Version 2021

Drill Map Editor

The Drill Map Editor allows you to create and edit a drill map and associate it with an object to enable a different set of drill paths than what you would see by default. You can also access the Drill Map Editor while you are editing an object (such as a report or attribute). In this case, you can only make changes directly related to the selected object. That is, you can associate the object with an existing drill map, create a new drill map for the object, and remove the object's association to an existing drill map. You cannot remove a drill map's association to another object, for example.

The properties available in the Drill Map Editor can be overwritten either:

This topic contains the following sections:

Drill Map Editor layout

Depending upon how you access the Drill Map Editor, the dialog box contains the following fields:

  • Origin: The Origin list displays the objects found on the report, or the object you are creating a drill map for, depending upon how you accessed the Drill Map Editor. You can select an object and then create the drill paths for it in the Drill Map section of this dialog box. Also, depending upon how you accessed the Drill Map Editor, Origin may not automatically appear. To display it, from the View menu, select View Origin List.

  • Object Browser: The Object Browser provides a hierarchical view of the objects contained in a project. You can drag and drop objects between the browser and the Drill Path destination boxes, and between the browser and the Origin list. You can view or hide the Object Browser, depending upon its current state, from the View menu by selecting View Object Browser.

Drill Map area

  • Name: Name of the drill map. The default name appears as "Object Name Drill Map", where Object Name is the name of the object selected as the origin object for the drill path. For example, if you choose the attribute Customer, the default name appears as "Customer Drill Map". For objects within reports and templates, the default name appears as Report Name Object Name Drill Map.

    This box is enabled when you are editing an existing drill map or editing an object that is already associated with a drill map.

  • Browse (…): Click to open the Select Drill Map dialog box, which allows you to associate and edit an existing drill map.

  • Remove Association: Click to disassociate the object from the current drill map. Depending on how you accessed the Drill Map Editor and if other drill maps are associated with the object at different levels, it is replaced by the system hierarchy or another drill map. For more information on levels, refer to the appropriate topic in the Advanced Reporting Help.

  • Drill Paths: The Drill Paths area contains the following buttons:

  • Up: Select to open the Select Destination Object dialog box. Navigate to the desired object and click Open. The destination can be any attribute, consolidation, custom group, or hierarchy. The destination does not have to be related to the original object. The destination is shown as part of the Drill Up menu when the user right-clicks and selects Drill in the report.

  • Down: Select to open the Select Destination Object dialog box. Navigate to the desired object and click Open. The destination can be any attribute, consolidation, custom group, or hierarchy. The destination does not have to be related to the original object. The destination is shown as part of the Drill Down menu when the user right-clicks and selects Drill.

  • Across: Select to open the Select Destination Object dialog box. Navigate to the desired object and click Open. The destination can be any attribute, consolidation, custom group, or hierarchy. The destination does not have to be related to the original object. The destination is shown as part of the Other Directions menu when the user right-clicks and selects Drill.

  • Template: Select to open the Select Destination Object dialog box. This allows you to replace the template of the original report template with a completely different destination template. Select the template to use as the destination template and click Open.

  • Drill Map: Select to open the Select Destination Object dialog box. This allows you to select an existing drill map as the destination. This option is a sort of shortcut to the drill paths of another drill map.

    If Drill Map is not displayed, select View Drill Map Path List from the View menu.

  • Properties: The Properties area contains the following:

    If you select a drill map or hierarchy as the destination, the properties are unavailable.

  • Drill Path Display Name: The name displayed in the right-click drill menu on a report. You can either:

  • Use the object's name, by selecting the Use name of object check box.

  • Type a display name in the box.

  • Drill Path Description: Enter a description of the drill path. There is a limit of 250 characters.

  • Set name: Use the same set name to group drill paths together in the right-click drill menu. Sets cannot cross drill types, so use them to group drill maps within a single drill type, such as Up.

    You can type the Set name or, if a set name has already been used, select it from the drop-down list.

  • Priority: Select one of the following:

    • Low: Select to make the drill path available as a right-click menu option in a MicroStrategy Developer report. In a MicroStrategy Web report, this drill path is not available as a right-click menu option but can be accessed from the More Options link.

    • Medium: Select to make the drill path available as a right-click menu option in both MicroStrategy Developer and Web reports.

    • High: Select to make the drill path available as a right-click menu option in both MicroStrategy Developer and Web reports. In MicroStrategy Developer , this setting also creates the default drill path that is accessed when the user double-clicks an object in a report. In Web, this setting also creates the hyperlink drill that is accessed when the user clicks an object in a report.

  • Apply user filter: Determines whether or not the object selected to drill from is used as a filter on the drilled-to report. By default, set to True.

  • Apply report filter: Determines whether or not the filter from the original report is applied to the drilled-to report. By default, set to True.

  • Include other filter: Determines whether attribute qualifications are merged or ignored when metric qualifications in the drilled-to report are resolved. Select one of the following:

    • Default: Uses the report filter's advanced option setting.

    • Yes: Other qualifications are included, regardless of the report's setting.

    • No: Other qualifications are ignored, regardless of the report's setting.

    The Include other filter property is available only if both Apply user filter and Apply report filter are set to True.

  • Apply additional filter: Adds a filter to the drilled-to report. To select the filter, click ... (the browse button). The Select additional filter dialog box opens. Navigate to and select the filter, and click Open.

  • Keep page-by: Determines whether or not the drilled-to report is paged.

  • Keep base template: Determines whether or not the drilled-to report keeps the original report's base template.

  • Display mode: Determines how the drilled-to report is displayed. This property is available only if your drill path destination is a template. Select one of the following:

    • Default: Uses the original report's display setting.

    • Grid: Displays the drilled-to report as a grid.

    • Graph: Displays the drilled-to report as a graph.

    • Grid graph: Displays the drilled-to report as both a grid and a graph.

  • Inherit VLDB: Determines whether or not the VLDB properties of the original report are applied to the drilled-to report. This property is available only if your drill path destination is a template.

  • Keep parent: Determines whether or not the drilled-to report includes the original object. The Keep parent property does not apply to the drill to template action. If your drill path destination is a template, this setting is not available.

    The Keep parent property is overridden by the Keep parent while drilling option set in Report Data Options. The Keep parent while drilling option allows you to specify whether or not to keep the parent for all drills in the report. To specify the parent property at the drill path level, set Keep parent while drilling to Default. For detailed instructions, see Setting drilling options for a report.

  • Keep thresholds: Determines whether or not thresholds are displayed in the drilled-to report. If your drill path destination is a template, this property is not available.

    The Keep thresholds property is overridden by the Keep thresholds while drilling option set in Report Data Options. The Keep thresholds while drilling option allows you to specify whether or not to display thresholds for all drills in the report. To specify the thresholds property at the drill path level, set Keep thresholds while drilling to Default. For detailed instructions, see Setting drilling options for a report.

  • Clear all: Click to remove all the drill paths defined in the current drill map. This empties the drill path information so that the object effectively has no drilling options. It does not affect the drill map associations.

  • Reset: Click to reverse any changes and reset the drill map to the condition of the last save. Drill map associations are reset as well.

  • Associate with: This button is available only when you access the Drill Map Editor by selecting New/Drill Map or File/New/Drill Map from MicroStrategy Developer. Click the button to open the Drill Map Association dialog box, which allows you to select which object or objects use this drill map. This dialog box can also be accessed from the Drill Map Editor's Tools menu.

  • Associations: This button is available only when you access the Drill Map Editor from another editor, such as the Report Editor. Click the button to open the Drill Map Association dialog box. This dialog box is read-only; you cannot modify the contents; you can only view the associations. This dialog box can also be accessed from the Drill Map Editor's Tools menu.

Drill Map Editor menu options

In addition to standard Windows options, the Drill Map Editor menu bar provides function-specific choices under the following items:

Tools menu

  • Drill Map Associations opens the Drill Map Association dialog box. If the Drill Map Editor was accessed from another editor (that is, you are editing an object's drill maps), you can only view the associations of the selected drill map. If you are creating or editing a drill map, you can create and edit the associations.

View menu

  • View Origin List displays or hides the Origin List.

  • View Object Browser displays or hides the Object Browser.

  • View Drill Map Path List displays or hides the Drill Map button in the Drill Paths section. This option allows you to select an existing drill map as the destination, providing a shortcut to the drill paths of another drill map.

Drill Paths menu

  • Remove deletes the highlighted drill path.

  • Clear All deletes all the drill paths in the drill map.

  • Low sets the highlighted drill path to low priority. In a MicroStrategy Developer report, low priority drill paths are available as right-click menu options. In a Web report, they are accessible from the More Options link.

  • Medium sets the highlighted drill path to medium priority. In both MicroStrategy Developer and Web, medium priority drill paths are available as right-click menu options on reports.

  • High sets the highlighted drill path to high priority. Only one high priority drill path is allowed per drill map. In MicroStrategy Developer and Web, the high priority drill path becomes the default drill path, available when you double-click the associated object in a MicroStrategy Developer report or click it in a Web report.

  • Move Up shifts a drill path object up, changing the location of the drill path in the right-click menu on a report. This option is accessible only when multiple objects exist in a drill path box (that is, the Up, Down, Across, Template, or Drill Map boxes).

  • Move Down shifts a drill path object down, changing the location of the drill path object in the right-click menu on a report. This option is accessible only when multiple objects exist in a drill path box (that is, the Up, Down, Across, Template, or Drill Map boxes).

Accessing the Drill Map Editor

Before you can access any editor, you must be logged in to a project.

  • To access the Drill Map Editor directly, select File/New/Drill Map from the MicroStrategy Developer menu bar. Alternatively, right-click in the right-hand side of MicroStrategy Developer, choose New, and then select Drill Map.

    You cannot access the New menu option until you log in to a project.

  • To modify the drill map associated with an object while you are editing that object, you can access the Drill Map Editor from the following editors:

    • In the Attribute Editor, from the Tools menu, select Edit Drill Map.

    • In the Custom Group Editor, from the Custom Group menu, select Edit Drill Map.

    • In the Consolidation Editor, from the Tools menu, select Edit Drill Map.

    • In the Template Editor, from the Data menu, select Edit Drill Map.

    • In the Report Editor, from the Data menu, select Edit Drill Map.

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