MicroStrategy ONE

Exporting Report Services (RS) dashboards to Flash for stand-alone use

Steps to export an RS  dashboard to Flash

You can view and interact with the Flash content, such as widgets and selectors, of a Report Services (RS) dashboard in Flash Mode in MicroStrategy Web. If you export the RS dashboard to a Flash file, you and other users can also view it and interact with it off-line, without using MicroStrategy. The Flash file is a fully interactive, stand-alone RS dashboard, that works similar to the Flash RS dashboard in Flash Mode in MicroStrategy Web. The Flash file allows HTML content, images, Flash content, and other types of information to be exported in a single file that can be opened in an Internet browser or Adobe Reader. For more information on RS dashboards and the objects that can be used on them, see Designing dynamic enterprise RS dashboards.

A selector that slices the data includes all the slices, and therefore all the data, in the exported document. An off-line user can change the selector and update the target. A selector that filters the data includes only the data for the current selections in the document. An off-line user cannot change the selector and update the target. For a comparison of filtering and slicing selectors, see Applying selections as filters or slices.

Before you export an RS dashboard to Flash, you can:

For instructions to export an RS dashboard to Flash, see To export an RS dashboards to Flash below.

MHT vs. PDF file format

You can choose to export all the Flash files in a project in either MHT or PDF format.

  • MHT file format: can be opened in Internet Explorer, and in Firefox with a third-party plug-in (see Displaying exported RS dashboards in Firefox below for instructions).

  • PDF file format: can be opened in Adobe Reader 9.

To select MHT or PDF file format for all RS dashboards exported to Flash

  1. In MicroStrategy Developer, right-click the project that you want to work with, and select Project Configuration. The Project Configuration Editor opens.

  2. Under Categories, expand Project definition, and select Export Settings.

  3. Select either MHTorPDFfor theExport to Flash using the file formatoption.

  4. Click OK to save your changes and return to MicroStrategy Developer.

  5. Before you export an RS dashboard from MicroStrategy Web, restart your web server. This allows the web server to read the new format.

Displaying exported RS dashboards in Firefox

You can use Firefox to open the exported MHT file for an RS dashboard, if you install the UnMHT add-in version 5.4.0 or higher. This software can be downloaded from http://www.unmht.org/unmht/en_index.html.

The third-party product (UnMHT) is manufactured by vendors independent of MicroStrategy. MicroStrategy makes no warranty, expressed, implied, or otherwise, regarding this product, including its performance or reliability.

In addition, to open an exported MHT file in Firefox using a Macintosh operating system, you must also change the file association for MHT files to Firefox. File associations determine which programs open various file types.

Enabling links for RS dashboards exported to Flash

By default, when you export a Flash RS dashboard, any links to web pages, reports, or other documents are disabled. You must enable links in the Project Configuration Editor, as described below. Additionally, if the RS dashboards are being exported to MHT files, end users must activate the links in the RS dashboard, by adding the folder containing the stand-alone Flash document to the list of Trusted locations in the Adobe Flash Player Settings Manager. If the RS dashboards are being exported to PDF files, Adobe Reader will prompt the user, when he clicks a link, to verify that the link is trusted.

For background information on links, see Linking from documents.

To enable links for RS dashboards exported to Flash

  1. In MicroStrategy Developer, right-click the project that you want to work with, and select Project Configuration. The Project Configuration Editor opens.

  2. Under Categories, expand Project definition, and select Document and Reports.

  3. Select the Enable links in exported Flash documents check box.

  4. Click OK to save your changes and return to MicroStrategy Developer.

To export a Report Services (RS) dashboard to Flash

  1. In MicroStrategy Developer, double-click the document name or icon. The document opens in PDF View, in Acrobat Reader.

  2. Click the Export to Flash icon on the toolbar. A dialog box opens.

    If the Export to Flash icon is unavailable, Flash exporting has not been made available for this document. You can enable Flash as an export format by following the instructions in Selecting available export formats.

  3. You can choose to either:

    • Open the Flash file, by clicking Open. A copy of the document opens in a browser.

    • Save the Flash file, by clicking Save. Name and save the file. Do not change the file type. You are returned to the Document Editor.

: If the RS dashboard was exported to an MHT file, to activate the links in the document, end users must add the folder containing the stand-alone Flash document to the list of Trusted locations in the Adobe Flash Player Settings Manager.

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