MicroStrategy ONE

Managing History Lists

Administrators manage History Lists and the History caches at the same time. For information on the relationship between the History caches and History Lists, see Types of Result Caches.

An administrator can control the size of the History List and thus control resource usage through the following settings:

If you are using a database-based History List repository and you have the proper permissions, you have access to the History List Messages Monitor. This powerful tool allows you to view and manage History List messages for all users. For more information, see Monitoring History List Messages.

History List Backup Frequency

The backup frequency for History List messages is the same as for caching. History List messages are backed up to disk as frequently as the server backup frequency setting specifies. For more information, see Configuring Result Cache Settings.

History Lists in a Clustered Environment

In a clustered environment, each server maintains its own History List file. However, the same messages are retrieved and presented to the user regardless of the machine from which the History List is accessed. For complete details on History Lists in a clustered environment, see Synchronizing Cached Information Across Nodes in a Cluster.

Controlling the Maximum Size of the History List

The maximum size of the History List is governed at the project level. The project administrator can set a maximum number of History List messages for each user. Additionally, the project administrator can set a maximum size for messages. For both settings, the default value is -1, which means that there is no maximum.

The administrator can also specify whether to create separate messages for each dataset report that is included in a Report Services document or to create only a message for the document itself, and whether to create messages for documents that have been exported in other formats, such as Excel or PDF. Not creating these additional History List messages can improve History List performance, at the cost of excluding some data from the History List. By default, all reports and documents create History List messages.

To Configure the Messages that are Stored in the History List

  1. In Developer, log into a project. You must log in with a user account that has administrative privileges.
  2. From the Administration menu, point to Projects, and then select Project Configuration.
  3. Expand the Project Definition category and select the History list subcategory.
  4. In the Maximum number of messages per user field, type the maximum number of History List messages to store for each user, or type -1 for no limit.
  5. To create a History List message for each dataset report included in a Report Services document, select the Save Report Services document dataset messages to History List check box. To create only a message for the document, and not for the dataset reports, clear this check box.
  6. To create History List messages for Report Services documents that are exported to other formats, select the Save exported results for interactive executions sent to History List check box. To not create messages for documents when they are exported, clear this check box.
  7. In the Maximum Inbox message size (MB) field, type the maximum message size, in megabytes, for inboxes. Type -1 for no limit.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Restart Intelligence Server for your changes to take effect.

Controlling the Lifetime of History List Messages

Message lifetime controls how long (in days) messages can exist in a user's History List. This setting allows administrators to ensure that no History List messages reside in the system indefinitely. Messages are tested against this setting at user logout and deleted if found to be older than the established lifetime.

When a message is deleted for this reason, any associated History caches are also deleted. For more information about History caches, see Types of Result Caches.

The default value is -1, which means that messages can stay in the system indefinitely until the user manually deletes them.

To Set Message Lifetime

  1. In Developer, log in to a project source.
  2. From the Administration menu, point to Server and then select Configure MicroStrategy Intelligence Server.
  3. Expand History Settings on the left, then select General.
  4. Type a number in the Message lifetime (days) field.
  5. Click OK.

Scheduling History List Message Deletion

You can delete History List messages using the Schedule Administration Tasks feature, which is accessed by selecting Scheduling from the Administration menu. This allows you to periodically and selectively purge History List messages of certain users and groups. You can choose to target only certain messages, including:

  • Messages for a certain project or for all projects
  • Messages in the History Lists of all users in a certain group
  • Messages that are read or unread
  • Messages that were created more than x number of days ago

The Delete History List messages feature can also be used for one-time maintenance by using a non-recurring schedule.

To Schedule History List Message Deletion

  1. In Developer, log in to a project source.
  2. From the Administration menu, select Scheduling, then select Schedule Administration Tasks.
  3. Select a project from the Available Projects list.
  4. Select Delete History List messages as the action.
  5. Select a schedule from the preconfigured options, for example, at close of business (weekday), first of month, on database load, and so on.
  6. Type a number in the Lifetime (days) box.
  7. Select an option for the messages status:
    • Read
    • Unread
    • All
  8. Click … (the browse button) to select a user/group for which the History List messages will be deleted.
  9. Click OK.

Cleaning up the History List Database

You can clean up the History List database using the Schedule Administration Tasks feature, which is accessed by selecting Scheduling from the Administration menu. This allows you to periodically remove orphaned entries from the database, and it allows you to remove history list messages for deleted users.

The Clean History List database feature can also be used for one-time maintenance by using a non-recurring schedule.

To Schedule History List Database Cleanup

  1. In Developer, log in to a project source.
  2. From the Administration menu, select Scheduling, then select Schedule Administration Tasks.
  3. Select a project from the Available Projects list.
  4. Select Clean History List database as the action.
  5. Click OK.

Backing up History Caches to the History List Database

By default, in a database-based History List, the History caches are backed up to the database. This provides increased scalability in large systems, and increases availability to the History caches if a node fails. It also allows you to set longer message lifetimes for History List messages, because older History caches can be deleted from the Intelligence Server machine's hard disk and can be served by the database instead.

If you are concerned about the size of the database used for a database-based History List, you can disable the use of the database as a long-term backup for History caches.

To Disable the Database Backup for History Caches

  1. In Developer, log in to a project source.
  2. From the Administration menu, point to Server and then select Configure MicroStrategy Intelligence Server.
  3. Expand the History Settings category, and select General.
  4. Clear the Backup report history caches to database check box.
  5. Click OK.

Monitoring History List Messages

The History List Messages Monitor allows you to view all History List messages for all users, view detailed information about each message, and purge the messages based on certain conditions.

To use the History List Messages Monitor, your History List repository must be stored in a database. For more information about configuring the History List repository, see Configuring History List Data Storage.

To Monitor the History List Messages

  1. In Developer, log in to a project source. You must log in as a user with the Administer History List Monitor and the Monitor History List privileges.
  2. Expand Administration, then expand System Monitors, and then select History List Messages. All History List messages are displayed, as shown below:

  3. To view the details of a History List message, double-click that message. A Quick View window opens, with detailed information about the message.
  4. To filter the messages displayed based on criteria that you define, right-click a message and select Filter.

To Purge a History List Message

  1. Select the message in the History List Monitor.
  2. Right-click the message and select Purge.