Micro-Strategy Interview Questions - Part 1

What is metadata?

The database repository where definitions of all MicroStrategy objects are stored. Metadata could be hosted on most databases. In simple words, Metadata could be considered as the heart of MicroStrategy     environment.
MicroStrategy metadata contains datawarehouse connection information, project settings and microstrategy             object definitions.

What are the tasks that you can perform with the Micro Strategy Architect?

Initially populate the metadata with project definition and parameters, schema objects and create schema objects

What is difference between 2 ,3 , 4 tier connection?

In 2 tier architecture, the Micro Strategy Desktop itself queries against the Data warehouse and the Metadata with out the Intermediate tier of the Intelligence server.

The 3 Tier architecture comprises a Intelligence server between Micro Strategy Desktop and the data Warehouse and the Metadata.

The 4 tier architecture is same as 3 tier except it has a additional component of Micro Strategy Web.

Intelligence Server is the architectural foundation of the Micro Strategy platform. It serves as a central point for the Micro Strategy metadata so you can manage thousands of end user requests.

You are very limited in what you can do with a 2-tier architecture. Things like clustering, mobile, distribution services, report services, OLAP services, scheduling, governing, I cubes, project administration are only available via Intelligence Server.

When a change is made in 2 tier – is it reflected in 3 tier?

No it is not reflected. Following are the methods by which we can reflect it in 3 tier.

·     Update the schema in 2-tier. Restart the Micro Strategy Intelligence Server. Recommended method by MSTR. Update the schema in 2-tier and reload the project from the Project Monitor.

What is heterogeneous mapping?

There are no restrictions on the names for the columns used in the expressions of a given attribute form. Heterogeneous mapping allows the engine to perform joins on unlike column names. If the user defines more than one expression for a given form, heterogeneous mapping will automatically take place when tables and column names require it.

For example, because different source systems store Date information in various contexts, a data warehouse may have multiple columns in different tables which all represent the concept of 'Date'. The ID form of the attribute 'Date' may contain two expressions. The DATE_ID column occurs in the LU_DATE table as well as in two other tables. The elements in these columns correspond to elements in the ORDER_DATE column in the order_detail and ORDER_FACT tables.

Why do we go for parent child relationship?

While establishing the relationship between attributes one can either look from business hierarchy point of view and the attribute higher in the hierarchy becomes parent of the attribute lower in the hierarchy. Parent and Child follow a one-to-many relationship. Example Time hierarchy Year > Month > Date. Here Year would be parent of Month and Date and Month parent of Date.

We can also identify Parent-Child relationship from database design point of view. Here in a table the Primary Key uniquely identifies the other columns in the table and hence qualifies as child of all the other attributes from the table, in the same ways as a child in real world identifies his father (at least the biological one).

What is a compound attribute?

A compound attribute has its value determined by an expression which combines two or more columns in a database to create a new column

What are different kinds of objects in Micro strategy?

Configuration Objects: Configuration objects are Micro Strategy objects which can be re used in multiple projects and they appear in the system layer. Ex: Database Instances, Users, Login ID's, Schedules

Schema Objects: The building block of BI. Schema objects are directly mapped to a column or columns in the database. Attributes, Facts, Functions & Operators, Hierarchies, Partition Mappings, Tables & Transformations

Public Objects: Objects that generate analytical data and are built on other schema objects or public objects. Also called as application objects. Ex: Consolidation, Custom Groups, Drill Maps, Reports, Documents, Filters, Prompts, Metrics, Templates and Searches