Retrieving web folder resources with XQuery

MicroStrategy provides web folder content integration, which means that content that is shared using the WebDAV protocol can be integrated into the MicroStrategy environment. This integration allows the content within web folders, such as documents or videos, to be accessed in MicroStrategy Mobile.

The content in your web folders can be integrated into MicroStrategy using XQuery. First you must define an XQuery database instance to access and authenticate the web folder content, as described in the steps To configure a database instance to retrieve web folder resources below.

Once the database instance is configured, you can do either of the following to retrieve web folder resources and make them available to MicroStrategy Mobile users:

• Creating an external mobile folder to allow web folder browsing

• Creating XQuery reports to retrieve web folder resources

To configure a database instance to retrieve web folder resources

1. In MicroStrategy Developer, log in to a project source, using a user account with administrative privileges.

2. In the Folder List, expand the project source, expand Administration, expand Configuration Managers, and then select Database Instances.

3. From the File menu, point to New, and then select Database Instance. The Database Instances Editor opens.

4. On the General tab, in the Database instance name field, type a descriptive name for the database instance.

5. From the Database connection type drop-down list, select XQuery.

6. In the Database connection area, click New. The Database Connections dialog box opens.

7. In the Database connection name field, type a descriptive name for the database connection.

8. In the Default database login name area, click New. The Database Logins dialog box opens.

9. In the Database login field, type a descriptive name for the database login.

10. Type a valid user name and password in the Login ID and Password fields, respectively. The login information that you provide is used to authenticate a connection to the web folder and its contents if you choose to disable warehouse pass-through authentication for the database instance, or if you are using an authentication scheme other than LDAP.

    For instructions to enable warehouse passthrough authentication for a project, see To configure the project to use the WebDAV database instance below.

11. Click OK. You are returned to the Database Connections dialog box.

12. In the Default database login name area, select the new database login that you created, and then click OK. You are returned to the Database Instances Editor.

13. In the Database connection area, select the new database connection that you created, and then click OK. The database instance is created.

14. Right-click the new database instance and select Properties. The Properties dialog box opens. In the General category, copy down or otherwise make note of the ID value of the database instance.  This ID value is required later if you use an XQuery report to retrieve web folder resources (see To create XQuery reports to retrieve web folder resources).

To configure the project to use the WebDAV database instance

1. To make the database instance available for Freeform SQL reports, right-click a project and select Project Configuration. The Project Configuration Editor opens.

2. Expand Database Instances, and select SQL Data Warehouses.

3. From the list of available database instances, select the check box for the database instance that you created in the previous steps. If you are prompted to configure data mart optimization, click No.

4. Under Database Instances, expand Authentication, and select Warehouse.

5. Depending on which credentials you want to use to access the WebDAV folder, do one of the following:

   • To use the credentials that you defined in the database instance above, ensure the following, as applicable:

   •  The Use stored warehouse pass-through credentials for execution check box is cleared.

   • If the Use stored warehouse pass-through credentials for execution check box is selected, ensure that the For selected database instances option is selected, and the check box for the WebDAV database instance you created above is cleared.

   • To use the logged-in user's credentials:

   • Select the Use stored warehouse pass-through credentials for execution check box, and select For selected database instances. Select the check box for the WebDAV database instance you created.

   •  Use an LDAP authentication scheme. If you are using any other authentication scheme, the credentials you defined in the database instance are used. For instructions to enable an LDAP authentication scheme, see the System Administration Help.

   • Configure Intelligence Server to update pass-through credentials, which is described in To update pass-through credentials in Intelligence Server below.

   • For information on choosing whether to use passthrough authentication for database instances, see the Controlling Access to Data chapter in the System Administration Help.

6. Click OK to save your changes and close the Project Configuration Editor.

If you selected to authenticate access to web folders and their contents with a user's LDAP credentials, it is recommended that you configure your Intelligence Server's security settings to update the credentials every time a user logs in successfully. If instead the database login is to be used to authenticate users, you can skip these steps and begin to create XQuery reports, as described in Creating XQuery reports to retrieve web folder resources.

To update pass-through credentials in Intelligence Server

1. In MicroStrategy Developer, from the Administration menu, point to Server, and then select Configure MicroStrategy Intelligence Server. The MicroStrategy Intelligence Server Configuration dialog box opens.

2. Expand the Server Definition category, and then select Security.

3. Within the Authentication Policy area, ensure that the Update pass-through credentials when a successful login occurs check box is selected, and select the LDAP Authentication option. This ensures that users' warehouse pass-through credentials are updated every time they log in.

4. Click OK to save your changes and close the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server Configuration dialog box. The next step to integrate web folder content into MicroStrategy is to either:

   • Create an external folder to allow for web folder browsing.

   • Create XQuery reports to retrieve the web folder resources.