Refreshing a report

As an analyst, you may find yourself regularly executing certain reports that have provided useful information to you in the past. When you re-execute a report, how do you know that the data that is returned reflects the most recent data available in your data source? To answer this question, you must consider a few factors:

• The frequency with which your data source is updated.
• Whether the report you are running is being executed through the data source again, or whether it is pulling its data from a stored cache that was created in MicroStrategy when the report was run the first time.

Your data source may be updated on a daily basis or only biweekly. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the frequency and the days or times when your data source receives updates. This information helps you determine when it is most desirable to re-execute your most commonly run reports, if it is important for you to see report results that reflect the latest data.

To take advantage of recently updated data in your data storage, you must refresh the data displayed on the report. To effectively refresh data on a report, you should take a moment to understand your data sources.