calendar. It is used to color-code the events.

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Interactive Grid widget

The Interactive Grid widget allows you to display data in a compact tabular layout.
Attributes and metric values are displayed in columns in the widget's grid, as
shown below.

If a column contains more than one attribute or metric, users can toggle the value
displayed in the column to customize their display, or stack the attribute and
metric values to display each of the values together in a single row. This allows the
mobile app designer to include multiple data points in the widget without using
too much page space.

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Exercise 2.1: Create the Traffic Planning page layout

The purpose of the Traffic Planning layout is to give users a page in the app that
provides an overview of traffic trends in Virginia. In this exercise, you:

• Add the Virginia Transportation dataset and visualizations to the Traffic

Planning layout.

• Add a second panel to the panel stack.

• Create the following data visualizations:

• A Data Cloud widget to highlight the most traveled areas of the state

• A Line graph to analyze population trends

• A Bar graph to show the average commute times per region

• A Map that compares commutes in Virginia versus the rest of the United
States

• An Interactive Grid detailing public transportation data

The two panels you create are shown below.

Add the dataset and a second panel

1 From the Shared Reports/Users/user folder, open the Commonwealth

Transportation Document in Design Mode.

2 Select the Traffic Planning layout.

3 Double-click the text box below the title, and change Project Details to
Traffic Planning.

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4 Click the Add Dataset icon in the Dataset Object panel, and select Virginia
Transportation from your Shared Reports/Users/user/Mobile Datasets
folder.

5 Click OK and Save.

Add a panel to the panel stack

6 On the toolbar on Panel Stack 1, click the Add Panel icon to add another
panel to the stack.

Each panel is a layer that groups document objects, such as grids, widgets,
and text boxes. Users can swipe through the panels to see different
information.

Add a Bar graph to the first panel

1 To ensure you are on the first panel, hover over the panel toolbar and select
Display Previous Panel . If the button is grayed out, you are already on
the first panel.

Create and add a new metric

2 Right-click Average Commute Time in the Virginia Transportation dataset,

point to Insert Summary Metric, and select Average.

The Avg (Average Commute Time) metric is now added to the Dataset
Objects pane.

Before adding the new metric, if Average Commute Time and Region were placed
on a grid, the metric would have shown the sum of all the average commute times
for each county within each Region. Regions with more counties would have
shown higher commute times by sheer number of counties. Now, with the
summary average metric, we can see the average of all the commute times for all
the counties within a particular region.

Insert a Bar graph

3 Insert a grid on the document below the title bar, and make it visible in all
views.

4 From the Virginia Transportation dataset, add the Region attribute and the
Avg (Average Commute Time) metric to the grid.

5 Right-click the grid, point to View Mode, and select Graph view.

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6 Switch to Editable Mode.

7 Right-click the graph and select Format.

8 Click Format on the left, and select Legend from the second drop-down list.

9 Since the bars are all one color, you do not need a legend. Clear the Show
check box.

10 Click OK and Save your document.

Add a Map widget to the first panel

To compare the average Virginia commute to the rest of the United States, add an
Area map.

1 Return to Design mode.

2 Click Insert, point to Widgets, then Mobile, and select Map. Add the Map to
all views.

3 Draw the map to the right of the Bar graph.

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4 From the Virginia Transportation dataset, drag the State attribute and
Commute Time metric to the Map grid.

5 To change the Map to an Area map, right-click the grid and select Properties
and Formatting.

6 Select Widget, then click Widget Properties at the bottom.

7 Select Show Areas, then change the Shape File drop-down list to US States.

8 Click OK and OK.

9 Click Save.

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Add thresholds to the Map

10 View your page in Presentation Mode. Notice the states are filled in, however
they are all the same color.

You want lighter colors to represent a quicker commute and darker colors to
represent longer commutes. Add thresholds to the map to color the states by
commute time.

11 Return to Design Mode.

12 Right-click Commute Time on the map grid, point to Thresholds, and select
Advanced.

13 From the Filter On drop-down list, select Commute Time.

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14 Change the condition to Less than and the value to 15.9.

15 Click Apply.

16 To change the threshold color, click the Cell Formatting icon.

17 Select the Color and Lines tab and change the Fill Color to Light Turquoise.

18 Click OK.

19 To add the remaining threshold requirements, click the Copy icon, then
click the Paste icon five times. There should be a total of six thresholds.

20 Click the blue link next to the second threshold.

21 From the Commute Time drop-down list, select Between (enter

value1;value2) and enter 16;18.9 in the value text box.

22 Click Apply.

23 Click the Cell Formatting icon, change the threshold color to Turquoise, and
click OK.

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24 Configure the remaining threshold requirements according to the table and

image below.

Commute Time Color

Between 19 and 22.9 Sky Blue

Between 23 and 25.9 Blue

Between 26 and 30.9 Dark Blue

Greater than or equal to 31 Grey-80%

25 Click OK and Save your work.

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26 View the page in Presentation Mode, the page should resemble the image
below.

Add visualizations to the second panel

1 From the panel stack toolbar, click the Display Next Panel icon.

2 Click Insert, point to Widgets, then Mobile and select Data Cloud.

3 Click No to make the widget only available in the current view.

4 Draw the widget in the upper right quarter of the panel.

5 To make the Data Cloud widget visible in Presentation Mode, right-click the
widget, and select Properties and Formatting.

6 Click Widget, and select DHTML in the Display Widget in column. Click OK.

7 Add the County attribute and All Roads metric to the widget.

This visualization displays the number of daily vehicle miles traveled for all
roads in each county.

Add a view filter

8 Right-click the grid and select Edit View Filter.

9 Click Add Condition in the View Filter Editor window.

10 Click All Roads and select Highest in the Condition menu.

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11 Type 25 as the Value.

The Highest filter limits the Data Cloud to show the top 25 counties with the
highest number of daily vehicle miles traveled. On mobile devices, the Data Cloud
displays all data labels at the minimum font size to fit the smaller screen.
Therefore, we need to limit the amount of data shown to fit the display.

12 Click Apply. On the following screen click Save to return to the document.

13 Save the document.

Customize the widget

14 Switch to Presentation Mode. You may need to enable Flash for the Data
Cloud to display.

15 Right-click the widget and select Properties.

16 Change the Alignment to Center.

17 Change the Minimum Font Size to 10.

18 Change Font Color 1 to: 006FFF (light blue) and Font Color 2 to: 000066
(dark blue).

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19 Click OK. You may need to drag the Properties window up to see the OK
button. Your Data Cloud should resemble the image below.

20 Return to Editable Mode. If you do not see the full toolbar and Dataset panel,
select the Restore Normal Screen Mode icon on the right end of the
Document Home toolbar.

Insert a Line graph

1 Insert a Vertical Line graph to the left of the Data Cloud. Make the graph
available in all views.

2 Add Year to Categories and Population to Metrics.

3 Close the Graph Zones window.

4 Right-click the graph and select Format.

5 Select Format on the left.

6 From the second drop-down list, select Legend, and clear the Show check
box.

7 Select Series markers from the first drop-down list, and change the Color to
Dark Blue.

8 Click Axes on the left side of the Format: Graph window.

9 Select the Minimum Value check box, and enter 8000000 as the value.

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10 Click OK.

11 Save your work.

Add an Interactive Grid widget to display public transportation data

1 Switch to Design Mode.

2 Click Insert, point to Widgets, then Mobile, and select Interactive Grid.
Make it visible in all views.

3 Draw the grid below the Line graph and Data Cloud widget.

4 Drag the following objects, in order, onto the grid:

• City

• Agency
• UZA Population

• 2017 Annual Vehicle Revenue Hours

• 2017 Unlinked Passenger Trips

• 2017 Annual Miles

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In Design Mode, your page should resemble the image below.

Format the Interactive Grid

5 Right-click the grid and select Properties and Formatting.

6 Select Widget from the list of Properties, then select Widget Properties.

7 To group the data by city, select Apply Grouping to: City.

8 Change the Color Theme to White, and select the Banding check box to
organize the rows to form bands of data.
You can create, rearrange, or delete columns in the widget. You want to have
four columns in your grid and allow users to toggle between revenue hours
and passenger trips.

9 Click Add Column twice.

10 Click and drag 2017 Annual Miles to Column 3.

11 Click and drag UZA Population to Column 4.

12 Click OK in the Interactive Grid Properties window, then click OK in the

Properties and Formatting window.

13 Save your work.

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14 View the Traffic Planning page on your mobile device. Swipe to the second
panel. It should resemble the image below. Tap the second column on the
grid to toggle between data.

You may notice the Interactive Grid columns display the data with added
characters, obscuring the data itself.

Adjust the display of all metric values

1 Return to Editable Mode in Web.

2 Right-click the UZA Population column and select Advanced formatting.

3 In Number, select All Metrics from the first drop-down list and Values from
the second drop-down list.

4 Select Fixed under Number, set the Decimal places to 0, then select the Use
1000 separator check box.

5 Click OK.

6 Save your work.

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Add titles and final formatting

Best
Labeling visualizations helps users have a clear understanding of the data and
Practice
app functionality.

1 Insert a text box above each visualization. The text box for the Data Cloud
should only be visible in the current view.

2 The text boxes should contain the following titles:

• Bar Graph: Average Commute (mins) per Region

• Map: Average Commute (mins) per State

• Line Graph: Population Trends

• Data Cloud: Tap a county to see number of roads

• Interactive Grid: Public Transportation Data

3 Each title should have the following formatting: bold, size 10, center
alignment, and black text

4 On the right side of the blue rectangle, add a text box. Type Swipe for more
information.

5 The text should have the following formatting: size 12, bold, and white.

Format panels

6 To format the panels, right-click the panel stack and select Properties and
Formatting.

7 In General, clear the Show Title Bar check box.

8 In Color and Lines, change the first drop-down list to All Panels.

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9 Change the Fill Color to White and Borders to None.

10 Click OK and Save.

11 Change the document properties so that the page takes up the full screen
when launched from a mobile device.

Connecting app pages: Intuitive navigation

When designing an app, you should keep in mind how users navigate between
the different pages within the app. Typically, a well-designed app consists of a
Home screen or landing page where users can navigate to other pages of the app.
Buttons are a common way to move between layouts or documents, and can be
used to link to other documents or reports, open a web page, or an Information
Window. In addition to buttons, the tab bar navigation is also available for iOS
devices.

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App links: Buttons

When using buttons for navigation, you can determine whether the button has a
caption, an image, or an image and a caption. Images should be intuitive for
users, and clearly indicate which section of the app they are navigating to or what
type of data they access.

The style of navigation button and image types on your button is customizable.
For example, you can have a different image displayed once the button is tapped,
or you can have the button change colors once it is tapped.

A button can have more than one link. If a default link has been defined, when a
user taps the button that link is executed. To access the other links, the user must
tap and hold the button to view the menu. The image below shows a navigation
button with multiple links.
Navigation Button with Multiple Links

App links: Tab bar navigation for iOS devices

Tab bar navigation consist of navigation buttons, displayed at the bottom of an
iOS document. Since navigation buttons can be placed anywhere on a page; it
can be tedious to place buttons in the exact location on each app page. If you are
designing an app for iOS devices, tab bar navigation simplifies this process.

The tab bar navigation template contains only the tab bar, allowing it to be
displayed at all times, even when the user switches between documents, panels
stacks, or layouts. In effect, you are creating a navigation system for a set of Mobile
documents. The Navigation for iPad document template is displayed in the image
below.

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Notice that the only visible part of the document is the Page Footer. To create the
tab bar, you place the buttons with links on this section of the template. You can
customize the color and look of the buttons and bar.

Customizing app links: Mobile URL API

By using a URL API for mobile link, you can execute both MicroStrategy and
non-MicroStrategy actions from inside of a MicroStrategy Mobile application. This
is useful if you want to access and manipulate MicroStrategy objects such as
reports, documents, or folders, display standard MicroStrategy Mobile screens, or
open other applications installed on the mobile device.

Execute non-MicroStrategy actions

Mobile URL API links can be used to open and interact with applications installed
on the mobile device, such as email or text messaging. They can also be used to
easily allow users to call a phone number, or even pass a location to Google Maps.

For example, you create a document for the regional managers of a chain of
stores. The document below contains information about each of the stores in the
manager’s region.

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When the regional managers view this document on their phone, they can:

• View a map of the store’s location and get directions from their current
location

• Email the store manager

• Call the store

Configure a hyperlink for external applications

When you create a hyperlink to open an external application, you must use the
appropriate URL API syntax. For example, to configure a button to send an email,
the mailto syntax must be used. The example below shows the minimum text
needed to send an email to help@store.com.

mailto:help@store.com

A question mark (?) is placed between the email address and the first
parameter-value pair. To add text with a space between each word, type %20
between each word. For example, to enter a subject for your email, type:

?subject=Question%20regarding%20your%20store

Each parameter-value pair that you enter after the first one must be separated by
an ampersand (&). If you want to pre-populate the email body, type:
&body=
I%20have%20reviewed%20your%20store's%20sales%20results%20an
d%20have%20the%20following%20feedback%20for%20you.

The full hyperlink reads: mailto:help@store.com?subject=

Question%20regarding%20your%20store&body=
I%20have%20reviewed%20your%20store's%20sales%20results%20and%20have
%20the%20following%20feedback%20for%20you.

The email address in the link above, can be dynamic and change according to the
data in your document. Instead of typing the actual email address, replace it with
an attribute. For example, you could type the following to send an email to the
selected store manager.

mailto: {Store@StoreMgrEmail}

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Execute MicroStrategy actions

Mobile URL API links also allow you to directly request MicroStrategy to perform
actions by using specific arguments in the request. For example, a link can be
configured to specify the page-by selection for a report, display a specific
document layout, or even answer prompt questions. Mobile URL API links can also
be used to display standard MicroStrategy Mobile screens, such as the users
Subscriptions or Shared Library. These links can be used to quickly allow users
access to needed data.

Using the URL API link requires an understanding of the basic structure of a
MicroStrategy Web URL, as well as knowledge of the additional parameters. Every
request to MicroStrategy Web corresponds to at least one event or action. URLs
typically include only one event, but in some instances, you may need a single
URL to execute multiple events. To build a mobile URL API link to execute a
specific document, start with mstrweb? and add the following parameters and
values separated by an ampersand (&):

Parameter Value

evt 2048001

documentID ID of the report services document to execute

To locate the document ID for a document, right-click the document and select
Properties.

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In addition to specifying a document to execute, you can also specify the

document layout to be displayed. The following parameter-value pair is used to
target the document layout that should be displayed using the mobile URL API
link. This parameter is appended to the URL APL link for executing a document
shown above and is separated by an ampersand (&).

&layoutIndex=

The value used indicates which layout you want to display. The first layout in a
document is 0, the second layout is 1, and so on. An example of a complete
mobile URL API link to open a specific layout of a document is shown below:

mstrweb?evt=2048001&documentID=
D95581C011EA0BD823690080EF159623&layoutIndex=0

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Exercise 2.2: Create the app landing page

The landing page is the first page users are directed to when they open the app
Best and is the launching point to the rest of the app. A mobile landing page should be
Practice simple, have a limited number of visuals, and render quickly on the user’s device.
To accomplish this, the Transportation App has a background image, a simple
headline, and a link to send an email with questions.

In this exercise you:

• Create the landing page for the Commonwealth Transportation app

• Configure an email link for users to send questions directly from the app

• Add and configure the buttons to the app pages

• Configure the image on the app document to navigate to the landing page

Retrieve the document ID for your Commonwealth Transportation document

Before creating the landing page, you need to obtain the document ID of your
Commonwealth Transportation document. The document ID is used in the
creation of the URL API links.

1 From your Shared Reports/Users/user folder, right-click the Commonwealth

Transportation document, and select Properties.

2 Copy and paste the document ID in a text file to be used later in this exercise.

3 Click OK to close the Properties window.

Create the Commonwealth Transportation app landing page

1 Click Create, point to New Document, and select iPad Retina Landscape.

2 Click Insert and select Image.

3 Use the cross-hairs to draw the image container anywhere on the document.
The Properties and Formatting window for the image opens.

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4 Click Browse and select the Highway.png image file provided by the
Instructor.

 Adding an image this way makes it only available for this environment.
In an enterprise setting, the image would need to be added to a
network location.

5 Click Open. A preview of the image is shown. Click OK.

6 Resize the image to the dimensions of the template.

7 Click Save.

8 In the Save in drop-down list, select the Shared Reports/Users/

user(number) folder.

9 Rename the file: Commonwealth Transportation Landing Page.

10 Click OK, then Run newly saved document.

11 Return to Design Mode.

Add a title

12 Click Insert and select Text.

13 Draw the text box in the top center of the page and type Commonwealth
Transportation.

14 Format the text as follows:

• Size: 36

• Style: Bold

• Alignment: Center

• Text Color: White

15 Insert another text box below the title and type Innovation for a better
Virginia.

16 Format the text as follows:

• Size: 24

• Style: Bold

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• Alignment: Center

• Text Color: White

17 Click Save.

Add an email link

You want users to be able to easily ask questions or reach out for help directly
from the app. This can be accomplished by adding an email URL API link.

1 Insert a text box in the bottom right corner of the page and type Questions?
Tap here to email us.

2 Format the text as follows:

• Size: 14

• Style: Bold

• Alignment: Center

• Text Color: White

3 Right-click the text box and select Edit Links.

4 In the Links window, select Navigate to this URL and clear the current text.

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5 Type the following URL API link in the text box:

mailto:help@microstrategy.com?subject=
Question%20regarding%20the%20traffic%20planning%20app.

6 Click OK.

Now, when users tap the text box, a new email opens with a pre-populated
subject and recipient.

7 Save your document and view it in Presentation mode.

Add navigation buttons to the landing page

1 Return to Design Mode.

2 From the Insert menu, point to Button, and select Caption only.

3 Draw the button in the bottom left of the landing page.

4 Type Roadwork for the button caption, and change the size to 16.

5 Right-click the button, and select Duplicate.

6 Place the second button to the right of the first.

7 Double-click the second button, and change the caption to Traffic Planning.

Configure the buttons using Mobile URL API links

8 Right-click Roadwork, and select Properties and Formatting.

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9 Select Button from the list of Properties on the left, and click the Configure
actions on this button icon.

10 Under Navigate to this URL, clear the text box and enter the following mobile
URL API link:
mstrweb?evt=2048001&documentID=
D95581C011EA0BD823690080EF159623&layoutIndex=0

 Update the Document ID value with the value in the Properties window of
your document. This is a mobile link and only works on a mobile device.

11 Click OK and Close.

12 Right-click Traffic Planning, and select Properties and Formatting.

13 Select Button from the list of Properties on the left, and click the Configure
actions on this button icon.

14 Under Navigate to this URL, clear the text box and enter the following mobile
URL API link:
mstrweb?evt=2048001&documentID=
D95581C011EA0BD823690080EF159623&layoutIndex=1

 Update the Document ID value with the value in the Properties window of
your document. This is a mobile link and only works on a mobile device.

15 Click OK and Close.

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16 Save and close the document.

Configure the image on the Commonwealth Transportation document

To allow users to return to the landing page from the app document, configure
the image on the title bar to act as a button.

1 Open the Commonwealth Transportation document in Design Mode.

2 Right-click the image on the toolbar, and select Edit Links.

3 On the Links Editor, select Run this report or document, and click the
Browse icon.

4 Navigate to your Shared Reports/Users/user folder, select the

Commonwealth Transportation Landing Page document, and click OK.

5 Click OK again to close the Links Editor.

6 Switch to the other Layout and repeat the steps above to configure the image
to navigate to the Landing Page.

7 Save the document.

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Test the app

1 Open the MicroStrategy Mobile app on your device, and select the
Commonwealth Transportation Landing Page from your user folder.

2 Test the buttons and view the app pages.

Once on the Commonwealth Transportation document, you can swipe to

view the second layout, as well both panels on the Traffic Planning panel
stack.

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 3
ENHANCE USER EXPERIENCE WITH
DOSSIERS, LIBRARY, AND
SURVEY-BASED TRANSACTIONS

Data discovery with dossiers

Primarily comprised of visualizations, dossiers enhance analysis of your business
data. Created in Web, Workstation, or Desktop, dossiers are simple to design. You
can drag and drop objects onto the dossier, and instantly view the results of your
changes. With this in mind, adding a dossier to an app can help enhance the app’s
quality without spending significant time designing. You can use a button to link

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to a dossier to highlight key data for your users with less design time than
standard interactive documents.

Dossiers are available for display on mobile devices through the Library app,
which is a virtual bookshelf for your dossiers, and in the MicroStrategy Mobile app
on iPads.

To learn more about MicroStrategy Library and dossiers, take the Dashboarding
with Dossiers and Visualizations 11.142 course.

Bring your dossier to life: Add data and visualizations

You can add data to a dossier in three ways: importing data from an external
source, importing data from a MicroStrategy report, or adding dataset objects
directly from the current project. MicroStrategy Web offers a range of
out-of-the-box visualizations to help bring focus to your data. When creating a

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dossier, you can choose a visualization from the Visualization Gallery on the right
side of the screen.
Visualization Gallery

To see your data transform into a meaningful visualization, drag and drop dataset
objects into the Editor Pane drop boxes. You can use the Color By, Break By, and
Size By drop boxes to enhance your display. Each visualization provides different
drop boxes to assist with customization.

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For example, the visualization below is a bar chart that displays profit per year by
office.

Deploy additional visualizations

Additional visualizations can easily be added to your dossier. You can drag and
drop the visualization containers to achieve your desired layout. In the image
below, a Line graph was added to compare Profit and Revenue per Category.

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Analyze your data

With certain dossier visualizations, you can add trend or reference lines to
highlight key aspects of your data. In the example below, a Maximum and Median
reference line have been added to the Area graph.

Convert a dossier to a document

If you want to add greater functionality, such as Information Windows or Mobile
Widgets to your dossier, you can convert a dossier to a document.

To convert a dossier to a document, click File, then select Convert to Document.

The document opens in Design Mode, but you can switch to Presentation Mode
to view the newly created document.

Survey-Based Transactions in a Dossier

In today’s world, almost every organization collects feedback data to capture the
voices and opinions of their stakeholders. Using the Survey visualization, you can
embed third-party surveys directly into a MicroStrategy dossier. This allows your
organization to distribute surveys in-line with related analytics through
MicroStrategy. The Survey visualization is integrated with popular
survey-as-a-software providers.

Surveys can be personalized by adding custom variables. Custom variables in a

survey are a logic feature that allows you to track data about respondents by
passing one or more values through a survey link into your survey results. The
Custom variable area in the Dossier Editor, allows you to tailor your survey to
specific objects like attributes or metrics, system properties like project or dossier
name, or custom inputs.

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MicroStrategy provides out-of-the box data connectors so you can import the
results of your survey directly into your dossier. You can then view and analyze the
data using any of the visualizations within a MicroStrategy dossier. This allows for
rapid feedback and decision-making.

Exercise 3.1: Create a dossier that uses Survey-based

Transactions
The Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Department wants to survey Virginia
residents on their daily commute to work. Commuting data includes when people
start their trip, how they get there, how long it takes, and if they work from home.

The survey has already been created using a third-party provider. Your task is to
embed the survey in a dossier, verify that the real-time results of the survey are
shown in the dossier. This allows the transportation department to view and
analyze the survey data next to the nation-wide commuter data they have already
collected using visualizations within MicroStrategy.

This exercise is an introduction to the Survey visualization’s capabilities focused

on embedding the survey and analyzing the survey results. In this exercise, you:

• Upload the Commuter Details dossier

• Insert and configure the Survey visualization using the survey URL

• Submit a survey

• Add the survey dataset to the dossier

• Add the survey data to the visualizations

• Share your dossier to MicroStrategy Library

Upload the dossier

1 From your My Reports folder, click Create, and select Upload MicroStrategy
File.

2 Navigate to the exercise files provided for the class, select the Commuter
Data Dossier and click Open.

3 On the Upload window, click View Dossier. The dossier opens in Edit mode
and displays the Summary page.

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Dossiers contain chapters and pages to help ease end-user navigation. In your
mobile app, the chapter name shows at the top of the page.

4 Right-click the Commuter Data chapter in the Contents panel, and select
Insert Page.

5 Double-click Page 1, and rename it Survey.

6 Save your dossier.

Embed the Survey in the dossier

1 Select the Survey page from the Contents panel.

2 Click the Survey icon on the toolbar and select SurveyMonkey.

3 You now have two visualizations on the page. Click the Menu icon for
Visualization 1, and select Delete.

4 There are two options for embedding a survey on the page; From Account and
By URL. On the Editor panel, select By URL.

5 Enter the following link in the Insert URL text box:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7D559V2

6 Click Validate in the bottom right of the Inset URL text box. The survey now
displays in the dossier.

7 To keep all of the pages in the app consistent, add a title to the page by
clicking the Text icon on the toolbar.

8 In the text box type, Transportation Department, press enter, and type
Commonwealth of Virginia.

9 Use the Format panel to make the following changes to the text box:

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• Style: Bold

• Text Color: White

• Fill color: Dark Teal

10 Resize the text box as needed.

11 Insert an image and drag it to the left of the title.

12 Browse to your exercise files, and select VCT Logo.png.

13 Click Open.

14 Save your dossier.

Submit a survey and add its data to the dossier

1 Complete the survey, and click Submit at the bottom.

2 Click Refresh in the toolbar to reload the survey in the dossier.

Add the survey dataset to the dossier

MicroStrategy provides out-of-the-box data connectors to Survey Monkey

and Survey Gizmo. This allows the data to be directly imported into the
dossier from the third-party’s site.

To view the results of the Commuter Details survey, use the Survey Monkey
data connector to load the surveys data in the dossier.

3 Click the Add Data button on the toolbar, and select New Data.

4 On the Connect to Your Data window, select the SurveyMonkey connector.

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To import the survey data, the data connector must be properly configured to
your survey-as-a-software provider account by an Administrator. Once the
configuration is complete, Survey Monkey Connector windows the opens and
displays the available surveys like the image below:

5 Select the Commuter Survey and click Submit. The Data Preview window
opens and displays the three tables to be imported.

6 To optimize the dataset and only import the needed objects, open the menu
on the Survey table, and select Delete.

7 Click Finish. The data is now imported in the dossier as a dataset.

To show both sets of data on the same visualizations, link the two datasets
using a common attribute.

8 Expand the Nationwide Commuter dataset, right-click the Question Title

attribute, and select Link to Other Dataset.

9 From the Select an Attribute drop-down list, select questionTitle, and click
OK.

10 To give the metrics a more meaningful name, right-click the Row Count -
Responses metric from the Questions Responses dataset, and rename it
Virginia.

Add the new data to the current visualizations

1 On the Summary page, select the Commute visualization.

2 Place the Virginia metric in the Horizontal drop zone below Nationwide.

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3 Click and drag Metrics Names to the Break By and Color By drop zones.

4 Select the Method of Transportation visualization.

5 Place the Virginia metric in the Angle drop zone below Nationwide.

6 Drag Metric Names from the Vertical drop zone to the Horizontal drop zone.

7 Select the Average Commute Time visualization.

8 Place the Virginia metric in the Vertical drop zone below Nationwide.

9 Click and drag Metric Names to the Break By and Color By drop zones.

For the last visualization, the Transportation Department wants to view the
combined data on a single visualization. To achieve this, create a derived
metric that combines the Nationwide and Virginia values.

10 Right-click the Virginia metric and select Create Metric.

11 On the Metric Editor, click Switch to Formula Editor in the bottom left.

12 Click the + sign and double-click the Nationwide metric to add it to the
expression.

13 Name the new metric Combined.

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Your Metric Editor should look like the image below:

14 Click Save.

15 Select the Number of Commute Days per Week visualization.

16 Replace the Nationwide metric with the new Combined metric.

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17 Click Save. The Summary page should now match the image below.

Share your dossier to Library

1 From the Share menu, select Get a link to MicroStrategy Library.

2 Select Library Link, then click Launch.

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3 Once your dossier opens in Library, click Add to Library to make your dossier
available in Library both on Web and Mobile.

 Dossiers are available for display on mobile devices through the

Library app, which is a virtual bookshelf for your dossiers, and in the
MicroStrategy Mobile app on iPads.

Exercise 3.2: Download and configure MicroStrategy

Library Mobile
The MicroStrategy Library Mobile app is an extension of MicroStrategy Library,
and was created with user experience top-of-mind. The app includes native
design for iOS and Android, responsive design regardless of your device, and a
touch-optimized interface.

The Library Mobile app can be used to view dossiers and documents with
updated data on-the-go at all times. Users can also choose to receive various
notifications on their mobile device to manage their Library at their fingertips.
Download the Library app on your tablet or phone, log in with your credentials,
and you can view all your dossiers and documents in one place.

In this exercise, you download the Library Mobile app, configure it to your
environment, and view the Commuter Data Dossier.

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Download the Library Mobile app

1 From the Apple App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android), search for and
download the MicroStrategy Library app on your mobile device.

2 Once the app downloads on your mobile device, tap the Library icon to open
the app.

3 Explore the dossiers in the sample Library.

Configure the Library app to your Library

1 To configure the Library app to your Library, on your web browser, click
MicroStrategy Library from the Shared Reports home page.

2 Copy and paste the Library URL into an email. Send the email to an address
that is accessible on your mobile device.

3 Open the email on your device, then tap the Library URL.

4 Once the page opens, tap Open in App, then tap Open. The Library Mobile
app opens to the login page.

5 Login using your credentials provided at the beginning of class and tap Login.

6 View your dossier in the Library Mobile app.

Introduction to Transaction Services

MicroStrategy Transaction Services allow you to embed write-back functionality
to your data warehouse into documents. This robust feature, uncommon in the BI
industry, includes one-click approvals and denials, notes for tracking and
directing business activity, and write-back to data sources in real time.

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Examples of Transaction Services on mobile devices

What-if analysis

Transaction Services provides an easy and convenient way to generate an

accurate what-if analysis before actually modifying data. This is achieved through
on-the-fly calculations at the client level which helps the user make the best
possible decision. In the example below, the user enters a value in the Get Quote
field to see the investment values change.

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Submit and approve requests

You can interact with your app to submit and approve requests. In the example
below, the user approves a variety of requests using Transaction Services.

Complete on-site audits

In the example below, the user uploads a photo using the transactional Photo
Uploader widget. She then fills out and submit the Store Inspection form.

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Submit survey answers

Interact with and submit surveys directly from your device.

A Transaction Services-enabled document consists of the following:

• A query report created using MicroStrategy Freeform SQL.


Used as the dataset for the document.

• A transaction report created using Freeform SQL.


Used to write the data back to a table in the warehouse.

• A MicroStrategy document.

Used to display the objects for the transaction.

• Panel stack or transaction widgets.


These contain the input objects for the transactions. Once the input
objects are placed on the document, they must be mapped to the
transaction report objects that write back to the data warehouse.
• A Submit, or other action button.

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
Place a button to submit, clear, or recalculate the changes in your
transaction document. The name of the button can be changed; the
button performs one of the three listed actions.

More information on Transaction Services can be found in course 11.422 Database

Write-back: Transaction Services.

Activity: Interact with a Transaction Services app or

document on your mobile device
In this activity, open a Transaction Services-enabled app on your mobile device.

1 Open the MicroStrategy Mobile app on your device and navigate to the
Shared Reports folder.

2 From the Shared Reports folder, tap MicroStrategy Platform Capabilities.

3 Select MicroStrategy Transaction Services and open the Opportunity

Management document. Rotate your device to Landscape to see the
document better.

4 Fill out the form and click Submit to submit the transaction. Slide to the left to
create a new opportunity.

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 4
CODE-FREE CUSTOMIZATIONS

Customize your app without using code

The Mobile SDK provides resources to customize mobile applications built using
the MicroStrategy Mobile App Platform. Using the Mobile SDK, you can re-brand
and pre-configure your application, and customize it to use help files or perform
actions such as disabling software encryption. There also are many features
available with MicroStrategy Mobile that allow you to customize your app
code-free. In this lesson we discuss:
• Letting a user choose what information to see through prompts to mobile
devices

• Creating a custom home screen

• Enabling custom projects and folders for users to browse

Let users customize displayed data with

prompts
A prompt is a question that the system presents to a user when a report or
document is executed. On a mobile device, the user must answer the prompt

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before viewing a report or document. You can use prompts to let the user
customize the data they see within an app. For example, you can use a location
prompt to view data for a specific region.

There are several techniques for creating prompts on a document and

customizing how the prompt is viewed on the mobile device. More information
on creating prompts for mobile devices can be found in the MicroStrategy Mobile
Design and Administration Guide.

Value prompts and attribute element prompts can be used on mobile devices. A
value prompt lets users select a single value such as a date or specific text string.
An attribute element prompt lets users select prompt answers from a limited list
of specific attribute elements. There are some prompt designs that are ideal for
mobile, including:

• Slider

• Stepper

• Wheel

• Geo Location

• Barcode Reader

These prompt styles match controls that are native to the device to give your app
a polished look and provide a more intuitive experience when answering
prompts.

Geo Location prompts

You can use Geo Location prompts to filter data in a report, document, or Map
widget by using an iPhone, iPad, or Android device's current geographical
location. For example, a Map widget displays several locations as markers on the
map display. You can choose to display only those location markers that are in the
same state, city, or zip code as the mobile device's current location.

There are two ways to create a Geo Location prompt:

• Create a prompt that uses the device’s current latitude and longitude. When
creating the prompt you must define two value prompts for latitude and
longitude.

• Create a prompt that filters an attribute element list using the current
geographical location, by defining an attribute element prompt with the
display set to Geo Location.

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Barcode Reader prompts

With a Barcode Reader you can scan or type an item’s barcode using your mobile
device. You can use this prompt style to filter results based on a product barcode
or search for an item in an attribute element list to answer the prompt. To create a
Barcode Reader prompt, set the prompt display to Barcode Reader.

The Barcode Reader prompt supports the following types of barcodes:

• QR code

• UPC-A

• UPC-E

• EAN-8

• EAN-13

For the Barcode Reader to work, you must have a Barcode attribute form data for
the object.

Activity: Explore prompt styles

To understand how users interact with prompts on a mobile device, we will
explore a few apps and documents that contain various types of prompts.

1 On your mobile device, navigate to the Shared Reports folder on the

MicroStrategy Mobile app.

2 Click MicroStrategy Platform Capabilities, then MicroStrategy Mobile,

then iPhone.

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3 Open the Nearby Stores document to see the types of prompts you can apply
to the app.

4 Return to the iPhone folder and launch the Scanned Items document.

5 When you open the document, you are presented with the Barcode Reader
prompt. Use your device’s camera to capture the QR code below.

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Configure the home screen for your mobile

device
When you deploy your mobile app with the default configuration settings using
the configuration link, the app opens to the default MicroStrategy Mobile home
screen where you can select your project. In the Mobile Configuration settings,
you can specify to open a specific folder, report, or custom home screen when the
app is launched. The home screen settings can be updated on the Mobile
Configuration page.

You can access the Home Screen settings by modifying a configuration on the
Mobile Configuration page. On the Home Screen tab, choose from:

• The default home screen

• Display the contents of a folder

• Display a custom home screen

Display the contents of a folder

By default, the MicroStrategy Mobile home page displays the available projects.
To only display the contents of a particular folder, for instance the various apps

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you have created, you can designate a particular folder to be displayed. Select
which folder contents you want to be displayed when the app is launched.

You can pre-cache any of the objects within the folder so that they load faster
when the user launches the app. When you select Pre-cache contents at startup,
you can choose which folder objects to pre-cache.

Display a custom home screen

If you select a custom home screen, you can choose to display a particular report
or document, or display a custom set of folders, documents, or reports.

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Display a report or document

You can select a specific document or report to open when the app is launched.
As with folder contents, you can also pre-cache the report or document at startup.

The user can be directed to the landing page of your app and navigate to the
desired content, providing a unique app experience.

Display a custom list of folders, documents, or reports

This view is used to create a custom list of folders or documents visible to the user
when they launch the app. This is a useful home screen customization if you have
a variety of apps you want users to access. You can incorporate the necessary
folders and documents required for each app while keeping the component
objects hidden. Below is an example of a custom home view.

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Important considerations
The MicroStrategy Mobile app has a default native navigation menu. When you
create a custom home page to run a report or document, this navigation menu is
no longer visible. The navigation menu allows you to access your subscriptions,
help menu, report queue, etc.

If your custom home page runs a report or document, you no longer see this
Best menu. Thus, it’s best practice to provide users a method to access these tools. A
Practice simple way to achieve this is to add buttons that link to various sections of the
navigation menu. These buttons can be placed in an Information Window to help
keep your home page clean.

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Exercise 4.1: Complete your Landing page and set a

custom home screen
In this exercise you create an Information Window with links to the navigation
sections of MicroStrategy Mobile. Then, you create a custom home screen to run
the Commonwealth Transportation Landing Page document.

Add an Information Window with navigation links

1 In Web, open the Commonwealth Transportation Landing Page document.

2 Insert a text box on the left of the document.

3 Type Menu in the text box and format it as follows:

• Size: 12

• Style: Bold

• Alignment: Center

• Color: White

4 Insert a panel stack in the middle on the document.

5 From the Properties and Formatting window, name the panel stack
Navigation Menu.

6 Clear Show Title Bar.

7 Select Use as Information Window.

8 Change Window mode to Flip up.

9 Change the fill color to Dark Teal.

10 Click OK.

11 Click Save.

Add controls to the window

12 Add three text boxes to the panel.

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13 Format each text box as follows:

• Size: 16

• Alignment: Center

• Style: Bold

• Color: White

• Border: All, Thin, Gray-50%

14 Type one of these terms in each text box: Shared Library, Settings, Help.

15 Save your document.

Create links using the text boxes

16 Right-click the Shared Library text box and select Edit Links.

17 Select Perform this (Mobile only).

18 Using the drop-down menu, select Go to Shared Library.

19 Click OK.

20 Use the steps above to link Settings to Go to Settings Screen and link Help
to Go to Help.

Use the menu text box as a selector

21 Right-click the Menu text box and select Properties and Formatting.

22 Select General from the list of Properties on the left.

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23 Under Information Windows, select the Navigation Menu from the Panel
Stack drop-down list.

24 Click OK.

25 Click Save.

Add a transparent image

1 From the Insert menu, add an image to the document.

2 Click Browse and navigate to the1ptrans.gif image from the files your
instructor sent you. Click Open.

3 Click OK.

The image displays as a very small box on the page.

4 Re-size the transparent image, and place it on top of the menu button. Extend
it past the menu button on all sides.

5 Right-click the transparent image, point to Order, and select Bring to Front.

6 Right-click the transparent image and select Properties and Formatting.

7 From General, select Navigation Menu, in the Information Windows section.

8 Click OK and save the document.

Create a custom home screen configuration

1 Open the MicroStrategy Mobile Administration page, then click Mobile

Configurations on the left.

2 Locate your Mobile configuration for your device, and click the Modify icon.

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3 Select the Home Screen tab, and click Display a custom home screen.

4 Click the browse icon right of the text box, and enter your user credentials for
class, and click Login.

5 Navigate to Shared Reports/Users/user(number) and select the

Commonwealth Transportation Landing Page.

6 Click Save.

7 Generate a new configuration link, and send it to yourself. Tap on the link to
re-launch the app. Now, rather than opening the app to the Shared Reports
folder, the Commonwealth Transportation Landing Page launches
automatically from the configuration link.

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UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF
MOBILE ADMINISTRATION ON
APP DESIGN

Introduction to Mobile administration

Though many concepts discussed in this lesson are built and maintained by an
administrator, it is beneficial to have a basic understanding of Mobile
administration. Knowledge of the Mobile Administrator’s responsibilities will help
you to design a more efficient and productive app, and will assist your
knowledgeable conversations with your Mobile Administrator.

Administrators typically handle the back-end of mobile app design, which

includes creating the configuration settings, maintaining an enterprise’s
Enterprise Mobility Management software, setting up subscriptions and alerts,
deploying the app to users, and viewing mobile usage statistics. For an in-depth
look at Mobile administration, take the Administration for Enterprise Mobility
11.321 course.

Governing the mobile workforce: Enterprise

Mobility Management
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) goes beyond traditional device
management to include the management and configuration of enterprise apps

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and content. Intelligent Enterprises leverage mobility management to

standardize mobile applications, device management, and app security. EMM is
software that allows organizations to securely enable employee use of mobile
devices and applications. For example, with an EMM solution, enterprises can
deliver approved apps to corporate and personally owned devices, keep data
secure by remotely wiping apps on stolen or lost devices, and monitor security
compliance across devices.

If your organization uses EMM for mobility management, you should understand
what security restrictions are added to your apps before deployment and how
these restrictions will affect end user experience. For example, if you added a map
Best widget to your app page that uses geolocation services to pinpoint nearby
Practice clients, you should ensure the EMM does not disable use of location services.

Your organization’s Mobile Architect may require that the EMM administrator
restricts the availability of some app features to prevent data leakage or data loss
within the MicroStrategy Mobile app. The following restrictions can be added as
BOOLEAN key-value pairs to any enterprise app through the EMM software. It is
important to be aware of these keys because of their potential to impact your
app, including performance, functionality, restrictions, and other behavior that
may shape how you design your apps to anticipate these impacts.

• EnableDataLossPrevention: The main switch for all of the app restrictions.

When EnableDataLossPrevention is set to true, the following features are
automatically disabled:

Open PDF in third-party applications

Open email URL in third-party applications

Open telephone, SMS, or unknown URL in another application

Open EPub files in third-party applications
• DisableEmail: Disables the ability to open the device’s email client when the
app is open

• DisablePrint: Users cannot print from their device while the app is running

• DisableCopyPaste: Users cannot copy and paste within the app

• DisableCameraAccess: Restricts the ability to open the device’s camera while

the app is running

• DisableLocationServices: Location services are disabled and does not allow

them to be enables

• DisableSaveToPhotos: Screen shots and images from the app cannot be saved
to the user’s device

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MicroStrategy Mobile and EMM: Integrated or

AppConfig
MicroStrategy Mobile can be integrated with leading EMM providers, including
AirWatch and MobileIron. It is important to understand which EMM provider your
enterprise uses to ensure you’re building apps that take advantage of EMM
capabilities.

MicroStrategy offers iOS support for a variety of EMMs, including BlackBerry,

AirWatch, and MobileIron, and for Android, EMMs like AirWatch. The
MicroStrategy Downloads site displays the available builds for the integrated
EMMs, and out-of-the-box builds (iOS SDK and Android SDK) for apps that will be
deployed via an app store or with an AppConfig-compliant EMM.

As the MicroStrategy Mobile app is AppConfig compliant, most enterprises will

choose to use SDK for either iOS or Android. However, there are certain
EMM-specific features that are only available with an integrated app. For example,
if an enterprise wants to use a single passcode with Blackberry Mobile for the

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MicroStrategy app and email, they would need to use the integrated Blackberry
app.

Alternatively, developers can use app wrapping through an EMM, which applies
custom security policies. The EMM vendor owns the wrapper code.

The benefits to using AppConfig are:

• Provides an EMM vendor-neutral solution and helps to deploy

enterprise-ready apps faster.

• Eliminates the need for proprietary SDK or app wrapping.

• Helps enterprises use existing VPN solutions and leverage existing EMM
investments.

• Apps can be restricted to run only on approved devices and enforce security
policies such as required encryption and data loss prevention at the app level.
• Can easily migrate from one EMM vendor to another.

• Takes advantage of updates MicroStrategy publishes on a quarterly basis.

• Up-to-date with Apple and MicroStrategy security updates.

Consider the following when choosing an AppConfig-compliant vendors:

• Limited feature support through the EMM vendor.

• The vendor typically requires a more expensive licensing structure to support

AppConfig.

• Geared towards MDM instead of application and content management.

• Users need a security profile, which users might not want to install on
personal devices.

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• Needs to have a VPN app tunnel that pairs with the AppConfig app.

Demo: AirWatch EMM deployment

In this video, the Mobile Architect uses AirWatch to deploy MicroStrategy Mobile
without any customization to the iOS App.

Deploy a MicroStrategy Mobile app

One method of deploying mobile apps is to email users a configuration link. To
deploy the app to a large group, you can place this link on a network drive or a
web page and direct users to that location.

There are different methods to deploy mobile apps depending on the type of
devices being used; see below for a basic overview of how to deploy an app to
multiple users for different devices. Full details and exercises on deploying mobile
apps are in the course 11.321 Administration for Enterprise Mobility.

Additional deployment methods

In addition to deploying mobile apps via an EMM vendor, enterprises can use the
following methods for iOS and Android.

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iOS enterprise deployment

To maintain your MicroStrategy Mobile implementation cycle, it is recommended
that you use the iOS Enterprise Deployment process to install the MicroStrategy
Mobile applications on your user’s devices.

The high-level steps for deploying MicroStrategy Mobile with iOS Enterprise
Deployment are:

• Download the MicroStrategy Mobile Xcode platform.

• Use the iOS Developer Portal to create the files you need to build the
applications in Xcode.

• Create a distributable archive of the application.

• Create a basic web page for your network, from which users can download the
application. Be aware that you can download the app via the App Store.

The following image is from the Apple Developer App Distribution Guide. This
image illustrates the process of distributing an app via the App Store.

If creating and distributing multiple apps, the Administrator can apply specific
login credentials in the mobile configurations.

Android deployment
To deploy MicroStrategy Mobile to Android devices, you can send the app as an
email attachment to your users. The app is installed when users download the
attachment. The configuration URL can also be posted to a web page, where users
can navigate to the link and launch the app from the page.

User notifications
In this section we discuss three ways to notify users of app updates or changes:

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• Subscriptions

• Alerts

• Push notifications

Automatically deliver reports and documents:

Subscriptions
You can subscribe to a particular report or document so it is automatically
delivered to your mobile device. You can schedule a subscription to occur on a
regular basis or for a specific event.

Mobile device subscriptions are created in Web or Developer. Subscription

settings are accessed from the Document Home menu in Web. The Administrator
will create the Mobile subscriptions from the window below. Schedules for
subscriptions are created in Developer.

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You can view the documents and reports you are subscribed to from your mobile
device. Access the navigation menu and click Subscriptions.

The mobile subscription workflow is highlighted in the following image.

In addition to subscriptions, a report or document can be delivered to your

mobile device when a specific condition, known as an alert, has been met.

Notify users when conditions are met: Alerts Editor

An alert-based subscription notifies users when a metric on a report meets a
specific threshold condition. For example, a user can receive a notification when
the units sold data in a report falls below 500 units or when a revenue value
exceeds $1,000,000. The alert can be sent to an email address or a mobile device.

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In addition to simply notifying users that a condition has been met, you can
automatically apply special formatting to metric values in the report when the
threshold condition is met.

You can specify a subject and message to display for the alert or run the report/
document when viewing the alert. Alerts can be received on a mobile device even
when the app is not running. Once the alert (or threshold condition) is created,
the Administrator schedules the alert in the Schedule Manager in Developer.

Configure MicroStrategy Mobile to receive push

notifications
When you create an alert-based subscription for mobile devices, the alerts are
pushed to MicroStrategy Mobile by the Intelligence Server. You can customize
how notifications are displayed on the device. For a mobile device to receive push
notifications, the following prerequisites must be applied:

• You must have MicroStrategy Distribution Services.

• Push notifications must be enabled on the mobile device.

• For security purposes, it is recommended the Mobile Server be configured to

use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption.

• For iOS, alert notifications are delivered through the Apple Push Notification
Service (APNS). This requires the use of an Apple iOS developer license.
• For Android, alert notifications are delivered through the Google Cloud
Message (GCM). This is a free service, but some customizations may require an
API key from the Google Play Console.

• The Intelligence Server must be able to connect to the APNS or GCM.

Improve user experience

To guarantee that your app is being used, you should ensure it works properly
and delivers the information your users need. Apps should increase efficiency
without frustration. Administrators have access to a variety of information
measures and can track performance of the app.

App performance indicators: Logs

Tasks performed by MicroStrategy Mobile users may generate errors, warnings, or
messages in the MicroStrategy Mobile Server; this can be stored in log files

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defined by the Administrator. You can then view logs of errors, warnings, and
messages that appeared on the devices on the Mobile Administrator page. Here,
you can determine if users are experiencing frequent errors or messages that
detract from the functionality of the app.

Build more efficient apps using mobile statistics

In addition to log files, mobile statistics can help you measure and manage the
usage and performance of your app. Mobile statistics can be used to:

• Identify bottlenecks in the system

• Measure how long a report takes to render once it is run

• Prioritize mobile connections

• Check server load

• Troubleshoot lag time

• Determine usage levels

• Measure adoption and performance of mobile devices

MicroStrategy contains pre-built mobile statistics tables. MicroStrategy Tutorial

also comes with out-of-the-box reports to view the statistics in a meaningful way.
The Administrator can create reports from the mobile statistics tables to assist
identifying any potential areas for improvement of your apps.

You can use mobile statistics to see how frequently users access a particular
object or page of your document, the location they are accessing the app from,

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how many users have opened the app, and much more. Below is an excerpt of the
CT_EXEC_STATS statistics table.

Prepare content for offline mode

Folder caching
Administrators can create cache settings to prepare the app to be used in offline
mode. By default, MicroStrategy Mobile caches the contents of folders and does
not refresh unless the user shakes the device while in the folder screen. Folder

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caching can be turned on or off directly on a device. Folder caching options are
located in the Settings menu of your mobile device.

Pre-caching
Documents and widgets can be pre-cached, creating a faster response time for
content when the app is launched. Pre-caching is especially useful for online
content such as that viewed in the Video Player widget. To pre-cache app
contents, the Administrator must create an External Mobile Folder of the
supporting objects that need to be pre-cached.

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Copyright Information
All Contents Copyright © 2020 MicroStrategy Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

Trademark Information
The following are either trademarks or registered trademarks of MicroStrategy Incorporated or its affiliates in the United States
and certain other countries:

MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy 2020, MicroStrategy 2019, MicroStrategy 11, MicroStrategy 10, MicroStrategy 10 Secure
Enterprise, MicroStrategy 9, MicroStrategy 9s, MicroStrategy Analytics, MicroStrategy Analytics Platform, MicroStrategy
Desktop, MicroStrategy Library, MicroStrategy Operations Manager, MicroStrategy Analytics Enterprise, MicroStrategy
Evaluation Edition, MicroStrategy Secure Enterprise, MicroStrategy Web, MicroStrategy Mobile, MicroStrategy Server,
MicroStrategy Parallel Relational In-Memory Engine (MicroStrategy PRIME), MicroStrategy MultiSource, MicroStrategy OLAP
Services, MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, MicroStrategy Distribution Services, MicroStrategy Report Services, MicroStrategy
Transaction Services, MicroStrategy Visual Insight, MicroStrategy Web Reporter, MicroStrategy Web Analyst, MicroStrategy
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