Getting Started MST

MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server
Getting Started Guide

Version 9.0
Sixteenth Edition, March 2009, version 9.0

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Patent Information
This product is patented. One or more of the following patents may apply to the product sold herein: U.S. Patent Nos.
6,154,766, 6,173,310, 6,260,050, 6,263,051, 6,269,393, 6,279,033, 6,501,832, 6,567,796, 6,587,547, 6,606,596,
6,658,093, 6,658,432, 6,662,195, 6,671,715, 6,691,100, 6,694,316, 6,697,808, 6,704,723, 6,707,889, 6,741,980,
6,765,997, 6,768,788, 6,772,137, 6,788,768, 6,792,086, 6,798,867, 6,801,910, 6,820,073, 6,829,334, 6,836,537,
6,850,603, 6,859,798, 6,873,693, 6,885,734, 6,888,929, 6,895,084, 6,940,953, 6,964,012, 6,977,992, 6,996,568,
6,996,569, 7,003,512, 7,010,518, 7,016,480, 7,020,251, 7,039,165, 7,082,422, 7,113,993, 7,181,417, 7,127,403,
7,174,349, 7,194,457, 7,197,461, 7,228,303, 7,260,577, 7,266,181, 7,272,212, 7,302,639, 7,324,942, 7,330,847,
7,340,040, 7,356,758, 7,356,840, 7,415,438, 7,428,302, 7,430,562, 7,440,898, 7,457,397, and 7,486,780. Other patent
applications are pending.
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reserved.
iv
Contents
Getting Started with MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server xi
What is MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server? xi
Benefits xi
Features xii
Whats new in this version xiii
Users and tasks xiv
Getting started xiv
System administration xv
Application design xv
Application administration xv
Subscription administration xv
System development xvi
Using the documentation xvi
Information structure xvi
Presentation guidelines xvii
User assistance xvii
Online help xvii
Online documentation xviii
Technical support xviii
Feedback xxii
Section I
Concepts 1
Chapter 1 Narrowcast Server Services 3
Service overview 3
Create a sample service 4
Run your first service 8
Chapter 2 Narrowcast Server System 11

System overview 11
Flexibility 11
Ease of administration 11
Scalability 12
International support 12
Enterprise edition advantages 13
Narrowcast Server components 13
Narrowcast Administrator 13
Delivery Engine 14
Subscription Portal 15
SequeLink 15
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery 15
v
Install and configure the tutorial system 16

Tutorial project requirements and prerequisites 16
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery setup tasks 18
Install Narrowcast Server 19
Configure the Tutorial system 21
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery pages 22
Home 22
View Sample Messages 23
Create Your Own Delivery Service 23
Subscribe Users 23
Next Steps 24
Congratulations 24
Chapter 3 Narrowcast Server Subscription Portal 25

Subscription Portal overview 25
Visit the Subscription Portal 27
Chapter 4 MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery 29

Business Activity Monitoring 31
Service 1a Sales Executive Quarterly Sales Analysis 31
Service 1b Regional Marketing Manager Sales Trend Update 35
Service 1c Regional Sales Manager Call Center Performance Update 37
Service 1d Call Center Manager Employee Performance Alert 40
Service 1e Sales Director Sales Performance Analysis 43
Supply Chain Management 45
Service 2a Supplier Seasonal Sales Alert 45
Service 2b Supplier Low Inventory Alert 46
Customer Relationship Management 48
Service 3a Customer Significant Buyer Retention 48
Service 3b Customer Repeat Buyer Incentive 52
Chapter 5 Service Execution Flow 55

Condition evaluation and recipient determination 55
Schedules 55
Subscriptions 56
Personalization 56
Devices 57
Locales 57
Information source personalization 58
Information acquisition 60
Information sources, information source modules, and information objects 63
MicroStrategy reports 64
Report Services documents 64
HTML documents 65
User information 65
vi
Contents
System information 66
Subscription information 66
Content formatting 66
Documents 67
Document formatters 67
Message transmission 68
Information transmitters 68
Next steps 69
System setup tasks 70
Application development tasks 72
System administration tasks 74
Section II
Interfaces 77
Chapter 6 Narrowcast Administrator 79
Narrowcast Administrator layout 80
The menu bar 81
The toolbars 85
Narrowcast Server: Home page 88
Object browser display area 88
Selecting, opening, and saving objects 91
Chapter 7 Tutorial Configuration Dialog Set 95

Welcome dialog box 96
Select an Available MicroStrategy Intelligence Server dialog box 96
Summary dialog box 96
Chapter 8 Delete Objects Dialog Box 97

Delete Objects dialog box layout 97
Chapter 9 Find Dialog Box 99

Find dialog box layout 99
Name and Location tab 100
Date tab 101
Type tab 102
Dependencies tab 102
Display Options tab 103
Object parent dependencies 103
Object child dependencies 104
Chapter 10 Names and Descriptions Dialog Box 107

Names and Descriptions dialog box layout 107
Contents
vii
Chapter 11 Properties Dialog Box 109

Properties dialog box layout 109
Chapter 12 Preferences Dialog Box 111

Preferences dialog box layout 111
Section III
How Do I...? 113
Chapter 13 Narrowcast Administrator Procedures 115

Begin 115
Change the appearance of the Narrowcast Administrator display 115
Change the name and description of an object 116
Change the status of an object 116
Check the impact of modifying an object 117
Create a service 117
Create a subscriber 117
Create a subscription 118
Delete an object with all its dependents 118
Execute (run) a service 119
Find an object based on its creation or modification dates 119
Find an object based on its name and location 120
Find an object that is used by another object 120
Find an object that uses another object 121
Find a particular type of object 121
Launch Subscription Portal 122
Refresh the Narrowcast Administrator console 122
Set preferences 122
Set the display locale 123
Set the service queue parameters 123
Start the Narrowcast Server system 124
Stop the Narrowcast Server system 124
View object properties 124
View scheduled services 125
Section IV
Appendixes 127
Appendix A User and Task Documentation 129

Reference by user 129
Reference by tool 130
Reference by editor 130
Reference by wizard 131
Reference by dialog box 132
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Contents
Section V
Glossary 137
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Glossary of Terms 139
Section VI
Index 179
Contents
ix
Contents
INTRODUCTION
Getting Started with

MicroStrategy
Narrowcast Server
This Getting Started Guide is designed to help you to begin using
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server quickly and easily. It introduces the
product and explains the important concepts that you need to understand
to use the product. Along the way, it provides steps for working with the
out-of-the-box MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery project to help you learn
as you become familiar with the features and interfaces. The
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery project contains useful examples that
demonstrate many of the powerful features of MicroStrategy Narrowcast
Server.
What is MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server?

Narrowcast Server proactively delivers personalized business insight to email, pagers, and cell phones, extending the reach of business intelligence
applications within the enterprise and beyond. An intuitive subscription
interface enables users to specify preferences and demand notification
based on personalized business rules ensuring that the received
information is relevant and anticipated.
Benefits
Intelligent alerting: Intelligent alerting combines the analytical
capabilities of MicroStrategy with the delivery capabilities of
Narrowcast Server to ensure the timely delivery of critical insight.
Alerts can be triggered by complex analytics against relational data
sources or any external system thus allowing business rules to be
checked and the appropriate users notified through the device of their
choice.
Open architecture: Narrowcast Servers modular architecture enables
easy integration with existing corporate information sources as well as
current and emerging communication devices. Aggregated information
from any source can be personalized and formatted into a single
message to be transmitted seamlessly to each users preferred device.
xi
High performance and scalability: Narrowcast Server offers a

complete information delivery platform with demonstrated scalability
and high performance. Narrowcast Servers unparalleled scalability
ensures that relevant business insight can be delivered to all constituents
including employees, partners, and customers. Clustering and failover
provide world-class system availability to support mission critical
applications.
Features
Subscription Portal: A Web-based subscription portal enables users to
easily define and manage the content and context of the desired insight.
The intuitive interface guides users through the process of specifying
the personalization, frequency, and delivery mechanism for each
information service. Web-based self subscription enables deployment to
large global communities with minimal administration and enhanced
ease of use.
Profile management: Once user preferences are gathered via the
Subscription Portal, they are stored in a subscription database and
integrated with existing user profiles and security parameters. The
subscription database synchronizes with existing security and profile
management systems such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
(LDAP) or Windows NT. Profile management enables Narrowcast
Server administrators to maintain a comprehensive view of each end
user.
Content management: Narrowcast Server leverages content from the
scalable MicroStrategy Intelligence Server as well as from any backend system. In addition, open and extensible information source
modules leverage sources such as the MicroStrategy Intelligence
Server, databases, websites, file servers, Extensible Markup Language
(XML) data sources, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and online
transaction processing (OLTP) systems. The modular architecture of
Narrowcast Server enables the quick creation of customized
information source modules.
Profile-based personalization: Comprehensive personalization
capabilities ensure the delivery of appropriate content from any source.
Narrowcast Server enables deep, data-driven personalization that is
determined by user preferences, security profiles, and advanced
analytics. User preferences determine content and threshold conditions;
security profiles ensure appropriate access to content sources; and
analytics derive the appropriate insight from terabytes of data.
xii
Getting Started with MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server
Formatting and transmission: Narrowcast Server administrators can

create content once and then deploy information services across every
communication device. Sophisticated message management ensures
that the information is presented in the appropriate format. The XMLbased architecture and device specifications ensure the appropriate
formatting for any wireless device, HTML-based interface, or text-tospeech voice system. The result is that information is integrated into
daily business tasks because it is delivered through an easy-to-use
interface via any communications vehicle.
Whats new in this version

The new features included in Narrowcast Server 9.0 are listed as follows:
Trimming leading and trailing spaces in an Excel sheet: In earlier
Narrowcast Server versions, when a report is executed in MicroStrategy
8.x and exported to Microsoft Excel with formatting, a single leading
space or tab is seen on attribute elements. Importing the
MSTR7ToExcel-DefaultFormattingTrim.xsl into Narrowcast Server
trims the leading and trailing spaces for attribute elements in the Excel
sheet.
Removing the double quotes in the attachments sent using the
Control Documents: A new stylesheet MSTR7ToText-CSVNoDoubleQuotes.xsl is added. This is used to dynamically change the
file name of control documents. This new XSL is similar to
MSTR7ToText-CSV.xsl, but it also removes the double quotes
displayed around each cell and the linefeed after the last cell.
Support of Report Services document cache creation and usage within
personalized report executions.
Integration of metadata internationalization and data
internationalization functionality with existing Narrowcast Server
locales.
Automatic application of Daylight Savings Time changes directly from
the operating system's clock.
Whats new in this version
xiii
Users and tasks

This Getting Started Guide is recommended for all users of Narrowcast
Administrator, which includes the development and administration
console for MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server. The following task groups
have been identified for these users:
Getting started
System administration
Application design
Application administration
Subscription administration
System development
For more information, see appendix A, User and Task Documentation,
which includes a set of tables to determine where to look for information
as you use MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server.
It is envisioned that the various roles work together to create a service. The
system administrator needs to work with the application designer to plan
the necessary information source modules and information sources, and
then communicate the names and locations of these. The subscription
administrator receives input from the application designer on the
subscription sets, or on who should receive the service. All of the
Narrowcast Administrator users must also communicate with a project
designer, who supplies the reports or other sources needed for dynamic
content and dynamic subscription sets. In the case of a MicroStrategy
project, this would typically be the report designer. The following sections
explain the actions performed in each of these task groups.
Getting started
Install MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server. Configure an introductory
system with the tutorial. Explore the features and capabilities of the
product. Learn how to create services, subscribers and subscriptions. This
guide should be used as the primary resource for this task group.
xiv
System administration
Plan the system architecture. Prepare server machines for product
installation. Install and configure MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server.
Manage access to the system and account privileges for other users, and
assist those users in configuring their machines and connecting to the
system. Migrate objects between systems. Monitor, analyze, and tune the
system to ensure smooth and balanced operation. Perform troubleshooting
and error recovery. For more information on these tasks, see the
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Installation and Configuration Guide
and the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server System Administrator Guide.
Application design
Develop and test services. Configure and manage the Subscription Portal
sites that allow end users to subscribe to these services via the Web.
Publish folders, services, and device types on each site. Control service
and Subscription Portal default settings. Migrate objects between systems
to split, merge, archive, and restore them. For more information on these
tasks, see the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Application Designer
Guide.
Application administration
Edit objects to make corrections or enhance behavior. Perform
configuration management and object migration from development to test
to production. For more information on these tasks, see the MicroStrategy
Narrowcast Server Application Designer Guide.
Subscription administration
Manage the Subscription Book, including end users, their addresses, and
their subscriptions and preferences. Make corrections to end user
information such as personalization, addresses, subscriptions, and security.
For more information on these tasks, see the MicroStrategy Narrowcast
Server Application Designer Guide.
Users and tasks
xv
System development
Use the Software Developer's Kit (SDK) to
develop a custom application based on MicroStrategy Narrowcast
Server technology
integrate the Subscription Portal interface with an existing Web
application or product
embed MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server into another product
develop and market plug-in components for information gathering and
transmission
For more information on these tasks, see the online MicroStrategy
Narrowcast Server SDK Guide.
Using the documentation

Information structure
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server manuals are structured to lead you from
concepts to interface description to task execution, and consist of
a Concepts section that describes product functionality and purpose
an Interface section that describes the content, format, and use of the
product interface and installation wizards and editors
a How do I...? section that guides you through the steps necessary to
complete a given task
xvi
Presentation guidelines
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server manuals and online help follow
presentation conventions and cues to help you locate, identify, and
understand important concepts and procedures. The following table lists
these conventions.
Type
Indicates
bold
button name commands, check boxes, dialog boxes, options,

lists, and menus
terms defined within the text
registry keys
text to be entered by the user
italic
variable information to be replaced by the user
Courier font
calculations
code samples
UPPERCASE
keyboard command key (such as ENTER)

shortcut key (such as CTRL+V)
a keyboard command that calls for the use of more than one key
(for example, SHIFT+F1)
User assistance
This section describes the types of assistance available to answer questions
regarding MicroStrategy products.
Online help
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server provides several modes of access to
online help.
From the Help menu, by selecting
How Do I? to see procedural help organized by object
Contents and Index to see a list of available manuals and online help
By pressing F1 to see interface-level help
User assistance
xvii
Online documentation
Online documentation includes all Narrowcast Server manuals. To access
an online document, perform the following steps:
1.
From the Start menu, choose Programs, MicroStrategy, then

Product Manuals. A list of available information units is displayed.
2.
Select a manual.
Note: If bookmarks are not visible on the left side of the page, select
Bookmarks and Page from the View menu, then select the topic and
section you want to see. You can scroll from the title page of the manual to
its table of contents, and then select the topic you want to see.
Technical support
If you have questions about a specific MicroStrategy product, you should:
1. Consult the product guides, the Help, and the readmes and release
notes.
2.
Consult the online Knowledge Base at

http://www.microstrategy.com/support/k_base/index.asp
Note: A technical administrator in your organization can probably help
you resolve some of your issues immediately.
3. A technical administrator in your organization may be able to help

you resolve some of your issues immediately.
4.
If the resources listed above do not provide you with a solution,

contact MicroStrategy Technical Support directly. To ensure the most
effective and productive relationship with MicroStrategy Technical
Support, review the Policies and Procedures document posted at
http://www.microstrategy.com/Support/Policies. Please refer to the terms
of your purchase agreement to determine the type of support available to
you.
xviii
The table on the following page shows where, when, and how to contact
MicroStrategy Technical Support. If you are unable to reach
MicroStrategy Technical Support by phone during the hours of operation,
you can leave a voicemail message or send an e-mail.
North America
E-mail: support@microstrategy.com
Web: https://support.microstrategy.com
Fax: (703) 8488709
Phone: (703) 8488700
Message: (703) 848-8709
Hours:
9:00 A.M.7:00 P.M. Eastern Time (14000000 GMT), MondayFriday except holidays
Europe, the
Middle East, and
Africa (EMEA)
E-mail: eurosupp@microstrategy.com
Fax: +44 (0) 208 711 2525
The European Technical Support Centre is closed on national public holidays in each country.
Phone:
Belgium: + 32 2792 0436

France: +33 17 099 4737
Germany: +49 22 16501 0609
Ireland: +353 1436 0916
Italy: +39 023626 9668
Poland: +48 22 321 8680
Scandinavia & Finland: +46 8505 20421
Spain: +34 91788 9852
The Netherlands: +31 20 794 8425
United Kingdom: +44 (0) 208 396 0085
International distributors: +44 (0) 208 396 0080
Hours:
United Kingdom: 9:00 A.M.6:00 P.M. GMT, MondayFriday except holidays
Mainland Europe: 9:00 A.M.6:00 P.M. CET, MondayFriday except holidays
User assistance
xix
Asia Pacific
E-mail: apsupport@microstrategy.com
Phone:
Korea: +82 2 560 6565 Fax: +82 2 560 6555
Japan: +81 3 3511 6720 Fax: +81 3 3511 6740
Asia Pacific (except Korea and Japan): +65 6303 8969 Fax: +65 6303 8999
Hours:
Japan and Korea: 9:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. JST (Tokyo), Monday-Friday except holidays
Latin America
Asia Pacific (except Japan and Korea): 8:00 A.M.6:00 P.M. (Singapore), Monday-Fraday except
holidays
E-mail: latamsupport@microstrategy.com
Phone:
LATAM (except Brazil and Argentine): + 54 11 5222 9360 Fax: +54 11 5222 9355
Argentina: 0 800 444 MSTR Fax: +54 11 5222 9355
Brazil: +55 11 3054 1010 Fax: +55 11 3044 4088
Hours:
9:00 A.M.7:00 P.M. (Sao Paulo), MondayFriday except holidays
Technical Support may be obtained by a Customers Support Liaisons. A

Support Liaison is a person whom the customer has designated as a pointof-contact with MicroStrategys support personnel. All customer inquiries
and case communications must come through these named individuals.
The customer may designate two employees to serve as their Support
Liaisons. Customers may change their Support Liaisons two times per
year, if necessary, as long as they provide a written notice of such change
to MicroStrategy Technical Support.
While troubleshooting and researching issues, MicroStrategy Technical
Support personnel may make recommendations that require administrative
privileges on the MicroStrategy projects or assume that the designated
liaison has a security level that permits them to fully manipulate the
MicroStrategy projects and has access to potentially sensitive project data
such as security filter definitions. Although not a requirement, we
recommend that customers designate only those Support Liaisons who
have permissions to be MicroStrategy project administrators. This will
eliminate security conflicts and improve case resolution time.
When contacting MicroStrategy Technical Support, please provide the
following information:
name (first and last)
company
customer site (if different from company)
phone and fax numbers
xx
e-mail address
MicroStrategy software product(s) being used, including version
number(s)
error message(s)
brief description of the case
priority of the case
steps taken to troubleshoot the case thus far
If the Support Liaison is unable t oreach Micro Strategy Techncial Support,
the Support Liaison can leave a voice mail message or contatc Technical
Support via e-mail. The Support Liaison should include the following
information in his/her mesage:
name
company
brief description of the case
preferred contact method and contact information
If this is your first call, you should also be prepared to provide the
following:
street address
phone number
fax number
e-mail address
To help your Technical Support representative work with you to resolve
the problem promptly and effectively, be prepared to provide the following
additional information:
Issue number: please keep a record of the number assigned to each
problem logged with MicroStrategy Technical Support, and be ready to
provide it when inquiring about an existing issue
Software version and product registration numbers of the
MicroStrategy software products you are using
Problem description:
What causes the condition to occur?
Does the condition occur sporadically or each time a certain action is

performed?
Does the condition occur on all machines or just on one?
When did the condition first occur?
User assistance
xxi
What events took place immediately prior to the first occurrence of

the condition (for example, a major database load, a database move,
a software upgrade)?
If there was an error message, what was the exact wording?
What steps have you taken to isolate or resolve the issue? What were
the results?
System configuration (the information needed for this purpose

depends on the nature of the problem; not all items listed may be
necessary):
computer hardware specifications (processor speed, RAM, disk

space, and so on)
network protocol used
ODBC driver manufacturer and version
database gateway software version
(for MicroStrategy Web-related problems) browser manufacturer and

version
(for MicroStrategy Web-related problems) Web server manufacturer

and version
If the issue requires additional investigation or testing, you and the

MicroStrategy Technical Support representative should agree on certain
action items to be performed. You should perform any agreed-upon actions
before contacting Technical Support again regarding the issue. If the
Technical Support representative is responsible for an action item, you
may call Technical Support at any time to inquire about the status of the
issue.
Feedback
Send suggestions for product enhancements to:
support@microstrategy.com
When providing feedback to us, please include the name and version of the
products you are currently using. Your feedback is important to us as we
prepare for future releases.
xxii
SECTION I
Concepts
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Section I Concepts
C H A PT E R
Narrowcast Server
Services
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Service overview
A service provides all the information needed for Narrowcast Server to
correctly generate and deliver messages to subscribers. This information
includes the delivery conditions, content, personalization rules, and
subscriptions for sending messages for a particular purpose. For example,
one service might be used to deliver a daily e-mail message containing an
inventory level, while another service delivers alerts to wireless devices
when inventory for a specific item changes significantly. The definition of
each service determines
when it is sent: Daily (time-based) or after a significant inventory level
change (event-based)
to whom it is sent: All subscribers or only those interested in a particular
item
what is sent: Content, such as daily inventory summary or item alert
messages, as described in the example above
how it is formatted: HTML or short plain text
how it is delivered: E-mail (SMTP) or SMS
A service is composed of the following features:
publications, which determine the content of the service
subscription sets, which determine which end users receive the service
schedules, which determine the frequency with which a service is
executed
Services also contain all of the information needed to create and modify
subscriptions. This includes
supported locales, so that a user who reads English does not try to
subscribe to a service that delivers only German content
supported devices, so that a user does not create a subscription to his cell
phone for a service that sends Microsoft Excel workbooks
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content security and preference characteristics, so that a user can choose

the information he wishes to receive, within the context of his data
access privileges and the information that is pertinent to a service
You can create a service two ways: through the Service Wizard or through
the Service Editor.
Service Wizard: The Service Wizard quickly and easily guides you
through the steps of creating a new service, including defining the
content of the messages sent by the service, creating subscriptions, and
defining an execution schedule. The Service Wizard allows you to
create different content for each information transmitter defined in your
system. For example, wireless devices can be sent short plain text
messages while desktop e-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook 2000
can be sent rich, graphical HTML messages with Excel attachments.
For steps to use the Service Wizard, refer to the MicroStrategy
Service Editor: Use the Service Editor to design a service for more than
one locale. For example, a service made available to a multinational
user community might include several different publications, each
specifying content in a different language to support the set of users who
prefer that language. The Service Editor permits more flexibility than
the Service Wizard by allowing you to add as many publications as you
need to support your multilanguage user community. For more
information, refer to the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Application
Designer Guide.
Create a sample service

Use the following procedure to create a sample service, sample user
(subscriber), and sample subscription (when the service should be
delivered), and to see a service delivered. This procedure uses the Service
Wizard, described above.
To create a sample service, you perform the following high-level steps:
1.
Create a service.
2.
Create a user (subscriber).
3.
Create a subscription.
Chapter 1 Narrowcast Server Services
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Note: To create your first service, you can follow the steps provided in
this section or you can follow the steps provided on the screen within
Narrowcast Administrator.
This procedure assumes that you have a working Narrowcast Server

system with the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery project installed. If you
need to, complete the steps in the Install and configure the tutorial system
section in chapter 1, Narrowcast Server System.
1. If you do not already have Narrowcast Administrator open, launch it
by choosing Programs from the Start menu, then MicroStrategy,
Narrowcast Server, and Narrowcast Administrator. Narrowcast
Administrator opens with the Home page displayed. Select Create Your
Own Delivery Service to open the Create Your Own Delivery Service
page.
2. Create a service using the Service Wizard. Read the introductory
information and open the Service Wizard by clicking the Service Wizard
hyperlink.
3.
View the Welcome page. When you finish, click Next.
Note: On any page of the Service Wizard, you can click any of the Help
topics on the right to get more information about services.
4.
Choose a delivery method. For your first service, keep it simple.

Accept the default selection of E-mail (SMTP) by clicking Next to
continue.
5. Define the e-mail (SMTP) content. This page allows you to specify
the content of your service for e-mail subscriptions. What you do here
determines what subscribers receive when your service runs. This step
requires a few substeps to complete:
Launch the message subject editor.
Click Define Subject to begin defining the e-mail message subject of

your service.
Define your message subject.
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Using your mouse, highlight Insert your subject here... and replace
it with Congratulations, you have successfully created a
personalized service! This text appears in the subject line of the
e-mail messages generated by this service.
Include the subscriber's first name.

Using your mouse, position the cursor between the s in
Congratulations and the comma (,). Type an additional space
character. From the Insert menu, select User Information, then
First Name. An icon resembling a blue i with a lightning bolt
through it appears in the middle of your subject text. This is an
information object (dynamic content) that returns the first name of
the subscriber. When you have finished, click Return to Service
Wizard.
Launch the message body editor.

You should now be back in the Service Wizard, on the E-mail
(SMTP) Content page. Click Message Body to begin defining the
body of your e-mail service.
Define your message body.

Using your mouse, highlight Insert your Message Body (HTML)
here... and replace it by typing the following text: Weekly product
sales report: Apply whatever formatting you wish to this text. You
have full control including font, color, size, style, and many other
HTML markup characteristics.
Insert a grid report.

Position the cursor at the end of the line of text that you typed, and
press ENTER to insert a new line after that text in your message.
From the Insert menu, select MicroStrategy Tutorial (Manager
Subscriptions), then MicroStrategy Grid Report. This launches a
browsing interface that allows you to find the report you wish to
insert. Locate the report Product Sales Results by Region in the
folder \\MicroStrategy Tutorial\Public
Objects\Reports\ and select it. Notice that the report definition
appears in the right pane. Click Finish to insert this report into your
e-mail service. When you finish, click Return to Service Wizard.
Finish your service content.

You should now be back in the Service Wizard on the E-mail
(SMTP) Content page. Click Next to finish defining the e-mail
message contents for your service, and move to the Subscriptions
and Schedules page.
6.
Define a subscription set.
You should now be on the Subscriptions and Schedules page of the

Service Wizard. This page allows you to specify the subscriptions to
your service and define the schedules on which those subscriptions
receive messages. What you do here determines when your service
executes and who receives it when it executes. This step requires a
few substeps to complete:
Create a subscription set.

Click the text Click here to define subscriptions and preferences...
to begin creating a subscription set for your service.
Choose a static subscription set.

For your first service, choose Static Subscription Set. Dynamic
subscription sets are more advanced and should only be attempted
after you have reviewed the Application Designer Guide.
You should now be inside the Static Subscription Set Editor.
Locate the address with the address name Welcome E-mail
Address, which was created for the MicroStrategy Tutorial Delivery. Select it and choose Subscribe Addresses from the Edit
menu. You should now see a subscription for the selected address in
the window pane on the right.
Edit the user.

From the Edit menu, choose Edit (or double-click the selected
address). The User Properties Editor opens.
Set user preferences.
Click the Preference tab. In the User Preference column, highlight

the row containing the text Product Sales Result... in the
Personalized Object column. Click New to begin defining this user's
preferences for this report.
Specify a preference name.

Enter the text Tutorial for the User Preference Name. This name can
be used later to choose these same preferences for other subscriptions
for this user. Click Answer to begin specifying what this user's
Tutorial preferences are.
Specify regional preferences for the report.

You should now be in the Prompt Resolution Wizard. Choose the
regions Northeast and South by double-clicking each of them in the
left pane. When you have completed this step, click Finish. When
this user subscribes to this service with his Tutorial preferences, he
receives information about the Northeast and South regions only.
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Accept the new user preferences.

When you return to the Define User Preference dialog box, click
OK to accept the user preferences you have defined for this user.
Specify user information.

In the User Properties Editor, click the User Information tab.
Enter your first name in the Value column next to the First Name
user property.
Accept the changes made to the user.

Click OK to accept all of the changes you have made to this user. The
changes are now saved to the Subscription Book Repository.
Save the subscription set.

Click Save and Close to finish editing the subscription set and return
to the Service Wizard.
7.
Choose a schedule.
You should now be back in the Service Wizard on the Subscriptions
and Schedules page. Click Click here to use an existing schedule...
Choose the Sunday Morning schedule, so that this service executes
once a week on Sunday mornings.
8.
Check your service definition.

Click Next to proceed to the Service Summary page.
9.
Exit the Service Wizard.

Click Finish to exit the Service Wizard and save your new service.
Run your first service

Using the procedure above, you successfully defined a service with a
report in the message body and the subscriber's first name in the subject.
You do not need to wait until Sunday morning for your service to run. You
can use Narrowcast Administrator to run any service immediately. Run
your service now by clicking the Run Service link on the Create Service
page.
If your system was not yet running, you are asked whether to start the
server. Click Yes to start your system and allow the service to run.
Your service begins to execute. Your service might take a minute to
execute, depending on the power of your machine and on other software
running on your machine. When the service finishes, you have a new email waiting for you either in the inbox of the e-mail account you specified
when you configured the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery project in

chapter 1 or in the SavedMail folder if you chose to send tutorial
messages to file. If the e-mail message does not appear, carefully go
through the installation and configuration steps at the beginning of this
guide to identify a step you may have missed. You can troubleshoot your
service by referring to Troubleshooting in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast
Server System Administrator Guide.
Note: The procedure above is designed to get you started experiencing
Narrowcast Server service creation and delivery steps. To create your own
more detailed or complex sets of services, see the MicroStrategy
Narrowcast Server Application Designer Guide. To further explore more
detailed services, see chapter 4 in this guide and step through the sample
services available in the Narrowcast Server Tutorial - Delivery project.
Run your first service
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C H A PT E R
Narrowcast Server
System
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System overview
A MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server system is composed of several
different components that work together to provide the functionality and
performance of Narrowcast Server. Each component serves a distinct
purpose, but interacts with the others to ensure high availability, easy
maintenance, and efficient processing. Narrowcast Server offers a flexible,
easy to administer, and scalable platform for proactive information flow.
Platform benefits, key features, and international support are described in
terms of flexibility, administration, and scalability.
Flexibility
The MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server architecture is modular, enabling
integration with custom data sources, formatting methods, transmission
technologies, and subscription book systems. Self-subscription portals can
integrate with any Internet, intranet, or extranet site. In addition, a software
development kit provides access to all aspects of service development and
execution to provide full flexibility.
Ease of administration
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server offers several features that ensure ease
of administration. The product integrates with Microsoft Windows
security for authenticating Narrowcast Administrator and Narrowcast
Server API users, and for controlling access to the system. Role-based
security is available for administrators to control the privileges awarded to
each Narrowcast Administrator user. System administration and
monitoring from a remote console are provided along with easy cluster
administration with single-step machine additions and removals.
Component-level and system-level redundancy ensure highly available
Narrowcast Server applications. In addition, centralized logging facilitates
remote troubleshooting, and comprehensive debugging, testing, and
monitoring capabilities are available.
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Scalability
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server incorporates native clustering
capabilities and automatic workload distribution to ensure robust, scalable
applications. The automatic breakdown of service subscription sets into
segments provides consistent, manageable resource consumption and
workload distribution. Executing services and subscription set segments
are maintained in execution queues, affording maximum efficiency and
scalability while protecting against the possibility of system overload.
International support
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server incorporates several features that enable
a single installation and system to support and serve a multinational user
community. Rather than maintaining one system for each language or
country that you need to support, you can use a single system to generate
content in several languages and for distribution to several countries.
Localized object names
In Narrowcast Administrator, each object can be named and described

differently across different locales. This enables an object such as a device
to have a name that is easy for an end user to read in a multilanguage user
community. Furthermore, Narrowcast Administrator can be configured to
show the names and descriptions for a certain locale by default, so that
application designers can also work more effectively.
Local time zones
Narrowcast Server further supports multinational user communities

through its support of time zones and locales. Time zone differences such
as daylight savings changes are supported for the scheduling and delivery
window functionality. For example, when daylight savings times are in
effect in a particular time zone, Narrowcast Server adjusts the time that
services scheduled based on that time zone should be delivered so that end
users receive the services when expected. Time zone awareness is also
applied to the user-specified delivery window so that messages are not
delivered during blocked delivery windows.
Languages, character sets and value formatting
Narrowcast Server also supports the generation and delivery of content to

multinational user communities through the use of locales. A locale can
specify character sets and number, date, and time formats, as well as the
selection of which available content is delivered and what language a user
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Chapter 2 Narrowcast Server System
observes on the Subscription Portal. An example is a service that includes

content available in both French and Korean. Subscribers locales ensure
that a Paris resident receives French content using the Western character
set, while a resident of Seoul receives Korean characters and content. This
locale concept is also available through the Subscription Portal, allowing
the user to define his or her language preference and therefore have access
to a fully-translated portal in the selected language. A default locale
selection for first time users is specified in Narrowcast Administrator.
Enterprise edition advantages

MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server is available in both standard (nonclusterable) and enterprise (clusterable) editions. If you purchased the
enterprise edition, you can configure a system that uses several machines,
increasing the robustness and scalability of your system. If you purchased
the standard edition, you cannot use more than one machine in your
system. The enterprise edition provides you with these additional benefits:
You can use several machines for service execution and subscription,
thereby improving performance.
You can use redundant machines, providing automatic failure recovery
in the event of a hardware failure. This ensures that services continue to
execute and the Subscription Portal continues to operate uninterrupted.
You can use more than one machine as an execution engine, enabling
automatic service execution recording and recovery in the event of a
hardware or software failure on an execution engine machine. This
ensures that service executions recover and continue to execute without
sending duplicate messages to any recipients.
Narrowcast Server components

Narrowcast Administrator
Easy-to-use system configuration and service creation wizards help you to
get started right away with Narrowcast Server. Narrowcast Administrator
provides an interactive, graphical environment for configuring servers,
developing services, maintaining applications, and administering users.
Application designers benefit from WYSIWYG text and HTML editors.
The modular architecture of Narrowcast Server allows custom modules to
be integrated directly into the Narrowcast Administrator user interface.
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Delivery Engine
The Delivery Engine comprises several different subsystems, or
components, that work together to define and store object definitions, run
services, and track service execution. These components include
the distribution manager (DM), which manages and directs service
execution by distributing service workload to available execution
engines
the execution engine (EE), which performs the work of gathering
service content, formatting it, and delivering it to devices
the MicroStrategy Logging Server, which provides an event and
statistics routing infrastructure
the Object Repository, which stores the objects used to define a
Narrowcast Server system and the services in it
the Subscription Book Repository, which stores all subscription data,
including end users, addresses, personalization, and subscription sets
In addition to these components, several modular components contribute
to processing information for service execution. These components enable
integration with other systems such as MicroStrategy Intelligence Server
or SMTP-compliant e-mail servers. They are
information sources, which can retrieve personalized information from
local or remote systems such as a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server.
The default configuration of Narrowcast Server supports retrieving
MicroStrategy reports in both grid and graph modes.
document formatters, which transform raw data provided by the
information sources into formatted messages. The default configuration
for Narrowcast Server supports text, HTML and Excel output formats.
information transmitters, which connect to local or remote systems such
as Internet e-mail (SMTP) servers, shared network locations, shared
network printers, Short Message Service (SMS) Centers, and Wireless
Application Servers to deliver formatted content to end users.
Sophisticated message management ensures that the information is
presented to end users in an intuitive format. The flexible XML backbone
of Narrowcast Server enables message formatting for any wireless device
or HTML-based interface. XML enables service content to be transformed
into the appropriate markup language, with the best possible style and
rendering tags for each device. Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL)
stylesheets transform dynamic content into the correct format, and enable
complex, custom-defined layout rules and arrangements to be created and
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used. Conformance to simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), E-SMTP,

multipart multipurpose Internet mail extensions (MIME), and UUEncode
standards ensures support for a wide array of e-mail clients.
Subscription Portal
Each Subscription Portal offers users the ability to subscribe to and view
services and service descriptions. Users can also modify subscriptions and
create and modify the addresses to which content should be delivered.
Users can define preferences to ensure that the information they receive is
relevant. Via the Subscription Portal, users can manage their site
preferences specifying the appropriate default languages, time zones, and
currency settings. Access to information sources is controlled at the
Subscription Portal where users are prompted to authenticate themselves
for appropriate information access.
The Subscription Portal is built on Active Server Page (ASP) technology
and depends on Microsoft Internet Information Server.
SequeLink
SequeLink is a complete solution for configuring and managing data
access across any number of data stores, operating systems and
deployment options. SequeLink provides a universal client for ODBC and
JDBC, and provides a centralized console for configuring and managing
data access from a single point of control. SequeLink creates two NT
services: SLAgent 54, which is the Administrator, and SLSocket54, which
is the Server.
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery

The MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery project includes a preconfigured
tutorial system, a set of instructions, and a set of sample services that
illustrate a wide variety of features. These features make it easy for firsttime users to successfully configure a system and begin using the product.
New users are encouraged to install the tutorial and use the sample
services.
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Install and configure the tutorial system

To quickly start using Narrowcast Server, this section helps you to install
and configure Narrowcast Server and the MicroStrategy Tutorial Delivery project. Before you begin, ensure that you fulfill all prerequisites
and complete the required tasks.
Tutorial project requirements and prerequisites

Microsoft Windows computer
Windows NT or 2000 installed: Narrowcast Server uses a Windows

services-based architecture. For this reason, you need to use a computer
with either Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000
installed. For specific requirements regarding service packs, bug fixes,
and related components, refer to Installation Prerequisites in the
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Installation and Configuration
Guide.
Registered with a domain: Windows NT and Windows 2000 support a
variety of network configurations. The most powerful configuration is
a domain. To interact with your Narrowcast Server system from a
remote computer or leverage Windows security, ensure that your
Narrowcast Server computer is registered with the appropriate domain.
Refer to Microsoft Windows online help or contact your network
administrator if you need more information regarding Windows
domains.
IIS installed: Because the Subscription Portal relies on the Microsoft
Internet Information Server (IIS) service, ensure that this is installed on
the chosen computer. This service can be installed with the Option Pack
for Microsoft Windows NT, and is installed by default with Microsoft
Windows 2000.
Note: Narrowcast Server is licensed based on CPU number and clock
speed. Thus, Narrowcast Server can only be installed on machines with a

clock speed that is less than or equal to the licensed clock speed. If you try
to install the product on a machine that is faster than your license allows,
installation fails. For example, if you are licensed only for 750 MHz clock
speeds, you cannot install the software on a 1 GHz machine.
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Microsoft Windows account
Windows domain security restricts access for both equipment (computers)

and users (accounts). This can prevent you from interacting remotely with
your Narrowcast Server system. For example, if the Narrowcast Server
computer is part of domain A and your Windows account is part of
domain B, you might not be able to connect to the Narrowcast Server
computer from a remote machine. Therefore, you need to ensure that you
have a valid Windows account in the same domain as the one in which you
have registered your Narrowcast Server computer.
Your Windows account is used to control some of the more powerful
features of the Windows operating system. It starts up and shuts down
services, installs new software, and in general acts in an administrative
capacity. For this reason, your Windows account must also be a valid
administrator (that is, part of the Administrators group) on that machine.
Additionally, both Narrowcast Administrator and the Narrowcast Server
API determine who you are when you connect to the system by identifying
your Windows account. If a system has not been set up to allow access to
your Windows account, you cannot connect to the system. When you
create a new system, the Windows account you log in with is given full
access privileges automatically.
Relational database
Narrowcast Server stores all configuration and application objects in a

relational database called the Object Repository. The MicroStrategy
Tutorial - Delivery includes a Microsoft Access database. The amount of
space you need for the tutorial varies from one platform to another, but is
typically in the range of 5 to 10 megabytes. For a list of additional certified
and supported relational database platforms, refer to Installation
Prerequisites in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Installation and
Configuration Guide.
E-mail account
Narrowcast Server is in some respects an e-mail server. However, unlike a

typical e-mail server such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Narrowcast
Server does not have any message storage capabilities. It is designed to
transmit, not to receive. To view the messages that Narrowcast Server
generates you need to provide a valid Internet e-mail address.
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Note: If you do not have such an account available, you can provide a
nonworking e-mail account and choose to save messages to disk instead of

transmitting them. Refer to the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server System
Administrator Guide topic on configuring the e-mail transmitter for more
information.
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server and MicroStrategy

Tutorial - Reporting
Narrowcast Server can operate without MicroStrategy Intelligence Server.

However, the services in the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery depend on
the reports that are installed with the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Reporting.
Therefore, the Narrowcast Server Tutorial requires a MicroStrategy
Tutorial Project running on MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, either on
the local machine or on a networked machine in a trusted domain.
Intelligence Server must be running when Narrowcast Administrator is
opened the first time for Narrowcast Server to locate this Intelligence
Server. That server must also have the MicroStrategy Tutorial project
loaded.
If you are installing the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery on the same
machine as Intelligence Server, the configuration process automatically
finds the MicroStrategy Tutorial project. If Intelligence Server is running
on a different machine, you are asked to specify the name of the machine
during the configuration process.
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery setup tasks

1.
Install Narrowcast Server, including all of its components. (See the

following section, Install Narrowcast Server.)
2. Create and configure the tutorial system (see Configure the Tutorial
system later in this chapter):
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Provide e-mail addresses for the sender and sample recipients.
Decide whether to save messages to a file or deliver them via e-mail.
Provide a location in which to save messages, if desired.
If prompted, provide the appropriate Intelligence Server machine

name, login, and, if appropriate, password. This prompt appears if a
running MicroStrategy Intelligence Server with the MicroStrategy
Tutorial project is not found on the local machine.
Install Narrowcast Server

1. Insert the MicroStrategy disk 1 into the CD-ROM drive of the
computer on which you want to install the product. The MicroStrategy 8
Main Menu page appears.
Tip: If the MicroStrategy 8 Main Menu page does not appear, locate and
run Setup.exe from disk 1.
2.
Choose Install Software. The MicroStrategy 8 Software page

appears.
3.
Click Install MicroStrategy 8 Platform.
4. If this is the first time you are running this install, you are prompted
to choose the language for the wizard. Select the appropriate language
from the drop-down list and click OK.
5. The Setup Wizard opens and walks you through the rest of the
installation process.
Note: At any time during the setup, click Cancel to quit the installation.
6. Respond to the prompts. You must accept the license agreement and
type your name, your company name, and your product serial number to
install Narrowcast Server. For a complete guide to the installation process,
refer to Installation Procedures in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server
Installation and Configuration Guide.
7. When installing Narrowcast Server, you are asked to enter an account
that will be used to run certain Narrowcast Server services. When choosing
the account, ensure that the account you enter meets the following
requirements:
Has a password that will not expire. It is a good idea to not use your
own network account for which the password might expire, causing
your system to stop working. Your network should be able to provide
a special account for this purpose.
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Has the Windows privilege Access this computer from network.

This privilege should be assigned to the Administrators group by
default. However, if it has been removed, you must add this Windows
privilege.
Has the format Domain\User.
Setup Type
After you have entered your customer information, you are prompted for
the setup type to use. Choose Typical to use the standard file folder
configuration.
Choose Destination Location
If your machine is configured with the C: drive as a hard disk partition, by

default the setup utility installs program files onto this drive. If this is
acceptable, click Next.
Select Components
By default, all components are selected when you run the MicroStrategy
Setup Wizard for the first time. To install Narrowcast Server and its
components, including the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery project,
ensure that the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server check box is selected.
Clear the check boxes next to the products you do not want to install. Click
Next to accept this configuration.
When you click Next on the Select Components page, if you are installing
Narrowcast Server on a machine where MicroStrategy Web is installed or
where Narrowcast Server has previously been installed, a prompt appears
asking whether you want to preserve your existing MicroStrategy Web
and/or Narrowcast Server configuration settings.
Important: Answering this question correctly is important. If you choose
an answer that is inappropriate for your situation, your system might not
work properly.
This prompt appears whenever MicroStrategy Web and/or Narrowcast

Server configuration settings are found on this machine. If you have
already configured Subscription Portal or Web delivery on this machine
and want to preserve the existing configuration, click Yes. If you are
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installing for the first time or are installing on a machine where previous
product installations have been uninstalled, click No to create a new
configuration.
MicroStrategy Subscription Portal setting
The Subscription Portal requires a virtual directory, which is a collection

of Web pages grouped by Microsoft Internet Information Server, to
operate. You can accept the default or use a different virtual directory
name. The virtual directory is part of the URL that subscribers will use to
connect to your Subscription Portal, so you should keep the name short.
Note: The virtual directory name must be unique.
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server setting
The Tutorial project requirements and prerequisites section explains the

need for a Microsoft Windows account with Administrator access
permissions and privileges. Enter the Windows account to use for
Narrowcast Server Service programs. Use your login account. The login
should have the format Domain\User.
The Narrowcast Server system is installed. If you need to reboot the
computer at the end of the installation process, do so now.
Configure the Tutorial system

Now that you have installed Narrowcast Server, you are ready to configure
the system.
The MicroStrategy Welcome screen appears and the option to use
Narrowcast Server for report delivery is available. Select it to start
If you rebooted your machine, the Welcome screen appears

automatically.
If the Welcome screen or the Narrowcast option does not appear, go

to the Start menu, choose Programs, then MicroStrategy,
Narrowcast Server, and Narrowcast Administrator.
If the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery project is already installed

(this is the default for the Evaluation Edition), Narrowcast
Administrator opens the Welcome dialog box.
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If the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery is not installed, the first time

that Narrowcast Administrator is used on a machine, Narrowcast
Server detects that no systems are connected and launches the
System Configuration Wizard. See Narrowcast Server
Configuration in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Installation
and Configuration Guide for information on using this wizard.
If you have installed both MicroStrategy Intelligence Server and

Narrowcast Server on one machine, you only need to provide an email address or file location in the Welcome dialog box. If
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server is not installed on the local
machine, you are prompted for additional information on the Select
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server dialog box.
Finally, the Summary dialog box indicates any errors that have occurred,
or indicates that you are done and ready to start using the tutorial system.
If any errors are present, click the links provided to learn how to resolve
each problem.
Click OK to close this dialog box. The Narrowcast Server: Home page
appears. For more information, see the next section.
Note: Remote access: It is recommended that the Narrowcast Server
System is remotely accessed only through Narrowcast Administrator.

Remote access using the Terminal Server is not supported or
recommended.
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery pages

Each time you open Narrowcast Administrator to work with the Tutorial
project, the Narrowcast Server: Home page is displayed, with the
following features.
Home
The home page is the starting point for using the MicroStrategy Tutorial Delivery project. Click each link to learn about and practice using
Narrowcast Server features and functionality.
1. View Sample Messages
2. Create Your Own Delivery Service
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3. Subscribe Users
4. Next Steps
View Sample Messages

The services listed on this page demonstrate how Narrowcast Server can
improve information flow within your business by proactively delivering
information to key decision-makers. Click the title of each service to view
a sample message. See chapter 4, MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery, for
details on each service.
Create Your Own Delivery Service

This page guides you through the process of creating a simple Narrowcast
Server service using the Service Wizard. All of the tasks you can perform
are described in the Create a sample service section in chapter 1,
Narrowcast Server Services. Read the information and click the links
provided to perform each step. For additional information, see the
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Application Designer Guide.
Subscribe Users
This page allows you to define and administer recipients for your new
service. You learn how
reports and documents can be delivered via MicroStrategy Web
end users can subscribe to this service and others, change their
addresses, define preferences, and more via Subscription Portal
to create and subscribe users using Narrowcast Administrator
to integrate user information from an external source with Narrowcast
Server
Read the information and click the links provided for each option. For
more information, refer to the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server
Application Designer Guide.
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Next Steps
This page provides links to help you learn more about Narrowcast Server
and the MicroStrategy platform as well find the information you need to
resolve problems. Click the links provided to
continue evaluating the MicroStrategy platform
explore Narrowcast Administrator, including
utilizing the toolbar
navigating folders
configuring the system
viewing system messages
administering users
creating and managing systems
Important: Changing the system configuration or subscription
information can cause the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery to stop

functioning correctly. It is recommended that you do not change any
settings or options while exploring the System Configuration Wizard and
the Subscription Book until you understand the purpose of each setting or
option.
locate additional product documentation and on-line resources,

including the Narrowcast Server Readme, the MicroStrategy corporate
website, and Narrowcast Server product documentation
see a list of potential errors that you can click for answers
Congratulations
You have successfully set up your first Narrowcast Server system with a
Subscription Portal and a Delivery Engine. The next chapter introduces
you to the concept of services and describes some of the features available
in Narrowcast Server for creating powerful, content-rich services for your
user community.
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Narrowcast Server
Subscription Portal
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Once the application designer defines Narrowcast Server services, certain

user information must be obtained such as device addresses and service
preferences before the services can be personalized, formatted, and
delivered. In some cases, the application designer has already specified the
user information within the subscription set; in other cases subscribers use
the Narrowcast Server Subscription Portal to provide this information.
Using the Subscription Portal, end users can log in, define preferences, and
subscribe to the services in which they are interested. The application
designer creates the Subscription Portal using the Portal Administrator
Wizard. Once the application designer creates the Web-based Subscription
Portal, subscribers can create logins and specify preferences via any Web
browser.
Subscription Portal overview

Portal system: A Subscription Portal system is an installation of the
Subscription Portal application, and a Portal Repository database,
which contains the definition of one or more sites. A default
Subscription Portal system can be created automatically when a new
Narrowcast Server system is created.
Subscription Portal application: The Subscription Portal application
is a set of Web pages that provide the administrative and end user
interfaces to Subscription Portal functionality. This application must be
installed on a machine on which the Microsoft Internet Information
Server service has been installed and properly configured.
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Portal Repository: A Portal Repository is a specific set of tables used

by a Subscription Portal system, located in a database and identified by
a certain table prefix. The tables in each Portal Repository can be given
a unique table prefix, so that multiple Portal Repositories can exist in the
same physical database instance. Each Portal Repository can store the
definitions of one or more sites. Multiple Subscription Portal systems
can also share the same set of Portal Repository tables. A default Portal
Repository can be created automatically when a new Narrowcast Server
system is created using the System Configuration Wizard.
Site: A site identifies a set of services that are made available through a
portal for access by end users. A site is defined by a connection to a
single Object Repository (and a Subscription Book Repository). In
addition, the definition of a site contains a collection of channels, plus a
set of properties that define certain characteristics of the Subscription
Portal. Since each site is associated with a single Object Repository,
multiple sites need to be created to provide access to services in multiple
Object Repositories (and hence in Narrowcast Server systems). The
definition of a site and its related channels is stored in a Portal
Repository. A site can only be made available to end users through a
portal, but multiple portals can provide access to the same site. A default
site can be created automatically when a new Narrowcast Server system
is created using the System Configuration Wizard.
Portal: A portal defines the Web location (URL) through which end
users can access Subscription Portal services and subscriptions. A portal
is defined by a Web server virtual directory and provides access to
exactly one site. Two or more portals can, however, provide access to
the same site. This is most typically done on different Web servers to
provide increased system performance for a high number of concurrent
users. The definition of each portal and which site it provides access to
are defined and saved in the file system of the machine running the
Subscription Portal Web server.
Channel: A channel is defined by a folder of services from an Object
Repository. Multiple channels can be defined within one site to group
different sets of services. Each channel appears as a tab in the
Subscription Portal interface. Each user subscription that is created
through the Subscription Portal can only be accessed through the
channel through which it was created. A site without at least one
channel does not provide any functionality to end users.
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Chapter 3 Narrowcast Server Subscription Portal
Visit the Subscription Portal

You can try the Subscription Portal to see the features that subscribers can
use to create and modify subscriptions, change addresses, view scheduled
reports, and set preferences.
1.
Go to the Subscription Portal home page.
From the Start menu, choose Programs, MicroStrategy, Narrowcast

Server, and then Subscription Portal. This launches Microsoft Internet
Explorer and opens the home page for the MicroStrategy Narrowcast
Server Subscription Portal.
2.
Log in.
If you did not change the login ID and password for the sample tutorial
user, both are New User. Type the correct login ID and password, and
click Login.
3.
Choose a channel.
Channels provide logical groups of services. You can choose which

channel you wish to work in at any time by clicking the tab with the name
of the desired channel in the upper right corner of the page. Click My First
Application to go to the channel containing the service you just created.
4.
With Subscription Portal you create a new subscription by selecting Sign

up for a Service within the desired channel. Choose the service you want
to subscribe to, and then follow the three easy steps to create your
personalized subscription.
5.
Change an address.
Click the Addresses label in the upper right portion of the screen at any
time to get to the Addresses page. From here you can create a new address,
modify an existing address, or delete an unused or unwanted address.
6.
View reports.
If you have subscribed to a service that delivers reports to the Subscription

Portal, you can view these reports by clicking the Reports label in the
upper right corner of the page.
Note: If you have not yet executed any of the services that are created
with the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery, you do not have any reports to
view at this time.
Visit the Subscription Portal
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Chapter 3 Narrowcast Server Subscription Portal
C H A PT E R
MicroStrategy
Tutorial - Delivery
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You have created a service, run it, and subscribed via the Web to receive
service information. Now you are ready to learn more about Narrowcast
Server product features and benefits.
The MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery services provide an ideal way to
both learn how Narrowcast Server can help your business and to
familiarize yourself with Narrowcast Server functionality. Eight
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery services illustrate how your enterprise
can use Narrowcast Server to better leverage its business intelligence by
delivering information where and when it is needed.
The MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery services are grouped into three
sections: Business Activity Monitoring, Supply Chain Management, and
Customer Relationship Management. Each section illustrates a different
way Narrowcast Server can extend the reach of information in your
organization. The first section illustrates how Narrowcast Server can
improve information flow within the business itself by proactively
delivering information to key decision-makers. The second section
demonstrates how Narrowcast Server can improve interactions with
external parties such as suppliers by delivering alert-based information
when certain events occur. The third section demonstrates how businesses
can improve relations with customers by segmenting a group of customers
into an appropriate audience and then delivering targeted, personalized
information.
This chapter guides you through each of the services and points out
important features of each service. As you progress through the services,
each service illustrates a new set of features while building on the lessons
learned in previous services. The tutorial begins by illustrating how to
create a basic service, and continues by covering a broad range of
capabilities and potential applications. Verify that you meet the following
requirements and review the important notes before you get started.
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Requirements:
You have installed Narrowcast Server 8 and the MicroStrategy Tutorial
- Delivery. Refer to the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Installation
and Configuration Guide for more information.
You have completed the tutorial configuration process. Refer to the
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Installation and Configuration Guide
for more information.
Your machine meets the minimum system requirements as noted in the
Narrowcast Server readme file. If your machine does not meet these
requirements, it is recommended that you do not run these services and
that you instead review predelivered messages that are installed with the
product. These messages are available in ../Program
Files/MicroStrategy/Narrowcast Server/
Tutorial/SampleMessages. Start with
0_Welcome_Message.eml.
Before you begin, set the E-mail (SMTP) and Wireless (SMTP)
information transmitters to send messages to file rather than
transmitting via e-mail. This can be done in the Narrowcast Server
System Configuration Wizard in the Information Transmitters section.
This requirement is due to the fact that Services 1d, 3a, and 3b gather
nonexistent recipient e-mail addresses from a MicroStrategy project. If
these information transmitters are set to deliver these messages via
SMTP, these messages are not received. Saving messages to file also
allows you to deliver the tutorial services offline and without accessing
a receiving e-mail account.
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Chapter 4 MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery
Important:
Tutorial services can be found within Narrowcast Administrator in the

MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery folder under the Applications folder.
All reports used by the tutorial services can be found in MicroStrategy
Desktop under Public Objects/Reports/Technical
Reports/Reports by Feature/Narrowcast Server.
In each section below, you are encouraged to first read this guide to
understand the business purpose behind and the functionality
implemented in each service. Then you can deliver the service and view
the resulting messages (saved to ../Program
Files/MicroStrategy/Narrowcast Server/Delivery
Engine/SavedMail by default, if you set the information
transmitters to save to file as described above). Finally, you can edit the
service definition to explore how the service is constructed.
All services are based on a current date at the end of the fourth quarter.
Business Activity Monitoring

Service 1a Sales Executive Quarterly Sales
Analysis
Business purpose
It is important that sales executives review and understand sales

information each quarter to ensure that they react to various trends in sales
data. As a result, Service 1a sends sales executives an HTML e-mail
message that contains a comprehensive analysis of sales information for
the previous quarter. The e-mail body contains four graphs that summarize
key sales trends, and an attached Excel workbook provides a broader range
of reports covering the areas of sales trend analyses, customer
demographic analyses, sales allocation analyses, and call center
performance analyses. The Excel workbook provides sales executives with
access to the original data so that it is available for additional offline
analyses.
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Service overview
Important: This service can take several minutes to complete execution
since it contains a large number of reports. As a result, you might want to

take a break and return in a few minutes. Do not run this service if your
system does not meet the minimum system requirements as stated in the
readme file. If you want to check the status of the service, select View
System Messages from the Tools menu. If you prefer not to wait, you can
review the message results under ../Program Files/
MicroStrategy/Narrowcast Server/Tutorial/
SampleMessages.
This service provides an example of the functionality that can be achieved
using a basic service in Narrowcast Server. Note the following about this
service:
Multiple reports have been combined in the same message content and
arranged in a presentation-quality HTML format. Narrowcast Server
provides the ability to combine multiple reports in the same message
and provides control over how the reports are arranged within the
HTML content. Although not shown in this example, it is also possible
to integrate content from other sources such as from the Web, from the
Windows file system, or from a database query into this same message.
The different graphs have coordinated colors and formatting. These
graphs are created and formatted in MicroStrategy Desktop, and
Narrowcast Server leverages this formatting so that all formatting
information is preserved.
Open the Excel attachment and note how the Excel workbook contains
both presentation-quality graphs as well as the original data available
for offline analyses. This is a powerful advantage because it allows
recipients to interact with data without providing end user training on
how to use a reporting system and without depending on recipients to
run specific reports at a specific time.
This service stores recipient information in the Narrowcast Server
Subscription Book. The Subscription Book is set of tables in a relational
database that Narrowcast Server uses as its internal storage location for
subscription information. Other methods of obtaining and using
subscription information will be discussed in later tutorial services. This
service has only one subscription so only one message is delivered when
the service is run.
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To learn how this service is constructed, double-click the service to edit it.
Review the Welcome page and then click Next to go to the Delivery
Methods section. Note that this service is delivered to all recipients via email since it is not highly time critical and all sales executives have access
to the corporate e-mail system.
Then click Next to continue to the Content section. Click Edit Message
Body to edit the message body. Once you are within the HTML document
editor, you can select Source from the View menu to see the source
HTML, select Preview to see the rendered content, or select Editor to edit
the HTML as it is rendered. Note the lightning bolt icons within the service
content. These represent information objects, which are used by
Narrowcast Server to gather dynamic content, such as the graphs in this
service, when the service is run. You can select one of these icons. Rightclick the icon, and then select Edit information object to see which report
is selected from MicroStrategy Desktop. Each information object in the
message body contains a different report.
Next, exit the document and click Next in the Service Wizard to proceed
to the Subscriptions and Schedules section. Double-click the
subscription set to see which subscriptions are defined for this service. The
Static Subscription Set Editor provides a pane on the left and a pane on
the right. The left pane represents the Narrowcast Server Subscription
Book, which holds all the users and addresses available in the system. The
pane on the right shows the subscription set for this service, which holds
all subscriptions for this service. In this case, a single subscription is
present so that the service is delivered to a single recipient. To subscribe
users in the left pane, click the right arrow. To delete subscriptions in the
right pane, click the left arrow. You can also double-click any address or
subscription to view and edit its definition. The properties for users are
explored in later tutorial services.
Next, exit the Static Subscription Set Editor by clicking the upper right
corner. Finally, you can edit the schedule by double-clicking it. This
schedule is designed not to execute until the year 3000, so you can only
receive this service by clicking Run Immediately. Click Next and then
Finish to exit.
With the Web interface provided by Subscription Portal, this service
allows sales executives to subscribe themselves to receive this service.
To learn how this works, go to the Subscription Portal site on the machine
where the Subscription Portal is installed. This can be accomplished by
typing the following URL into your Web browser:
http://MachineName/VirtualDirectoryName/login.asp
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Note: MachineName is the name of the machine where the Subscription

Portal is installed, and VirtualDirectoryName is the name of the virtual
directory you selected during the Subscription Portal installation. You
need to ensure that you have started the following services within
Windows: IIS Admin Service and the World Wide Web Publishing
Service.
If the Subscription Portal is installed on the local machine and if you

accepted the default virtual directory during installation, you can use the
following URL:
http://localhost/NarrowcastServer/login.asp
If the Subscription Portal is working, you are taken to the Login page. On
the Login page, create a new account by clicking Create a new account
and record the user name and password so you can reference them later.
Enter a user name and password, specify an e-mail address, select the
System language, and then click Create new account. When prompted for
user information, enter a first name and last name and then click save. This
information is used to personalize messages.
You then see two channels: My First Application and MicroStrategy
Tutorial - Delivery. Select the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery channel
and then select Sign up for a Service. You then need to browse for this
service in the folder structure by selecting Business Activity Monitoring
and then 1a Sales Executive - Quarterly Sales Analysis. Once you locate
this service, you can select it to subscribe your new user to receive this
content. Select the only schedule available, and click Next to proceed.
Once you create this subscription, you can edit this service in the
Narrowcast Administrator. You now see that your new user has been
created and is subscribed to this service. The ability for sales executives to
subscribe themselves is important because
it allows them to manage their own subscriptions
a central administrator does not need to control subscriptions to this
service
One application design item worthy of note is that the folder structure in
this channel corresponds to the folder structure in Narrowcast
Administrator under the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery folder. In
Narrowcast Server, one folder is chosen to define a channel and all
subfolders create the subfolders for this channel.
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Key features
basic service construction for e-mail delivery

aggregation of multiple reports in message content
presentation-quality HTML format
graph formatting defined in MicroStrategy Desktop
Excel workbook with multiple reports
user information stored in the Narrowcast Server subscription book
user self-subscription using the Subscription Portal
Service 1b Regional Marketing Manager Sales

Trend Update
Business purpose
Regional marketing managers are alerted when items in their region have
a significant sales increase. This allows marketing managers to react
quickly to sales trends in their regions and to ensure that future sales and
marketing plans and materials reflect these trends.
Service overview
Unlike sales executives, regional marketing managers are often away from
the office. As a result, some marketing managers prefer to receive sales
trend updates via e-mail while others prefer to receive sales trend updates
via wireless device. To accommodate this need, this service delivers
content via both e-mail and wireless device to its recipients. When you run
this service, notice that two messages are delivered. One message, to the
Mid-Atlantic Marketing Manager, delivers information via e-mail. The
other message, to the Northeast Marketing Manager, delivers information
formatted for a wireless PDA. However, both messages provide the same
information: a list of items in their region that have seen a significant sales
increase and the percent sales increase for each item.
Note that this service supports multiple delivery methods. If you edit the
service, you see that two delivery methods are enabled on the Delivery
Methods page: e-mail and wireless. If you click Next twice from this page,
you see that there are now two sections that allow you to define message
contents for the delivery methods. The content you define is different for
each delivery method (for example, a text body is created instead of an
HTML body by default for wireless messages) since the two delivery
methods have different content requirements.
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Note also that unlike sales executives who all receive the same
information, regional sales managers need to see information generated
specifically for their particular region. In Narrowcast Server, this is called
personalization using user preferences.
To learn how this works, notice that an information object is saved along
with this service in the same folder. Edit this information object by doubleclicking it and review the definition of the selected report in the Report
Layout pane (in the second page). Notice that this report contains a prompt
to choose a region. This prompt is answered for each user so that each user
receives only information for their region. The report used for Service 1a
did not contain prompts since it did not need to be personalized.
Also, note that the information object for Service 1b is saved and available
outside of the service, which was not the case for Service 1a. This is done
so that the information object can be reused in both the e-mail and wireless
message contents. This allows all users to define preferences once and
receive the appropriate personalized content regardless of their preferred
delivery method. Creating a reusable information object was not necessary
for Service 1a since the information object was only delivered by one
delivery method.
Another thing to note is that each message is personalized using the
regional marketing managers title. This is done using user information
stored in the Subscription Book.
To see how this works, edit the contents for either delivery method, and
note the Insert, User Information, First Name menu option. This menu
option was used to create the first information object you see (the lightning
bolt icon in the service content). To find out more about the information
objects within a document, for example, to determine which user
information has been inserted, turn on the Document Element List within
the View menu of the document editor. This user information can then be
personalized for each user at the end of the service by editing user
properties within the subscription set. In the subscription set for this
service, note that two addresses have been subscribed to this service: an email address for the Mid-Atlantic Marketing Manager and a wireless PDA
address for the Northeast Marketing Manager. Double-click these
addresses in the left pane to edit and study the corresponding users:
Each user has one address defined for the desired delivery method. This
controls how the user receives the contents for this service.
On the Preferences tab, preferences have been defined for the report in
this service by answering the prompt by selecting the appropriate
region.
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The users first name (RegionName Marketing Manager in this case)

has been provided on the User Information tab. This information is
used to personalize the first name that was added to both the subject and
the message body greeting of each message.
Note also that the report in the e-mail is nicely formatted. This report
formatting is defined in MicroStrategy Desktop and is leveraged by
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server. The report also includes thresholding,
or formatted report content based on the data values it returns, as defined
in MicroStrategy Desktop. The preservation of formatting defined in
MicroStrategy Desktop or Web is an important capability since it enables
application designers to design and format reports once and then deploy
them via multiple channels.
Finally, note that when users subscribe via the Subscription Portal, as done
for Service 1a, the user is prompted to select his region. This allows
regional marketing managers to manage their own subscriptions so no
central administrator needs to control subscriptions or to assign
preferences for this service. To see how this works, log into the
Subscription Portal using the login you created in step 1a and subscribe to
this service. You are prompted to select a region for which you would like
to receive content.
Key features
delivery via both e-mail and wireless

personalization using a prompted report
personalization using managers name as stored in the Subscription
Book
MicroStrategy Desktop report formatting leveraged
threshold formatting of report information
service design with reusable objects
personalization via the Subscription Portal
Service 1c Regional Sales Manager Call Center

Performance Update
Business purpose
Regional sales managers can choose to be alerted when call centers in their
region do not meet sales goals. Each call center has a sales goal that is set
relative to the average sales for all call centers over the past two quarters.
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Regional sales managers can choose the call centers within their region for
which they want to receive alerts and the minimum sales growth level for
which they want to be notified. Regional managers can only select call
centers within their region, so that sensitive sales information in other
regions is not accessible.
Service overview
Regional sales managers often like to know if one of the call centers they
oversee is not performing well. As a result, Service 2c allows regional
sales managers to choose the call centers they want to monitor and to set
the minimum sales growth level for which they want to be notified.
Personalization for this service works very similarly to the personalization
used in Service 1b using a prompted report, except the report used in
Service 1c contains two prompts: one for threshold value (in decimal
format) and one for call center.
However, this service has an additional requirement: regional sales
managers should not be able to see information for call centers in other
regions. Due to this requirement, when regional sales managers select the
desired call center, they can only select call centers in their region. In
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server, this is enabled through a feature called
information source security.
To see how this works, edit the information source MicroStrategy Tutorial
(Manager Subscriptions) and click Next until you reach the Security and
Dynamic Subscription Support page. Notice that Security is selected and
that an element prompt for region has been selected. If you click Next,
notice that default information source security has been set to the Web
region. Essentially, the administrator has specified a prompt that is
answered for each user to constrain the information he can access. The
default information source security is a prompt answer that is applied if no
security prompt answer is selected for a specific user.
Next, exit the information source and select Subscription Book from the
Tools menu and edit one of the users for Service 1c. (Note that the
Subscription Book Editor provides the same ability to add, modify, and
delete users as is provided in the left pane of the Static Subscription Set
Editor but does not require the use of a specific subscription set.) On the
Authentication and Security tab, notice that security is enabled for the
information source you just edited. Select this information source and click
Define. You are prompted to select a region, and depending on which user
you are editing, either the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic region should already
be selected. Exit without making any changes.
Now go to the Preference tab, select the information object for which this
user has preferences defined (1c) and click Modify and then Answer. You
are provided with a wizard that asks you to answer two prompts: enter a
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threshold value and select one or more call centers. The default threshold
value of 0.3, or 30%, indicates that this regional sales manager should only
receive alerts for call centers that do not have sales at least 30% above sales
for the last two quarters. Note that for the second prompt, you can only
select from either (a) Boston and New York or (b) Washington DC and
Charleston, depending on which region is used to define security for this
user. This same security is applied when regional sales managers provide
preferences via the Subscription Portal.
To see how this works, subscribe to Service 1c using the user you created
for Service 1a. You are prompted to select a call center. However, since the
administrator has not defined security for this user, only call centers in the
Web region are shown since this is the default security defined in the
information source. If you edit this user using the Subscription Book in
Narrowcast Administrator and define security for this user, as described
above, you can see how the call centers available in the Subscription Portal
reflect this change.
A second thing to note about this service is that regional sales managers
only receive this alert if call centers in their region meet the criteria
specified by the regional sales manager. To illustrate this point, two
regional managers are subscribed to this service, but only one regional
sales manager, for the mid-Atlantic, receives content when the service is
delivered. This regional sales manager only receives an alert for one of the
call centers (Charleston) because the other, Washington, DC, has sales
above the specified threshold.
To see how this alert functionality works, edit the service and then edit the
message body. Select the second information object, then right-click the
information object and select Edit Document Element. You can see that
if this information object returns no data, the document element returns an
error. (You can see this setting without editing the document element if you
choose to show the Document Element List under the View menu, and
then select the second document element in the upper left window. In the
lower left window, you see a summary indicating that if no data is returned,
this document element raises an error.) Exit the document and return to the
Content page of the Service Wizard. Click Show Error Handling on the
toolbar. You can see that error handling is set to fail message on error.
These two settings used together ensure that if a report returns no data for
a particular recipient, the information object returns an error and the
service sends no message to this recipient. This is a powerful form of
alerting. Rather than evaluating a single condition and then either
delivering or not delivering content to all recipients, this method allows
recipient-level condition evaluation leveraging the full power of
MicroStrategy Intelligence Servers analytical capabilities. Thus, complex
analyses can be performed to determine whether each user should receive
an alert or not.
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Although other forms of alerting are possible using pre- and post-service
execution SQL to update database records, the method illustrated here
provides a simple and powerful form of alerting when applied to real world
implementations. For instance, this service alerts managers each quarter if
some event has occurred. However, this type of service can be used to
evaluate conditions using a work-table in an operational data store every
five minutes and deliver alerts to key decision makers. Therefore, this type
of alerting allows businesses to constantly monitor business activities and
to provide near real time alerting when certain events are encountered.
Finally, note that this service prompts users to enter a threshold value when
users subscribe through the Subscription Portal. Thus, this service allows
users to define threshold values for which they want to be alerted. This
same functionality can be applied to other scenarios where end users
define the threshold values to control system monitoring.
Key features
use of security to limit information accessible by each user

recipient-level condition evaluation alerting
alert thresholds set via the Subscription Portal
Service 1d Call Center Manager Employee

Performance Alert
Business purpose
Call center managers are alerted at the end of each month if any of their
employees have performed significantly below average employee
performance over the previous two months. If one or more employees for
a manager has sales 65% or more below average sales, the manager
receives a message with the employees name and their performance. The
manager is asked to provide training to this employee and to work with this
employee to improve his or her performance to prevent employee
termination. Managers with no employees meeting the alert criteria do not
receive a message.
Service overview
This service is somewhat similar to Service 1c since both services

implement recipient-level alerting. However, Service 1d differs in two key
requirements:
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All call center managers are alerted if one of their employees performs
below a company wide metric. In other words, call center managers are
not required to subscribe themselves, and call center managers do not
get to set a performance threshold for which they want to be alerted.
Information about each call center manager, such as manager name and
e-mail address, is already available in a relational database since it is
used for another information system within this corporation. For this
reason, the administrator of this application does not want to duplicate
this user information by creating a redundant set of users in the
Narrowcast Server Subscription Book.
As a result, the administrator creates this application so that it dynamically
retrieves the list of recipients and recipient-related information (such as
recipient name, e-mail address, and preferred end user device) directly
from the database at run time.
In MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server, this functionality is called dynamic
subscriptions. Services that implement dynamic subscriptions use a
dynamic subscription set rather than a static subscription set as was used
for all previous services in this tutorial. Dynamic subscription sets use a
subscription information object to gather subscription information from an
external source such as a MicroStrategy project, a file, or directly from a
database rather than storing users and subscriptions in the subscription
book. The subscription information object used in this example returns email address, user name, address display name, and end user device.
To see how this subscription information object is constructed, edit the
information object Manage Subscriptions from Report. Note that this
information object maps attribute forms on the page axis of the selected
report to subscription properties used by Narrowcast Server when the
service is executed. One key thing is that manager (ID) is used to define
preferences for the information object used in the content of this report.
This mapping is possible because this content information object is
executed using personalized page execution, which uses a multipage
report to return content for many subscribers in the same report execution.
Each user then specifies his preferences by selecting a single page of
content. This is done by selecting an attribute value (for example, a
manager) from the first attribute (for example, the manager attribute) on
the page axis.
To illustrate by example, the subscription information object returns the
users preference as a particular manager (for example, Snyderman). The
content information object then returns a multipage report where each page
can be selected by choosing a particular manager. Thus, the subscription
information object returns the subscription information required for report
delivery and returns attribute values that are used to select pages out of a
multipage report for each recipient.
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To see how this service is constructed, edit Service 1d, Employee

Performance Alert (Dynamic Subscriptions), then edit the e-mail content,
and then edit the information object. Review the report definition in the
report layout window. You see that instead of prompts, this report contains
the manager attribute on the page axis. Click Advanced Options and then
select the Report Execution tab. You see that this service uses
personalized page execution. By contrast, all previous services have used
personalized report execution.
Exit the information object and the document without making any
changes, and then edit the subscription set. You see that instead of entering
the Static Subscription Set Editor, you are taken into the Dynamic
Subscription Set Wizard. This wizard has selected the subscription
information object you edited previously. When this service is run, note
that several call center managers receive this service. Note also that some
call center managers receive an e-mail message while other call center
managers receive their message on a wireless PDA. This is because the
subscription information object gathers user recipient device ID from the
project in addition to the user name, address display, and physical address.
This device ID selection is equivalent to setting the delivery method and
device through the Static Subscription Set Editor and thus controls which
content the recipient receives and how the content is formatted and
delivered.
Since personalized page execution executes a single report to gather
content for multiple subscriptions, this can have significant performance
advantages in some cases. As a result, it is sometimes advantageous to use
personalized page execution even when subscription information is stored
in the Subscription Book and static subscriptions rather than dynamic
subscriptions are used. This functionality is enabled by selecting an
attribute value (for example, manager Snyderman) when defining
preferences for users in a static subscription set.
To see an example of this type of service, edit Service 1d, Employee
Performance Alert (Static Subscriptions). The content information object
used in the content of this service uses the same report and uses
personalized page execution. However, it does not use automatic
segmentation and does not segment the content information object. This is
an important setting that must be set correctly in the Advanced Options
dialog box. Also note that instead of using a dynamic subscription set, this
service uses a static subscription set and that each user defines preferences
by selecting a manager. When this service is run, it delivers the exact same
content as when the dynamic subscription version is run. However, fewer
messages are sent since only two subscriptions are created.
An important application design note is that users can subscribe to the
version of this service that uses static subscriptions, but users cannot
subscribe to the version that uses dynamic subscriptions since recipient
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information is not stored in the Subscription Book. It is, in fact, possible to

create a service using dynamic subscriptions that users can subscribe to via
the Subscription Portal, although it is not covered in this tutorial. For more
information, see chapter 9, Advanced Subscription Portal Configuration,
in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Application Designer Guide. In a
real world deployment, the administrator would need to take care to define
Subscription Portal sites and channels so that users only have access to
services to which they can subscribe.
Key features
recipient information gathered from a MicroStrategy project

end-user devices specified using dynamic subscriptions
personalization using dynamic subscriptions
efficient report execution mode for high performance applications
Service 1e Sales Director Sales Performance

Analysis
Topics include the following:
Business purpose
Service overview
Key features
Business purpose
Sales directors are notified at the end of each month of sales in all regions
for each of the product categories. Based on this data, any regions that are
under-performing can be identified and suitable action can be taken.
Managers of regions doing well can be suitably rewarded. The analysis of
trends for the current year provides a comprehensive picture of sales
performance.
Service overview
A sales director would like to get an overview of the sales in all the regions
for each of the product categories. Such a person would also like additional
relevant information on cost, profit, and margin for a better understanding
of the sales trends. The service provides information for past months in the
current year and compares it with previous periods. Previous periods
include month, quarter, and year. This comparison highlights any drops or
improvements in performance by region.
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This service has a single recipient with multiple addresses and has a static
subscription list. The information is simultaneously delivered to an e-mail
address, network location, and a printer. The information can be shared
with other users by sharing the network location or by distributing copies
of the printed report. This service uses a document in the MicroStrategy
metadata. This means that a link can be established with existing
MicroStrategy content without having to recreate the content or
formatting.
The service name is included in the e-mail subject by inserting an
information object that provides system information. To see how this
service is constructed, edit Service 1e, Sales Director Sales Performance
Analysis, then edit the e-mail content. Edit the subject to see how the
service name was inserted and edit the attachment to see how a document
link was included. You can also edit the File and Print content which uses
a link to the MicroStrategy document similar to the e-mail content. By
inserting a link to a MicroStrategy document all the formatting and content
created in a MicroStrategy project can be easily reused. This is particularly
useful for report services documents that provide pixel-level formatting.
Key features
delivery to e-mail, network file location, and a printer using the same
service
system information such as service name in the e-mail subject
reuse of documents in a MicroStrategy project by creating a link
Supply Chain Management

Service 2a Supplier Seasonal Sales Alert
Business purpose
Suppliers are notified when historical sales data show that sales for one of
the items they supply are forecast to be significantly above average in the
coming quarter. This seasonal sales trend analysis helps suppliers react
quickly to seasonal trends by ensuring that adequate supplies are on hand.
Since suppliers are located worldwide and since suppliers are often not
accessible by e-mail, messages are delivered in multiple languages to
multiple end user devices such as via e-mail, to wireless PDAs, and on the
Web.
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Service overview
Since suppliers are located in many different countries and have different
device preferences, Service 2a delivers content in multiple languages and
via multiple delivery methods such as by e-mail, to wireless devices, and
publishing content on the Web. This service demonstrates how a single
service can both deliver content to users in many different languages and
format content for many end user devices. For example, one supplier,
Perigee, is located in France and prefers to receive content via e-mail. As
a result, Perigee receives French e-mail alerts when sales data predict an
increase in sales for one of the items they supply. However, another
supplier, John Wiley & Sons, is located in the United States and is often
away from the office. For this reason, John Wiley & Sons receives English
alerts on a wireless PDA. A third supplier, ATF Electronics, is a German
supplier that prefers to access content on the Web via Subscription Portal.
Thus, when you run this service, note that Perigee receives an e-mail in
French, while John Wiley & Sons receives content formatted for a wireless
PDA in English. However, ATF Electronics does not receive any content
since no items they supply meet the alert conditions. In this example, only
static text is varied. However, it would also be possible to retrieve localized
text from Intelligence Server so that the item names are delivered in the
appropriate language for each recipient. This would require adding
localized strings to the data warehouse and then creating different attribute
forms in MicroStrategy Desktop which contain these different localized
text strings.
To learn how this service is constructed, edit this service and notice that
this service contains content for three delivery methods. On the page for
each delivery method, click Specify Devices and Locales on the toolbar.
This shows the list of devices and the locale this delivery method is
designed to support. Each delivery method can support one locale and a
subset of the devices provided by the information transmitter for this
delivery method. Notice that each delivery method for this service
supports a different locale. Subscriptions for this service only receive the
content for a particular delivery method if the user for the subscription
specifies the locale supported by this delivery method and if the address
specifies a supported device.
If you edit the subscription set for this service, then edit one of the users
for Service 2a and 2b, and then click Advanced Properties on the Login
tab, you see the locale for this user. Each user subscribed to this service
specifies a different locale and device as described above. It is important
to note that, by default, all delivery methods and all users created in
Narrowcast Administrator support the system locale. Thus, subscriptions
are never prevented from receiving a service due to locales unless either
the delivery method or the user are modified not to support the system
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locale. As a result, it is important that you use extreme care when

modifying the locales for delivery methods and users. Designing
applications where users do not receive content due to inadvertent locale
selection is a common error.
Key features
service delivery to multiple languages and user devices

number formatting based on regional preferences
form selection based on user characteristics
content publishing on the Web via the Subscription Portal
standardized report format in Portal using stylesheets
Service 2b Supplier Low Inventory Alert

Business purpose
Suppliers are notified when the inventory for one of the products they
supply is significantly below average levels. Suppliers with products
whose current inventory is 75% below the average are notified of the
products and their current inventory levels. Suppliers with no products that
are low on inventory receive no alert. This inventory analysis helps
suppliers react to unexpected sales increases by ensuring that adequate
inventories are provided. Since suppliers are located worldwide, and since
suppliers are often not accessible by e-mail, messages are delivered in
multiple languages to multiple end user devices.
Service overview
This service is very similar to Service 2a except that German content is

published to the Subscription Portal for supplier ATF Electronics since the
report used in this service returns information for this supplier. To see how
this works, log on to the Subscription Portal using a login ID and password
of 2a,b Supplier - ATF Electronics. Enter the MicroStrategy Tutorial Delivery channel and click Reports. This allows this supplier to view any
content that has been sent to the Subscription Portal. If Service 2b has been
run, you should be able to click a link on the left margin that takes you to
this report. If the service has not been run you see that this content is
pending. If the content is available you see a document with German text
and a table showing one item that is low on inventory.
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Another thing to note about this service is that the reports delivered via email and published on the Web have very different formatting. The report
delivered by e-mail leverages the formatting capabilities of MicroStrategy
Web and Desktop and preserves the blue and black formatting defined for
this report. By default, when grid reports are added to documents in
Narrowcast Server, the formatting defined in MicroStrategy Desktop or
Web is preserved. This is done by automatically selecting a default
stylesheet that preserves this formatting. This capability allows application
designers to leverage the report formatting capabilities of the platform and
individually format reports using MicroStrategy Desktop or Web.
By contrast, the report published to the Subscription Portal has red and
black formatting that matches the Subscription Portal channel formatting.
This is accomplished by selecting a different stylesheet for this report
when it is added to the Subscription Portal content. Thus, when reports are
delivered via multiple delivery methods, it is also possible to apply a
different format each time an information object is added to a service. This
can, for example, ensure that all reports published to the Subscription
Portal have the same format to provide an integrated appearance.
To see how this works, edit Service 2a, edit the Subscription Portal content,
select and right-click the information object, and then select Edit
Document Element. In the Document Element Properties dialog box,
you see that a stylesheet called Red_Black_Formatting_For_Portal is
selected. If you perform these same actions to edit the e-mail content,
notice that the report in this content uses a different stylesheet. This is the
default stylesheet that preserves MicroStrategy Desktop and Web
formatting.
Key features
service delivery to multiple languages and user devices

number formatting based on regional preferences
form selection based on user characteristics
content publishing on the Web via the Subscription Portal
standardized report format in Portal using stylesheets
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Customer Relationship Management

Service 3a Customer Significant Buyer
Retention
Business purpose
Customers who make significant purchases in the month of June are sent a
coupon for any item in the month of December to encourage customer
loyalty. If a customer spends more than $1,500 in the same month, he is
sent a coupon for any item in any category. The message is sent six months
after the initial purchase to win back customers who may not have returned
for some time.
Service summary
Service 3a delivers rewards in the form of coupons to customers who have

made significant purchases in the past. This is accomplished by running a
report to obtain the target group of customers and then delivering coupon
via e-mail to these customers. In both Services 3a and 3b, customer
information is stored in a relational database where it is recorded when
customers make purchases. Since customer information already exists in
one location, as was the case in Service 1d, the administrator wants to
avoid creating duplicate subscription information. As a result, this service
uses dynamic subscriptions to retrieve subscription information directly
from the data warehouse using a MicroStrategy project.
Two main differences exist between the subscription information objects
used for Services 1d and 3a/3b:
The subscription information object used in Service 1d returns
managers instead of customers.
The customer subscription information object does not return customer
device but rather uses Outlook Express for all customers since the
preferred customer device is not recorded when customers make
purchases.
Notice that no report data is included in the report content. A static HTML
link to a coupon image on a Web server is used so all recipients receive the
same coupon (see the next service to see an example where this is not the
case). This is accomplished using a stylesheet that returns no data. The
next example builds upon this example and includes targeted service
content that is personalized for each recipient.
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In addition, this service personalizes each message at the recipient level by

including subscription information returned from the data warehouse
using the subscription information object. In this case, the customers first
name is used to provide a customized greeting. This same method could be
used to return customer address, preferred device, or any other
subscription information. In this case, the subscription information object
returned this information directly using the PIN property for each
subscription. This allowed the application designer to simply choose
Subscription Information, then PIN from the Insert menu to add this
content. If multiple pieces of data or additional analysis were required for
the content, it would also be possible to run additional content information
objects and then link the resulting personalized reports to recipients using
the preferences defined in the subscription information object. This
scenario was described in Service 1d and is applied to the customer
example in Service 3b.
Another thing to notice is the use of read-receipt message tracking to see
which recipients opened their messages. When Narrowcast Server delivers
a message, each message is assigned a unique ID called a Unique Message
Identifier. This string is unique for every message delivered by Narrowcast
Server. In this example, the Unique Message Identifier is inserted into a
web URL, which points to a zero size image on a Web server. The Web
server can then be configured to log which Unique Message Identifiers
were used to request content from this Web server. (The Web server used
for this tutorial is not configured to record this information.)
Note: The Unique Message Identifier is a concatenation of the Service
Execution ID and the Subscription ID. This can be joined to the

transmission recording tables and then back to both user and application
information using this information.
This information can then be recorded to a relational database where it can

be joined with information about which messages were delivered
successfully to the receiving mail systems. This recipient-level delivery
information is enabled in Narrowcast Server using transmission recording.
Transmission recording can be enabled from the System menu by
selecting Set Governing Settings and then selecting the Recording tab.
To see how the link is used to determine which messages were opened,
open the e-mail content for Service 3a and select Source from the View
menu. You find the following link:
<IMG SRC="http://www.microstrategy.com/graphics/cdrom/
ncsdemo/spacer.gif?RecipientID=UniqueMessageIdentifier"
width=0 height=0>
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Alternatively, ASP or Java Server Page (JSP) technology could be used to

record which recipients opened messages. For example, an ASP could be
written to record which URLs contacted this page and then record the
recipient IDs to a database. The following example illustrates a link for this
scenario:
<IMG SRC="http://servername/virtualdirectory/folder/
responsetracking.asp? RecipientID=UniqueMessageIdentifier>
Once such a link has been added to your HTML document, you need to
construct a simple ASP or JSP to log image requests to a database. The
following example provides simple ASP code that can achieve this task.
<%@ LANGUAGE = VBScript %>
<% Option Explicit
Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim
Dim
sUniqueMessageIdentifier
adoCon
adoRec
sConStr
sSQL
Set adoCon = Server.CreateObject ("ADODB.Connection")

Set adoRec = Server.CreateObject ("ADODB.Recordset")
sConStr = "DSN=YOUR_DSN;UID=YOUR_UID;PWD=YOUR_PWD;"
adoCon.Open sConStr
sUniqueMessageIdentifier = Request.QueryString ("sUMI")
sSQL = "INSERT INTO YOUR_TABLE values ('" &
sUniqueMessageIdentifier & "',GETDATE())"
adoRec.Open sSQL, adoCon
'The location of the image to be displayed in the HTML
document
Response.Redirect
("http://servername/virtualdirectory/folder/image.jpg")
%>
Note: This example assumes that the table YOUR_TABLE exists and has
two columns, one for the Unique Message Identifier and one for the date.
SQL Server is also assumed to be the RDBMS for this example. The last
line of code redirects the response to the URL where the image exists.
The post from the HTML document passes the Unique Message Identifier
as a parameter, which is captured by the ASP and stored in the database.
The response to the post is the actual image, which is displayed within the
document body. This sample code is only intended to be a proof-ofconcept for illustrative and educational purposes only. It is not intended for
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use in production systems and does not handle special cases, errors, or any
other best practices to ensure its stability and reliability.
An important application design point to note is that since the subscription
information objects used for Services 1d and 3a return two groups of users
with distinct IDs in the data warehouse, a different information source is
used for each. This is because an information source can only be defined
to support dynamic subscriptions for one subscription ID. This restriction
enables the automatic segmentation of content information objects (and
subscription information objects in the case where subscription
information defined in the information source definition is used) to use the
correct Subscription ID for segmentation.
Thus, whenever creating applications to support dynamic subscriptions, it
is good practice to create one information source for each group of users
that will be retrieved and to create all subscription information objects and
content information objects using the corresponding Information Source.
This ensures that all information objects are segmented correctly when
automatic segmentation is used.
Key features
customer population segmentation into target audience

recipient-level personalization using subscription information
read-receipt message tracking using unique message identifiers
Service 3b Customer Repeat Buyer Incentive

Business purpose
Customers who have repeatedly purchased items in the same category over
the last month are sent coupons for any item in this category to encourage
continued purchases.
Service summary
Service 3a uses a report to identify the target group of customers but does
not deliver personalized content to each customer. Service 3b builds on the
customer segmentation example illustrated in Service 3a by delivering a
targeted offer to each customer based on his or her purchases over the last
month. This is accomplished by personalizing an image link for each
recipient that points to one of several images on a corporate Web server.
This link is dynamically generated for each recipient based on his or her
preferred product category. This is done using a stylesheet that converts
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personalized data in a report into a personalized Web link. An important

application design note is that while this example uses category description
to dynamically change the URL, in an actual implementation, the ID form
of the attribute should always be used. This ensures that descriptions with
spaces do not cause problems.
While this is a very basic example with a simple report that buckets all
customers into a handful of product categories, this same strategy can be
extended to enable very powerful applications by personalizing content at
the recipient level to tailor offers to specific individuals. For example,
reports could be designed to support product promotion campaigns by
determining which customers had purchased correlated items in the last six
months. In other campaigns, reports could be designed to target very
specific customer groups based on complex analytics applied to customer
spending history or other customer attributes.
In addition, the content information object used to gather personalized
content could perform additional, secondary analyses after customer
segmentation based on customer preferences and behaviors. In other
words, the powerful analytical capabilities of MicroStrategy Intelligence
Server can be applied to both segment customer populations and then
make targeted, individually personalized offers based on customer
profiles. This is enabled by using subscription information objects to
segment the customer population and then using multiple content
information objects to provide individually personalized offers.
Key features
creating targeted offers based on customer profiles

personalizing message format based on report data
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C H A PT E R
Service Execution
Flow
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You should now have a better understanding of what Narrowcast Server is.
This chapter goes into more detail about how it works. It explains how an
executing service flows through various components and processes to send
personalized messages to subscribers.
Service execution begins with a condition evaluation. This condition can
be a schedule event, a Run Immediately request, or an API call to the
Narrowcast Server API. Each of these produces the result of a service
execution request being received by the Delivery Engine. Once the
Delivery Engine receives and processes a service execution request, it
evaluates what subscriptions need to be fulfilled for the request and what
personalization characteristics each subscription has. The Delivery Engine
then acquires the personalized, dynamic content information needed for
each subscription, formats that content into the appropriate documents,
and transmits the resulting messages to the subscribers.
Condition evaluation and recipient determination

Typically, a schedule controls service triggering. A service can use more
than one schedule, enabling powerful time-of-day/day-of-week scheduling
in one service.
Schedules
A schedule sets the times or frequencies a service is executed and
represents a recurring pattern, not a fixed date, on which a service is
executed. Schedules are defined relative to time zones, to automatically
account for daylight savings time, date boundaries, and other time-specific
issues. To allow subscribers throughout the world to receive services at
specific local times, a service can use more than one schedule.
The application designer creates schedules.
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Subscriptions
A subscriber is a person who subscribes to a service, and a subscription
is created when one of a subscribers addresses is subscribed to a service,
either by adding it to a subscription set using the subscription set editor or
by creating a subscription using the Subscription Portal. Typically, a
subscription set holds the set of subscriptions for a service. Occasionally,
a subscription set is shared across a collection of services. Several
subscription sets might also be defined for a single service, to support
multiple delivery schedules.
Note: Each subscriber can have several subscriptions to the same service
and for the same address. Each such subscription can have different
preference settings, allowing a single user to receive a variety of
information from the same service.
Each individual who receives messages from the Delivery Engine has a
login that provides password-controlled access to subscription and
preference information for the individual and his addresses. It is the
subscription of at least one of these addresses to a particular service that
allows the individual to receive messages.
Personalization
After Narrowcast Server determines that a service needs to be executed
and identifies the recipients to which it will be sent, it evaluates the
personalization characteristics of each subscription. Personalization
factors for a subscription include information for passing authentication,
security and preferences to each information source, as well as the locale
for the subscribed user and the messaging device for the subscribed
address. All of these factors combine to control what content is delivered
to fulfill each subscription.
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Chapter 5 Service Execution Flow
Devices
Devices cause services to be personalized in two ways:
Content selection: When a service is made up of more than one
publication, the device determines which publication, and therefore
which content, will be delivered to fulfill a given subscription. So if a
service has one publication designed to produce wireless message
content and another publication designed to produce message content
for desktop e-mail clients, the device for each subscription determines
which of the two publications will be used to generate content. For more
information on how devices can be used to control content selection,
refer to Multiple languages and locales in the MicroStrategy
Transmission parameters: A device provides a specification for how
a publication should be formatted and transmitted to a specific receiver
type. For example, a Microsoft Outlook 98 device might specify that a
subject document in a publication must be plain text and no longer than
128 characters. It might also specify that the message body could be
either plain text or HTML, and if it is HTML, image references can be
embedded. A device includes specifications for both formatting and
transmission. For more information on device transmission parameters,
refer to Devices in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server System
Administrator Guide.
Locales
Locales cause services to be personalized in several ways:
Content selection: When a service is made up of more than one
publication, the locale can also determine which publication, and
therefore which content, will be delivered to fulfill a given subscription.
So if a service has one publication designed to produce German
message content and another publication designed to produce French
message content, the locale for each subscriber determines which of the
two publications will be used to generate content. For more information
on how locales can be used to control content selection, refer to Multiple
languages and locales in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server
Application Designer Guide.
Personalization
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Content generation: Locale parameters control how dynamic content

information is retrieved from information sources such as
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server. Users expect numeric values, dates
and times to be expressed in the formats with which they are most
familiar. For example, decimal values such as one thousand, nine
hundred, ninety-three and four-tenths (1,993.4) can be expressed as any
of the following:
1993.4
1.993,4
1 993,4
Similarly, date values can be expressed in mm/dd/yyyy format, as is

the custom in the United States, or in dd/mm/yyyy format, as is
customary in Europe. Each subscriber's locale specifies which
formatting rules should be applied by information sources when
generating dynamic content such as MicroStrategy report results.
Character sets: A character set specifies how character code values
(such as the value 65) map to character glyphs (such as A). While the
Unicode character set supports the aggregation of all characters from all
languages (including Asian double-byte characters such as are in the
Kanji alphabet), most devices cannot support the Unicode character set.
Narrowcast Server has the ability to encode the Microsoft Excel, plain
text and HTML documents it generates in any of several character sets,
such as Western (ISO-8859-1) and Japanese (ISO-2022-JP). The locale
properties for the e-mail (SMTP) and wireless (SMTP) transmitters
specify which character set to use when encoding message content
before transmission. For more information on locales and character set
encoding, refer to Locales in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server
System Administrator Guide.
Information source personalization

Consider for a moment what happens when you connect to an Internet
banking website to determine whether a check has cleared. First, you
establish a connection to the Web server, and often this involves providing
your account credentials or user authentication, such as a login ID and
password. Next, the Web server shows you the set of accounts and other
bank products that belong to you. Finally, you provide your search criteria,
such as the date, check number, and other filtering conditions. The Web
server then retrieves the results of the requested search and presents them
to you, providing words, date formats, numeric formats and other
information based on the language and regional settings that you prefer.
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This example demonstrates the four types of information involved in

personalization of dynamic content:
Authentication objects: An authentication object stores authentication
information for a subscriber, to be used for a specific source of
information. It can best be thought of as a login ID and password that
Narrowcast Server has cached for a subscriber, so that when Narrowcast
Server retrieves information for that subscriber it can do so using the
same access capabilities and permissions as are held by the subscriber.
An example of an authentication object is the login ID and password
you use to log in to a MicroStrategy project from Desktop or Web.
Narrowcast Server uses authentication objects to tell information
sources to whom each requested piece of dynamic content should be
sent.
Security objects: Some types of information sources might not support
authentication objects. Others might support these, but not with
sufficient data access control, scalability, or performance to meet the
requirements of your system. Therefore, a second type of security was
introduced with Narrowcast Server, called a security object. For
MicroStrategy projects, the use of security objects is optional.
Preferences: Authentication and security typically do not offer a
subscriber any choices. With authentication-based personalization, a
user can either connect and work with objects or he cannot. With
security, a user can either access a specific piece of data or he cannot.
Preferences provide more flexibility to subscribers to choose what they
do and do not want to receive when they subscribe to a service. A
preference can be anything from a report selection, to prompt answers,
to the choice of a page from a result. It is the selection by a user of one
piece of information from several possible options. When a service
executes, Narrowcast Server uses preferences to tell information
sources what information each subscriber wishes to receive.
Locales: Narrowcast Server uses locales to pass information sourcespecific language and regional settings to an information source module
during service execution. The locales tell information sources what
language, numeric formats, date formats, time formats to use when
creating each requested piece of dynamic content.
For more information about information source personalization, refer to
Personalization in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Application
Designer Guide.
Personalization
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Information acquisition
The content that Narrowcast Server must generate for each subscription is
influenced by the personalization factors mentioned previously. Because
of this, the set of dynamic content requests that Narrowcast Server must
make can only be determined as a service is being executed. Narrowcast
Server optimizes this set of requests by eliminating duplicate requests
where possible.
Narrowcast Server uses information sources and information objects to
make requests for dynamic content.
With the ability either to create new documents in Narrowcast Server or to
link to existing MicroStrategy Desktop documents, the information
acquisition process flow has multiple possibilities, depending both on
which document process the System Administrator has enabled and what
the Application Designer chooses during document creation. The
following diagram depicts the information acquisition process flow from
when the Application Designer chooses to create a new document until he
begins to construct the document. The purpose of this diagram is to
illustrate the choices made and steps taken depending on the document
creation process that is enabled. Each step is numbered, and these steps are
described following the diagram.
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Legend:
y Boxes with thick lines and
rounded corners
represent dialog boxes.
y Boxes with dashed lines
and rounded corners
represent the document
editor or selection dialog
box that defines and
saves the document.
These editors and dialog
boxes open when
documents are edited.
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Application
Designer chooses
to create new
document.
2
What
document
process is
enabled--NCS,
Desktop, or
both?
NCS
Application Designer is
prompted:
y Create new document
(NCS)?
OR
y Select existing
document (Desktop)?
5a
Desktop
4
Is more
than one
format
allowed?
NCS
What type
of document is
chosen?
Desktop
Yes
6a
Application
Designer is allowed
to select document
format (options:
HTML, Excel,
Plaintext, Imported)
7a
No
Standard
Narrowcast
Document Editor
opens (HTML,
Excel, Plaintext,
Imported)
5b Does
more than
one
information
source
exist?
No
7b
6b
Yes
Application
Designer is allowed
to select information
source
Desktop
Document
Selector dialog
box opens
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In Step 1, the Application Designer chooses to create a new document

within Narrowcast Server, either from Narrowcast Administrator, the
Publication Wizard, or the Service Wizard.
Step 2 identifies the document creation process, based on the system
setting for document creation. The options are the following:
Always create new Narrowcast Server documents. This allows you
to create new documents from scratch in Narrowcast Server, using the
available formats. Either you select the format (HTML, Excel,
Plaintext, Imported) or the appropriate document editor opens
automatically.
Always link to documents created in MicroStrategy Desktop. This
allows you to create a link to an existing document in MicroStrategy
Desktop. If more than one MicroStrategy information source is
available, you select the information source, then the document to link
to. If only one information source is available, you select the document.
Always prompt. This gives you a choice:
Create a new Narrowcast Server document and select the document

format.
Create a link to an existing MicroStrategy Web or Report Services

document and select the information source.
The third option is selected by default.

Step 3 prompts the Application Designer, if appropriate, either to select the
document format or to select the information source, based on the system
setting (see step 2).
Note: Step 3 may be bypassed if one of the first two options in Step 2 was
selected by the System Administrator. In that case the next step is Step 5.
Step 4 identifies the type of document chosen: new document to be created

in Narrowcast Server or link to Desktop document.
Steps 5 through 7 vary according to the system setting (see step 2). Steps
5a through 7a occur when the Application Designer chooses to create a
new Narrowcast Server document. Steps 5b through 7b occur when the
Application Designer chooses to create a link to a Desktop document.
Step 5a identifies whether more than one document format is allowed. If
yes, 6a is the next step. If no, 7a is the next step.
In Step 6a, the Application Designer selects the document format (HTML,
Excel, Plaintext, or Imported) to use for the new document.
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In Step 7a, the selected or available Narrowcast Server document editor

opens and the Application Designer begins creating the new Narrowcast
Server document.
Step 5b identifies whether more than one information source is available.
If yes, 6b is the next step. If no, 7b is the next step.
In Step 6b, the Application Designer selects the information source from
which to select an existing Desktop document.
In Step 7b, the Application Designer selects the existing Desktop
document to create the link from Narrowcast Server.
Details on creating specific types of documents and links are included in
the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Application Designer Guide.
Information sources, information source

modules, and information objects
When executing a service, the Delivery Engine acquires information from
information sources. An information source generates the dynamic,
personalized content that enables the powerful, personalized, data-driven
capabilities of the Delivery Engine. Each piece of dynamic content is
defined, manipulated, and executed in the form of an object called an
information object.
Information sources rely on components called information source
modules, or ISMs. An ISM is a piece of software that has been registered
with the Delivery Engine through the Narrowcast Administrator. Each
ISM supports one or more information sources (IS), which provide
instructions for the ISM to define and execute information objects. For
example, a MicroStrategy Information Source provides the connection and
authentication instructions needed by a MicroStrategy ISM to run reports
through a specific project on a specific MicroStrategy Intelligence Server.
Information objects then provide instructions for the IS to return results for
a specific report. The results from executing an information object can then
be used as content for a message.
Customized ISMs can be created with the SDK. The system administrator
registers ISMs with the Delivery Engine and creates information sources.
The application designer sets up information objects.
Several prepackaged ISMs are included with Narrowcast Server. The
MicroStrategy ISM allows access to MicroStrategy projects. A second
enables the capture and use of user information. The third enables the
inclusion of subscription information in service content. The fourth
enables the inclusion of system information such as date, time, and service
name, in service content.
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MicroStrategy reports
The MicroStrategy Information Source Module provides the ability to use
MicroStrategy reports in service content. Before Narrowcast Server can
use a report, it needs to know the server and project in which the report can
be found. You provide this information when you configure an information
source using either the Configure Sources section in the System
Configuration Wizard, or the MicroStrategy Information Source
Wizard from the Narrowcast Administrator object browser. For more
information about configuring a MicroStrategy Information Source, refer
to Information source modules and information sources in the
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server System Administrator Guide.
Once an information source has been configured to point to a
MicroStrategy project, you can add MicroStrategy reports from that
project to your services. HTML content can support both grid and graph
modes, while Excel and plain text content support only grid mode. For
more information about using MicroStrategy reports in your services, refer
to Dynamic Content and Personalization in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast
Report Services documents

In MicroStrategy Desktop, Report Services enables a report designer to
create visually appealing, presentation-quality reports using a page layout
broken into logical sections. When creating a document, the designer can
specify what data appears, control how it will be laid out and formatted,
and identify how it should be grouped, sorted, totaled and if and how page
breaks should occur. The designer can insert pictures and draw borders in
the document. All of these capabilities allow for the creation of reports that
are suitable for presentation to management or printing for boardroom
quality material.
In Narrowcast Server, services can include Report Services documents
(called documents in Desktop). These documents are already created in
Desktop and linked from within Narrowcast Administrator, the Service
Wizard, or the Publication Wizard. While you cannot modify these
documents from within Narrowcast Server, you can add them to services
for standard report delivery, in the same manner as other documents.
Report Services documents are supported in PDF, Excel, and Flash format.
For more information on Report Services documents in MicroStrategy
Desktop, refer to the MicroStrategy Document Creation Guide. For more
information about using Report Services documents in your services, refer
to the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Application Designer Guide.
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HTML documents
In MicroStrategy Desktop, an HTML document is the standard container
for formatting, displaying, and distributing multiple reports on the same
page, or at the same time within a project. A report designer can modify
the appearance of an HTML document, just like any other HTML page, to
include text, images, hyperlinks, tables, and one or more report objects.
HTML documents are used to create dashboard and scorecards, both
popular ways to display and distribute data from business intelligence
projects.
In Narrowcast Server, services can include HTML documents. These
documents are already created in Desktop and linked from within
Narrowcast Administrator, the Service Wizard, or the Publication Wizard.
While you cannot modify these documents from within Narrowcast
Server, you can add them to services for standard report delivery, in the
same manner as other documents. HTML documents are supported in
HTML format only.
Note: These are not the same as HTML documents created in Narrowcast
Server; documents created in Desktop and linked to from Narrowcast

Server cannot be opened and edited in Narrowcast Server.
For more information on HTML documents in MicroStrategy Desktop,

refer to the MicroStrategy Advanced Reporting Guide. For more
information about using HTML documents in your services, refer to the
User information
Narrowcast Server makes it easy to include user information such as first
name, last name, and other user variables in service content. This is
designed to help you personalize messages with content such as Dear Mr.
John Q. Smith, or to insert the subscriber's name, address, zip code,
country, or other personal information into the service. User information is
stored in the Subscription Book Repository when a subscriber is created
and is retrieved when a service is executed. New types of user information
can be added as needed.
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System information
System information such as service name, service ID, and execution time
and date expressed in Universal Time Coordinates or as specified by the
user, can be easily included in services. This service execution information
can be used to
track messages using the internal execution ID
identify when reports were generated or saved by including the date and
time
maintain text files containing service names
Subscription information
Sometimes it is useful to include subscription information such as the
subscriber's physical address (for example,
JohnQSmith@sample_corp.org) in the content of a service. One
example of this is the Unique Message Identifier, or UMI, which can be
included in each message to uniquely identify that message at a later date.
Narrowcast Server makes it easy to include subscription information in
service content, including user name, address, subscription ID, and other
subscription characteristics.
Content formatting
Once all of the dynamic content information required for a given
subscription has been retrieved from information sources, that content is
formatted, or rendered, into a document.
First, each piece of dynamic content (information object) is transformed
into a document element. For MicroStrategy Grid reports and other XMLbased information objects, this is done by XSL processing or transforming.
After every document element in a given document definition has been
processed, Narrowcast Server renders a completed document by
combining the document template with the document elements. The result
is a single document that includes both the static content from the
document template (such as page layout for HTML documents or the
original Excel workbook for Excel documents) and the dynamic content
from MicroStrategy report results and other information objects.
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Documents
A document is a complete, formatted object of a specific type that is ready
to be transmitted by the Delivery Engine. Each document has a specific
type, such as HTML, Excel, or an imported file, and acts as a container for
both static and dynamic content. Depending on the document type, the
document is created through different Document Editors.
Dynamic content is included in the form of information objects, which are
used to get dynamic information from information sources. During service
execution, information objects are transformed into document elements
and then inserted into document templates. Each document element
consists of one or more information objects, plus processing and error
handling instructions. The document templates provide the structure and
layout for the document.
Like documents, both information objects and document elements have
types. Each might be text, XML, an image, or possibly a custom type from
a customized information source module. XML document elements can
support more than one XML information object, while text or image
document elements can only support one information object of that same
type. XML document elements are assigned XSL stylesheets, which
convert the XML into other formats such as HTML.
Note: To use more than one report or other XML-based information
object in a document element, a custom XSL stylesheet must be created

and applied to that document element. The XSL stylesheets that are
provided with Narrowcast Server cannot be used in this situation.
Documents are typically created by the application designer.
Document formatters
A document formatter transforms the raw data of the information objects
and the structure of the document templates into a complete, formatted
document. Information objects in each document element definition are
processed to produce a rendered document element. The document
elements and the document template in the document definition are then
integrated to create a rendered document.
Document formatter operations include tasks such as XSL processing and
transformation, XML merging, character replacement, and string padding.
Formatting rules can account for device characteristics, locale definition,
and other recipient-specific formatting control information.
Content formatting
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Each document formatter supports only one document type. Document

types include
Excel
HTML
plain text
imported document
Message transmission
The last step in the subscription fulfillment process is to send the formatted
information to the recipients.
Information transmitters
An information transmitter is an object that delivers formatted content
to recipient devices. An information transmitter might serve the purpose of
sending e-mail via SMTP or wireless messages using a short message
service (SMS) gateway. In general, an information transmitter supports
one type of transmission technology, such as SMTP, FTP, HTTP, SMPP, or
ODBC, although it can support multiple types. Information transmitters
depend on information transmission modules (ITM), which are software
components designed to support a particular delivery capability. For
example, MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server provides the following
information transmission modules:
E-Mail (SMTP) ITM for e-mail (SMTP) and wireless (SMTP)
transmissions
File ITM for saving files to networked computers and remote servers
using the Windows file system
Print ITM for printing to shared network printers
SMS (SMPP v3.3/3.4) ITM for transmission to an SMS gateway
Portal ITM for transmission to the Subscription Portal
Content capabilities vary from one delivery technology to the next. For
example, the E-Mail (SMTP) ITM supports plain text documents for the
subject, alternate message body, and attachments. The File ITM can
contain one or more documents of any type in its body. The Print ITM
supports text and HTML documents as well as Report Services documents
in its body. The SMS (SMPP) ITM supports one plain text document for
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both the message body and an optional control document. The Portal ITM
can contain HTML or plain text documents in its body and any document
type as an attachment.
The ITM is responsible for indicating the documents and document types
it supports, as well as the arrangement of these documents. These
characteristics distinguish a publication designed for one information
transmitter from a publication designed for another. Both the Publication
Wizard and the Service Wizard reflect these differences as different
sections in their content specification sections. For this reason, each
publication can be used with only one specific information transmitter.
To correctly deliver content to end users, the ITM needs to be able to get
instructions from the Delivery Engine on how messages should be
packaged and sent. With e-mail, for example, some devices support only
UUEncoding to package formatted content, while others support only a
specific subset of multi-part MIME encoding. At the same time, the
Narrowcast Administrator must be able to determine the device
characteristics a particular information transmitter supports. Because of
this, ITMs are responsible for providing a user interface to define device
characteristics. Those characteristics are stored in the Object Repository
and later retrieved by information transmitters to control packaging and
delivery.
Information transmitters and devices are created by the system
administrator.
For more information, refer to Information transmission modules and
information transmitters in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server System
Administrator Guide.
Next steps
The following topics identify additional Narrowcast Server tasks and
indicate the manual containing instructions and supporting information for
each task. The tasks are organized into groups based on who completes
them and when they are to be performed. Some tasks, such as Create a
new system and a new Object Repository, must be completed once by the
system administrator to define a system. Other tasks, such as Connect to
a system and an Object Repository, need to be completed only by
Narrowcast Administrator users connecting a new Narrowcast
Administrator installation to an existing system. Finally, some tasks are
performed intermittently after a system has been constructed.
Next steps
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System setup tasks

This group of tasks is most often performed either by or with the assistance
of the system administrator after you are familiar with Narrowcast Server
by completing the getting started tasks. Completion of these tasks is
required for Narrowcast Administrator users to be able to design services
or modify the Subscription Portal configuration for a development, test, or
production system. Completion of the planning and machine configuration
tasks is particularly important for systems that will be used in production
environments, to ensure adequate performance and reliable operation.
Preparation tasks (System Administrator Guide)
1.
Establish supporting resources.
Required:
Microsoft Windows Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and

associated Windows domain
Windows account in the chosen domain
relational database servers for the Object Repository and

Subscription Book Repository
Optional:
MicroStrategy Intelligence Servers
SMTP routing server or mail transfer agent (also referred to as a

smart host)
website clustering hardware or software
2.
Plan your system. Choose machines for each of the following

components:
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distribution managers
execution engines
MicroStrategy Logging Server
Subscription Portal
SequeLink (SLAgent 54, SLSocket54 services)
Machine configuration tasks (System Administrator Guide)

1. Configure hard drives, including partitioned drives. Determine
locations for the following:
program files
temporary and working files
output files
2.
Install and configure the operating system:
language
service packs and Hotfixes
network configuration
3. Install ODBC connectivity and configure data source names (DSNs).

Every machine in a system must have the same DSNs for each of the
following databases:
Object Repository
dynamic subscription database (optional)
4.
Configure Web support resources:
clustering, including load balancing and failover
security (firewalls, SSL, site access control)
Installation and system configuration tasks (Installation

and Configuration Guide)
1.
Install Narrowcast Server.
Required:
Narrowcast Server
Optional:
Next steps
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2.
Create and configure a new system:
Create an Object Repository.
Create a Subscription Book Repository.
Define a cluster configuration.
Configure MicroStrategy projects, and other information sources.
Configure e-mail, SMS, and other information transmitters.
3.
Test the configuration:
Run a service.
Installation and connection tasks (Installation and

Configuration Guide)
Note: This set of tasks is only for connecting Narrowcast Administrator
to a system that already exists.
1.
Install Narrowcast Administrator:
Narrowcast Server should not be installed.
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery is not required.
2.
Connect to an existing system.
Required:
valid Narrowcast Administrator account
Object Repository and Subscription Book Repository DSNs
Object Repository login and password
system prefix
Application development tasks

This group of tasks is most often performed by the application designer.
Each of these tasks might be performed many times and in any order
during the life of the Narrowcast Server system. Before you can perform
any of these tasks, however, you must set up and configure a system by
completing the System setup tasks mentioned previously.
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Portal administration tasks (Application Designer Guide)

1.
Create or modify a site definition.
2.
Create or modify channels for a site.
3.
Publish services on a site.
4.
Publish device types on a site.
5.
Select a default device and a portal device for a site.
6.
Specify information source properties for a site.
7.
Specify default preferences for a site.
Service development tasks (Application Designer Guide)

1.
Design services:
Define overall service content specification.
Define delivery rules (scheduled or alert-driven).
Determine dynamic or personalized content elements.
Define personalization strategy.
Establish sources of dynamic or personalized content.
2.
3.
Create, modify and delete objects:
services
schedules
subscription sets
documents
publications
information objects
question objects
imported files
Test and troubleshoot services.
Next steps
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System administration tasks

This group of tasks is most often performed by the system administrator.
Each of these tasks might be performed many times and in any order
during the life of the Narrowcast Server system. Before you can perform
any of these tasks, however, you must set up and configure a system by
completing the System setup tasks mentioned previously.
Advanced configuration tasks (System Administrator Guide)
1.
Create, modify, and delete locales.
2.
Create, modify, and delete Narrowcast Administrator accounts.
3.
Register and unregister custom information source modules.
4.
Create, modify, and delete information sources.
5.
Create, modify, and delete document formatters.
6.
Create, modify, and delete information transmitters.
7.
Create, modify, and delete devices.
8.
Add, modify, and remove distribution managers.
9.
Add, modify, and remove execution engines.
10. Modify the MicroStrategy Logging Server configuration.

11. Start and stop the system.
Subscription Book administration tasks (Application
Designer Guide)
1.
Create, modify, and delete users.
2.
Create, modify, and delete addresses.
3.
Create, modify, and delete subscriptions.
System tuning, monitoring and maintenance tasks (System

Administrator Guide)
1.
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Tune your system:
service execution
website responsiveness
2.
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Monitor your system:
system resources
system performance
execution flow
errors and other events
3.
Maintain your system:
Replace hardware.
Maintain hard disk drives.
Maintain databases.
Next steps
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SECTION II
Interfaces
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Section II
Interfaces
C H A PT E R
Narrowcast
Administrator
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What is it?
The Narrowcast Administrator is a graphical interface for controlling

Narrowcast Server. It serves as the point of access to the editors and
wizards that enable Narrowcast Server functionality such as creating
applications and starting the Narrowcast Server system. Administration
objects such as execution engines and information transmitters,
application objects such as schedules and services, and the scheduled
service queue are displayed in the object browser window of the
How can I access it?
The Narrowcast Administrator opens when you launch Narrowcast Server.

From the Windows Start menu, point to Programs, then to
MicroStrategy, then choose Narrowcast Server and select Narrowcast
Administrator.
What can I do with it?
You can use the options available in the Narrowcast Administrator to

add or edit an object
delete an object
cut, copy, and paste an object
find an object
rename an object
change the status of an object
browse a hierarchy of objects
start and stop the Narrowcast Server system
run a service
register and unregister multiple Narrowcast Server system
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view the definition and properties of an object

specify settings for system governing
define the locations of the Object Repository and Subscription Book
Repository
view scheduled services
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change the appearance of the Narrowcast Administrator interface

return to the Narrowcast Server home page
For a detailed, step-by-step description of how to perform some of these
tasks, refer to the following How Do I...? topic:
Narrowcast Administrator Procedures
The remainder of these tasks are detailed in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast
Server System Administrator Guide and the MicroStrategy Narrowcast
What should I know before I use it?
Before you use the Narrowcast Administrator, you should familiarize

yourself with
concepts associated with applications
concepts associated with administering a Narrowcast Server system
For conceptual information addressing one or more of the topics listed,
refer to the Concepts topic
Narrowcast Server Services
Narrowcast Administrator layout

The Narrowcast Administrator includes
a menu bar that, in addition to standard Windows style menus (File,
Edit, View, Window, and Help), includes System and Tools menus that
contain options specific to Narrowcast Server
toolbars that provide, among other options, the capability to
create a new object

run a service
find an existing object
start and stop Narrowcast Server
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Chapter 6 Narrowcast Administrator
activate and deactivate a service
open the Subscription Book
a Location list box that lists the available objects in the navigational
tree and the currently selected item, and takes over navigation when the
navigational tree is hidden
one or more object browsers, each similar to Windows Explorer, each
of which is divided into two sections:
A folder list located on the left displays the folders and objects in
your system in a navigational tree format. The folder list displays the
Administration folder, which contains folders for each type of
administration object (Subscription Book, distribution manager,
execution engine, and so on) that you can create for your system; and
the Applications folder, which contains application objects for your
system.
A display area on the right displays the contents of the selected

folder, including the Name, Type, and Status of the objects in the
selected folder. The information shown in the display area varies
depending on the folder selected. For more information, see Object
browser display area.
a status bar located along the bottom of the Narrowcast Administrator

window that displays the name of the currently selected Narrowcast
Server system, as well as the name of the user logged in and the current
date and time
The following sections address menu bar and toolbar options, the
Narrowcast Server: Home page, object browser display area information
available from the Narrowcast Administrator, and selecting, opening, and
saving objects in Narrowcast Administrator.
The menu bar

The File, View, Window, and Help menu bars contain standard Windows
options that are familiar to users of Windows applications. The Edit,
System, and Tools menu bar options contain items unique to the
Narrowcast Administrator. Items available under the Edit menu New
command vary depending on what type of object has the focus, either an
administration object or an application object. For administration objects,
the New command allows you only to add administration objects to
specific folders. For example, you can add a new execution engine only to
the execution engine folder, a new information transmitter to the
information transmission modules folder, and so on. For application
objects, the New command allows you to create any application object,
such as a service or document.
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Note: If you select an object, within either the Administration or
Applications folder, and right-click, you see the same options as you would
see under the Edit menu New command.
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The tables that follow describe the function of these product-unique

choices.
Edit menu options: administration object focus
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Menu option
Function
New
Displays a list of administration objects you can create; this is

specific to your location within the Administration folder
Distribution Manager
Opens the dialog box to add a distribution manager and define

parameters for the distribution manager
Execution Engine
Opens the dialog box to add an execution engine and define

parameters for the execution engine
Information Source
Module
Opens the dialog box to register an information source module
Information Source
Opens the dialog box to add an information source
Document Formatter
Opens the dialog box to register a document formatting

module and define a document formatter
Information
Transmitter
Opens the dialog box to register and configure an information

transmission module
Device
Opens the dialog box to add a device
Folder
Creates a new folder within the Devices folder
Locale
Opens the Locale Editor to define and edit a new locale
Account
Opens the Add Accounts dialog box to create new Narrowcast

Server user accounts
Rename
Renames the selected object
Names/Descriptions
Allows you to specify a name and description within each

locale for the selected object
Definition
Opens the appropriate dialog box, editor, or wizard to define

the selected object
Activate/Deactivate
Activates or deactivates the selected item
Find
Opens the Find dialog box to find existing objects.
Edit menu options: application object focus

Menu option
Function
New...
Displays a list of application objects you can create
Service (Wizard)
Opens the Service Wizard to create a service
Schedule
Opens the Schedule Wizard to create a schedule
Subscription Set
Opens the Subscription Selection dialog box, which

allows you to choose whether to create a new
dynamic subscription set or a new static subscription
set
Service (Editor)
Opens the Service Editor to create a service
Publication
Opens the Publication Wizard to create a publication
Document
Opens the New Document dialog box to create a

document
Information Object
Opens the Select Information Source dialog box,

which allows you to choose which information source
to use to create a new information object
Question Object
Opens the Select Information Source dialog box,

which allows you to choose which information source
to use to create a new question object
Imported File
Allows you to import a file into the system
Folder
Creates a new folder in the selected directory
Rename
Rename the selected object
Names/Descriptions
Allows you to specify a name and description within

each locale for the selected object
Definition
Opens the appropriate dialog box, wizard, or editor to

define the selected object
Activate/Deactivate
Activates or deactivates the selected item
Run immediately
Runs the currently selected service immediately,

regardless of its schedule; this option is available only
if the selected object is a service
Find
Opens the Find dialog to find existing objects.
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System menu options
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Menu option
Definition
Configure New System
Opens the System Configuration Wizard to allow you

to create a new Narrowcast Server system
Register Existing System
Opens the System Configuration Wizard to allow you

to connect to an existing system
<your system name>

Edit System Configuration
Opens the System Configuration Wizard at the

Subscription Book section, Overview page, to allow
you to edit items such as the Subscription Book
Repository, clustering, information sources, and
information transmitters
Unregister System
Disconnects the Narrowcast Administrator from this

system; the system still exists and can still be
connected to later on
Start System
Starts the Delivery Engine
Stop System
Stops the Delivery Engine
Destroy System
Permanently destroys your system, deleting all tables

in the Object Repository and removing all
components from all machines in the system; you can
then reuse these machines for another system, if
needed
Set Governing Settings
Opens the System Governing Settings dialog box to

set
distribution manager startup settings, such as the
port number used to communicate with other
Delivery Engine machines
service execution parameters, such as the
maximum number of segments in an execution
console setting, which is the locale used for display
logging setting, which turns transmission recording
on and off
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Tools menu options

Menu option
Function
View System Messages
Opens the System Message Viewer, which displays a

list of messages regarding the most recent service
execution
Open Subscription Book
Opens the Subscription Book Editor to administer the

Subscription Book
Edit Available User Properties
Opens the Edit Available User Properties dialog box.
Synchronize Subscription Data
Opens the Subscription Book Synchronization Wizard

to import and synchronize subscription book
information
Upgrade Narrowcast Server

System
Opens the Narrowcast Server Upgrade tool to

upgrade your existing Narrowcast Server system to
the latest version
Configure Object Management
Opens the Configure Object Management dialog box

in which you can set actions for specific cases that
occur while moving objects between two repositories
Set Administrative Notification
Opens the Administrative Notification dialog box, in

which you can configure the messages and specify
the notification addresses for the messages
Preferences
Opens a Preferences dialog box, which allows you to

set preferences for deleting dependent objects, set
browsing options, and allows Narrowcast
Administrator to display either the shared repository
connection or the users individual repository
connection.
Copy Repository
Opens the Repository Copy dialog box in which you

can choose to copy the Object Repository and the
The toolbars
The most frequently used menu options are duplicated on the toolbars,
where they are accessible by means of icons. Each toolbar can be visible
or hidden, depending on your preference. Right-click the toolbar and select
or clear the check box next to the toolbar you want to hide or show.
Each toolbar is described below.
Edit toolbar
New displays a list of application objects you can create when you click
the arrow next to the button:
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Service (Wizard)
Schedule
Subscription Set
Service (Editor)
Publication
Document
Information Object
Question Object
Imported File
Folder
By default, all application objects are saved to the main Applications

folder unless a specific folder within the Applications folder is selected.
Note: When you click directly on the New button, the Service Wizard
opens to create a new service.
Rename allows you to rename the selected object.

Names and Descriptions displays the names and descriptions, for each
locale, of the selected item for editing.
Edit Definition displays the selected item definition for editing.
Activate/Deactivate Selected Object activates or deactivates the
selected item.
Run Immediately runs the selected service immediately.
Cut cuts the currently selected item.
Copy copies the currently selected item.
Paste pastes the clipboard object into the same folder as the currently
selected object.
Delete Selected Object opens the Delete Confirmation dialog box.
Find opens the Find dialog box.
Refresh refreshes the currently selected folder.
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System toolbar
Edit System Configuration opens the System Configuration Wizard at

the Subscription Book section.
Configure new system opens the System Configuration Wizard at the
Welcome section.
Register existing system opens the System Configuration Wizard at the
System section.
Start starts the Narrowcast Server.
Stop stops the Narrowcast Server.
Application toolbar
View System Messages opens the System Message Viewer.

Open the Subscription Book opens the Subscription Book Editor.
Synchronize Subscription Data opens the Subscription Book
Synchronization Wizard.
Schedule queue toolbar
Set Queue Parameters opens the Modify Schedule Queue Parameters

dialog box to edit settings such as the number of scheduled executions
to display.
Execution queue toolbar
Cancel Execution cancels execution of the selected service.

Pause Execution pauses execution of the selected service.
Resume Execution resumes execution of the selected service.
Help toolbar
Home opens the Narrowcast Server: Home page.

Help opens MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server online help.
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Narrowcast Server: Home page

When you open the Narrowcast Administrator to work with the
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery system you always start on the
Narrowcast Server: Home page. This page is the starting point for all
tutorial-related activities. For more information, see Home in chapter 2,
Narrowcast Server System.
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If you did not install the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery, the Narrowcast
Server: Home page is still available but does not provide any tutorial
activities. Instead, it provides information on available features and
functionality.
Object browser display area

The display area on the right side of the Narrowcast Administrator object
browser shows the contents of the selected folder as well as information
about the folder contents. For most folders, the following information is
listed:
Name: the name of the item in the folder
Type: the type of item, for example, service, publication, execution
engine
Status: active or inactive
Owner: the name of the user who created the item
Creation Time: when the item was created
Modification Time: when the item was last modified
Description: a description of the item, if entered
If you select certain folders, the information displayed about the folder
contents is different.
If you select the Scheduled Services folder, the following information is
listed:
Service: the name of the service
Subscription Set: the name of subscription set for this service
Schedule: the name of the schedule for this service
Execution Time: the time this service is scheduled to execute
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Note: By default, services using the Send Now schedule, primarily those
used when MicroStrategy Web users select the Send Now option for a Web
project supported by your Narrowcast Server system, do not appear in the
scheduled services display. This is due to the frequency of service
execution (once every minute) with this schedule, which would create a
very long list if you chose, for example, to display everything scheduled
for the next 24 hours. You would see 24 x 60 (or 1,440) services in the list
for the Send Now schedule alone.
If you select the Distribution Managers folder and select a distribution

manager, the following information is listed:
Service Name: the name of the service
Service ID: a unique numeric ID assigned to this service by Narrowcast
Server
External ID: an optional numeric ID that can be provided by an
external system when executing a service through the Delivery Engine
API. This ID is not used for services executed through the Narrowcast
Administrator using a schedule or run immediately functionality.
Execution ID: a unique numeric ID assigned to a specific execution of
a service by Narrowcast Server. This ID can be used to differentiate
different executions of the same service.
Execution Timestamp: the date and time the service began execution
Expiration Timestamp: the date and time the service execution will
expire. If the service has not completed execution by this time, all
pending and executing segments for this service execution are
cancelled. In other words, all segments in the segment execution queue
are cancelled and all segments currently being processed by execution
engines stop execution and no further subscriptions are processed.
Total Segments: the total number of segments for this service
Segments Pending: the number of segments waiting to execute
Segments Executing: the number of segments currently executing
Segments Complete: the number of segments that have already
executed
Priority: the relative priority of the service. This number controls the
order in which services are removed from the service execution queue
for segmentation, and the order in which segments are removed from
the segment execution queue for assignment to an execution engine.
This setting is defined in the Service Editor.
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For more information about distribution managers, see the MicroStrategy
Narrowcast Server System Administrator Guide.
If you select the Execution Engines folder and select an execution engine,
the following information is listed:
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Service Name: the name of the service

Service ID: a unique numeric ID assigned to a service by Narrowcast
Server. The ID shown here is the Service ID for the executing segment.
External ID: an optional numeric ID that can be provided by an
external system when executing a service through the Delivery Engine
API. This ID is not used for services executed through the Narrowcast
Administrator using a schedule or run immediately functionality. The
ID shown here is the External ID for the executing segment.
Execution ID: a unique numeric ID assigned to a specific execution of
a service by Narrowcast Server. This ID can be used to differentiate
different executions of the same service.
Execution Timestamp: the date and time the service began execution
Expiration Timestamp: the date and time the service execution will
expire. If the service has not completed execution by this time, all
pending and executing segments for this service execution are
cancelled. In other words, all segments in the segment execution queue
are cancelled and all segments currently being processed by execution
engines stop execution and no further subscriptions are processed.
Segment ID: A unique numeric ID assigned to each segment within a
service by Narrowcast Server. This ID is used to track and record the
success or failure of specific segments as they are processed by the
execution engines.
Subscriptions: a number indicating the number of subscriptions for this
segment. If the segment execution is completely successful, each
subscription results in a unique message being delivered to a recipient.
The content delivered may or may not be unique depending on the
service design.
Priority: the relative priority of the service. This number controls the
order in which services are removed from the service execution queue
for segmentation, and the order in which segments are removed from
the segment execution queue for assignment to an execution engine.
This setting is defined in the Service Editor.
Executing EE: the execution engine machine on which the segment is
currently being executed.
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Failover EE: the execution engine machine that will be used to

continue execution of this segment in the event the current executing
execution engine encounters a failure while executing this segment.
For more information about execution engines, see the MicroStrategy
Narrowcast Server System Administrator Guide.
Selecting, opening, and saving objects

While using Narrowcast Administrator, you frequently need to select,
open, and save objects. You perform this task in many situations, including
selecting an Excel template for an Excel document, saving a service, and
opening a reusable document from within a document editor. The dialog
boxes for performing these tasks are similar to those for opening and
saving files using Windows Explorer.
Select dialog box
When you need to select an object from within one of the editors and
wizards in Narrowcast Administrator, you are provided with a dialog box
that you can use to locate and choose the desired object. This dialog box
has a title with the word Select, followed by the type of object that you
need to choose. For example, if you are editing a document and you insert
an existing information object using the Insert menu, a Select
Information Object dialog box opens. Similarly, when you elect to use a
reusable document for the HTML content of a service from the Service
Wizard, a Select HTML Document dialog box opens. The behavior of
the Select dialog box varies depending on the type of object you are
selecting.
Look in: This drop-down list indicates the folder in which you are
currently searching. You can select a different folder to change your
current search location. Some types of objects can only be stored in
specific folders. Narrowcast Administrator automatically chooses the
correct folder for you when you need to select one of these objects.
Object Type: This drop-down list indicates what type of objects are
shown in the folder contents. Folders are always shown, regardless of
this setting. This selector can be automatically set by Narrowcast
Administrator, depending on the type of object you need to locate.
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Folder contents: The contents of the folder in which you are currently
searching are shown in the center of the dialog box. You can change the
way folder contents are displayed by clicking the display mode buttons
to show folder contents in either small icons mode or details mode.
Viewing folder contents in details mode enables you to sort the folder
contents by object name, type, and creation time by clicking the
appropriate column headers.
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When you select an object, you are not actually opening or loading the
object into an editor or wizard. Thus you cannot modify that object, and
you are not asked to save it.
Open dialog box
When you need to open an object from within one of the editors and
that you can use to locate and choose the desired object. This process is
nearly identical to what you do when you select an object. The dialog box
for opening an object has a title with the word Open, followed by the
type of object that you need to open. For example, if you are editing a
document and you select Open Document from the File menu, an Open
Document dialog box opens. The behavior of the Open dialog box varies
depending on that type of object you are opening, similar to the way the
Select dialog box behavior varies.
Save dialog box
When you need to save an object from within one of the editors and
that you can use to choose the desired folder location for the object, and
the object name. This dialog box has a title with the word Save, followed
by the type of object you are saving. For example, if you are editing an
HTML document and you select Save As from the File menu, a Save
HTML Document dialog box opens. The behavior of the Save dialog box
varies depending on the type of object you are saving. For example, certain
objects such as devices can only be saved inside specific folders. The Save
dialog box prevents you from saving an object in an inappropriate folder.
Note: Object names cannot have more than 127 characters. If you attempt
to save an object with a name that has more than 127 characters, the name
is truncated to the first 127 characters.
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Folder considerations
When working with device and application folders, it is important to

consider the impact that creating new folders and saving objects to various
folders can have on your application. First, any user might need to locate
an object that you save, so you should use a folder structure that makes it
easy for you and other users to find the objects you create. Second, if a
folder is published on a Subscription Portal site as a channel, any services
or folders that you create inside that folder are also shown automatically
on the Subscription Portal. Third, if a device folder is selected for a device
type using the Portal Administration Wizard, and you insert a device into
that folder, that device is available automatically on the Subscription
Portal.
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C H A PT E R
Tutorial Configuration
Dialog Set
7.
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What is it?
The Tutorial Configuration dialog set is a series of dialog boxes that

allow you to easily set up your Tutorial system.
Note: You do not see an interface named Tutorial Configuration dialog
set; it is a term for a series of dialog boxes that allow you to perform an
action.
The first dialog box in the Tutorial Configuration dialog set, Welcome,
opens when you launch the Narrowcast Administrator. From the Windows
Start menu, point to Programs, then to MicroStrategy, then choose
Narrowcast Server and select Narrowcast Administrator. You only see
the Tutorial Configuration dialog set if you have an Evaluation Edition of
Narrowcast Server or if, during Narrowcast Server installation, you chose
to install and configure the MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery.
When you complete the information requested in the three dialog boxes
that are part of the Tutorial Configuration dialog set, you set up your first
Narrowcast Server system, named Tutorial System. You can then access
the services and instructional materials that are provided as a part of this
system to help you learn how to use Narrowcast Server.
For more information, refer to the following Concepts topics:
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Welcome dialog box

This dialog box allows you to determine whether Narrowcast Server will
deliver messages via e-mail or save messages to file.
If you are online and have access to an e-mail account, it is
recommended that you choose to deliver messages via e-mail. In this
case, provide an e-mail address in the form
sara@sarascompany.com.
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If you are offline or do not have an e-mail account, you can choose to
save messages to a folder location for later viewing. Select a folder
location where messages should be saved and note this location so you
can find these messages in the future.
Select an Available MicroStrategy Intelligence

Server dialog box
This dialog box opens if you do not have a running MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server on the local machine. If you have MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server installed but not running, start MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server and click OK. If you have not yet installed
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, but intend to do so on the local
machine, click Cancel. You can then exit Narrowcast Administrator and
install MicroStrategy Intelligence Server at any time. The next time you
start Narrowcast Administrator, this MicroStrategy Intelligence Server is
automatically found as long as it is running. If you have MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server installed on a different machine, provide the machine
name and the login and password for the MicroStrategy Intelligence
Server.
Summary dialog box

This dialog box notifies you of any errors that were encountered and
allows you to link to specific help topics to resolve each problem. If you
encounter a problem repeatedly as you enter Narrowcast Administrator
and you do not want Narrowcast Server to automatically try to resolve the
problem, select the check box at the bottom of the dialog box. Selecting
this check box is not recommended for first-time users.
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Chapter 7 Tutorial Configuration Dialog Set
C H A PT E R
Delete Objects Dialog

Box
8.
What is it?
The Delete Objects dialog box allows you to view all the dependents of an
object and choose to delete all the dependent objects along with the
selected object.
How do I access it?
Right-click an object and select Delete. The Delete Objects dialog box is
displayed if the following conditions are satisfied:
the selected object has dependent objects, and the user confirms
deletion of the object.
the option to view dependent objects has been set in the Preferences
dialog box.
Through the Delete Objects dialog box you can

view the dependent objects of the selected object.
delete the dependent objects and the selected object.
For instructions on this topic, refer to the following How do I...? topic:
Delete Objects dialog box layout

The Delete Objects dialog box displays the dependents of the object that
you want to delete. You can sort the list of dependents by clicking on any
of the column headers. If all the objects in the search cannot be recursively
deleted because of permissions, the objects that can be deleted are
displayed with a green check against them, whereas objects that cannot be
deleted are displayed with a red cross against them.
Click Delete All to delete all the objects recursively.
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Chapter 8 Delete Objects Dialog Box
C H A PT E R
9.
Find Dialog Box
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What is it?
The Find dialog box allows you to easily find existing objects in your
system.
Select Find from the Edit menu or click Find on the Edit toolbar.
You can find an object using the following criteria:

name and location of the object
creation and modification dates
object type
object dependencies (what the object uses or is used by)
For more information, refer to the following How Do I...? topic:
Find dialog box layout

The Narrowcast Server Find dialog box is similar to the Find dialog box
used in Microsoft Windows. Multiple Find dialog boxes can be opened in
Narrowcast Administrator at any time. This dialog box can be resized as
needed.
Several buttons appear on this dialog box:
Find Now: Click to start the search based on the parameters that you
have specified. This generates a list of all the items meeting this criteria.
New Search: Click to clear the current search criteria from all the tabs
so you can start a new search. The system prompts you to confirm
deletion before you initiate a new search.
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Object Tree: Click to open the Object parent dependencies dialog

box that gives you a tree view of the dependents of the object.
Close: Click to close the Find dialog box.
Help: Click to view online Help for the Find dialog box.
The following tabs are provided for different types of search criteria:
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Name and Location tab

Date tab
Type tab
Dependencies tab
Display Options tab
When a search is executed, all objects that are found appear in a list in the
lower part of the dialog box. For each object, the following information is
included by default:
Name
Type
Modification time
Creation time
Path
This information can be set from the Display Options tab. You can sort the
list of dependent objects based on the fields displayed for each object.
Sorting is enabled by clicking on the column header. For example, if you
want to sort the dependent objects by Creation Time, click on the Creation
Time column header.
Name and Location tab

The Name and Location tab allows you to specify the name of the object
to be searched for as well as the folder location to be searched. The
following fields appear on this tab:
Named: Use this box to enter or select the name of the object you want
to find (for example Welcome). You can use the wildcard characters,
where * represents any number of characters, and ? represents exactly
one character. After you execute a search and close the Find dialog box,
the name is saved and can be selected from the Named drop-down list.
Up to ten names are saved. If no wildcards are used, only objects with
the exact name that you entered or selected will be found.
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Chapter 9 Find Dialog Box
Look in: Use this box to specify the location from which the search will
begin. This can be as general as the root directory of your system or a
particular subfolder within the system hierarchy. For example, you can
look in the \\Applications directory or in the
\\Applications\Microstrategy Tutorial\Services
directory. Click the browse button to open the Browse for Folder
dialog box to navigate to the appropriate search location. If you are not
sure which subfolder an object is in or want to search all subfolders in a
folder, select the Include subfolders check box. All subfolders within
the folder identified in the Look in box will be searched.
Note: When a search is performed based on an object name, the search
looks at object names for all locales. However, the object names that are
returned are displayed in the display locale. In other words, if you create
an object and name it English Object in the display locale and name the
same object French Object in the French locale, a search for French
returns English Object in the Find dialog box.
Date tab
The Date tab allows you to search for an object based on its creation or
modification date. Select the Limit search results based on creation or
last modified date check box to activate this option. Then specify one of
the following dates:
Between the dates: Select to specify two dates between which the
object you want to find was created or modified. Either type the dates in
the two boxes or click the arrow on the right of each box to select a date
from a calendar.
During the previous ... day(s): Select to specify the number of days
back from the current date to search for the object. Either enter the
number or use the arrows to select a number. If you select 5, for
example, only objects created in the last five days are part of the search.
During the previous ... month(s): Select to specify the number of
months back from the current month to search for the object. Either
enter the number or use the arrows to select a number. If you select 2,
for example, only objects created in the last two months are part of the
search.
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Type tab
The Type tab allows you to search for particular types of objects. For
example, you can search for subscription sets or services or certain types
of documents.
On the Type tab, select the object types and subtypes from the list. By
default, all objects types are selected. If you select an object type that
contains subtypes, for example, Application Objects, all subtypes are
automatically selected. The object types in the list expand and collapse to
show and hide subtypes.
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Dependencies tab
The Dependencies tab allows you perform advanced searches based on
object dependencies. This search is available only for administration and
application objects. You can also right-click any Administration or
Application object and select the Find dependents option to view the list
of dependents for that object. Select the Perform search based upon
object dependencies check box to enable the search options.
Add: allows you to add an object to the search list.
Remove: allows you to remove an object from the search list.
You can perform a search based on two options.
that use the selected object: Select this option if you want to search for
objects that use the selected object.
that are used by the selected objects: Select this option if you want to
search for objects that are used by the selected object.
You can select multiple objects, and search for dependents based on two
options.
Belong to at least one of the selected objects: Select this option if you
want to search for an object that belongs to at least one of the selected
objects.
Belong to all of the selected objects: Select this option if you want to
search for an object that belongs to all of the selected objects.
Search for objects recursively: enables the search to include all files and
subdirectories within the main search directory. This check box is not
selected by default.
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Display Options tab

The Display Options tab allows you to change the display settings for the
search results. You can choose the columns to display in the search results
window. These columns include:
Name
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Type
Modification time
Creation time
Path
Status
Owner
It also allows you to set the browsing options:
Show hidden objects: allows you to view hidden and embedded objects
in the object browser of Narrowcast Administrator. This check box is
enabled only if the browsing options are set in the Preferences dialog
box. For more information, see Preferences Dialog Box.
Object parent dependencies

The Object parent dependencies dialog box provides a tree view of the
dependents of the object that you select. The tree view is useful when you
modify an object and want to know the impact of modifying that object.
This dialog box can be accessed when you click Object Tree on the
Dependencies tab of the Find dialog box, or when you right-click an object
and select Parent dependencies from the shortcut menu.
The Object parent dependencies dialog box has a View menu that includes
the following options. These options are also available in the toolbar of this
dialog box.
Expand all nodes: expands all levels of the hierarchy for the selected
object so that every object and its children are displayed.
Collapse all nodes: collapses the whole hierarchy so that only the
originally selected object is displayed.
Note: The Expand all nodes and Collapse all nodes options apply only
to the selected object.
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Object parent dependencies: displays the parent objects of the

selected object in the Parent dependencies dialog box.
Object child dependencies: displays the child objects of the selected
object in the Child dependencies dialog box.
Find dependents: opens the Find dialog box that shows all the
dependents in a flat view. This option can also be accessed when you
right-click an object and select Find dependents from the shortcut
menu.
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Refresh: refreshes the screen.

Help: displays the online Help for the Object parent dependencies
dialog box.
Object child dependencies

The Object child dependencies dialog box displays the child objects of the
selected object. This dialog box can be accessed when you right-click an
object and select Child dependencies from the shortcut menu.
The Object child dependencies dialog box has a View menu that includes
the following options. These options are also available in the toolbar of this
dialog box.
Expand all nodes: expands all levels of the hierarchy for the selected
object so that every object and its children are displayed.
Collapse all nodes: collapses the whole hierarchy so that only the
originally selected object is displayed.
Note: The Expand all nodes and Collapse all nodes options apply only
to the selected object.
Object parent dependencies: displays the parent objects of the

selected object in the Parent dependencies dialog box.
Object child dependencies: displays the child objects of the selected
object in the Child dependencies dialog box.
Find dependents: opens the Find dialog box that shows all the
dependents in a flat view. This option can also be accessed when you
right-click an object and select Find dependents from the shortcut
menu.
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Refresh: refreshes the screen.

Help: displays the online help for the Object child dependencies dialog
box.
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C H A PT E R
10
Names and
Descriptions Dialog
Box
10.
10
What is it?
The Names and Descriptions dialog box allows you to change the name
of an object within each locale defined in the system. For any one locale,
an object can have descriptions for multiple environments such as Web,
wireless, and voice. This dialog box allows you to set a description for each
environment for each locale defined in the system.
Right-click an object and select Names/Descriptions.

For each locale, you can change the following items for the selected object:
name
description for the console environment
description for the Web environment
description for the wireless environment
description for the voice environment
For more information, refer to the following How Do I...? topic:
Names and Descriptions dialog box layout

A tab is provided for each locale. On each locale, you can enter the Name.
Select an Environment from the drop-down list to edit the Description.
For example, you can have a console description in plain text and a Web
description using HTML to use on an end user subscription site.
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Narrowcast Server does not allow two objects with the same name to
reside in the same folder. However, because of the fact that each object can
have a different name in each locale it is important to recognize that no two
objects can ever have the same name for any locale, if they reside in the
same folder.
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Note: If Narrowcast Administrator does not allow you to change the
name of an object because another object in the same folder already has
that name, the other object might have that name in a different locale than
the one you have configured Narrowcast Administrator to display.
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Chapter 10 Names and Descriptions Dialog Box
C H A PT E R
11
Properties Dialog Box
11.
11
What is it?
The Properties dialog box allows you to view the properties of the
selected object.
How do I access it?
Right-click an object and select Properties.

Through the Properties dialog box you can view object properties.
Properties dialog box layout

The Properties dialog box allows you to view the following properties:
type
owner
status (whether it is active, inactive, or invalid)
ID (the object identifier used by MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server)
creation time
modification time
description
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Tip: You can select the ID for an object using the mouse, and then copy it
to the clipboard by pressing CTRL+C. This can be useful, for example, for
capturing the IDs for devices.
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Chapter 11
Properties Dialog Box
C H A PT E R
12
Preferences Dialog
Box
12.
12
What is it?
The Preferences dialog box allows you to set the browsing options in the
object browser and also set preferences for object deletion in the
How do I access it?
From Tools menu select Preferences. The Preferences dialog box opens.
Through the Preferences dialog box you can do the following:

set the option to view all the dependent objects before deleting an
object.
set the option to view hidden and embedded objects in the object
browser.
set the option to allow Narrowcast Administrator to display either the
shared repository connection or the users individual repository
connection.
Preferences dialog box layout
Preferences dialog box layout

The Preferences dialog box includes the following:
Offer ability to delete dependent objects upon object deletion:
allows you to delete all the dependent objects before an object is
deleted.
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If you select this check box and then delete an object, the system
prompts you to confirm the deletion. If you confirm the deletion, the
Delete Objects dialog box opens, displaying all the dependents of the
object. For more information on the Delete Objects dialog box, see
Delete Objects dialog box layout.
If you do not select this check box and then delete an object, the system
prompts you to confirm the deletion. If you confirm the deletion, the
system displays a message that it cannot delete the object because the
object has dependents, and prompts you to choose to search for the
dependents. If you choose to search for the dependents, the Find dialog
opens, displaying the dependent objects.
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Show hidden objects: allows you to view hidden and embedded objects
in the object browser. The Show hidden objects check box in the
Display Options tab of the Find dialog box is enabled only if you select
this check box. This check box also governs the display of hidden
folders from the metadata when upgrading to a newer version of
Narrowcast Server.
Allow all Narrowcast Server administrators to access each
registered system on this machine: allows Narrowcast Administrator
to display either the shared repository connection or the users
individual repository connection. In earlier Narrowcast Server versions,
the repository connection information was stored in the registry keys
that are specific to your user. You created your own connections and the
connections that were created by other users were not visible. In
Narrowcast Server version 8.1.1, you can decide if you want to share
your repository connection information with other users. You can share
your repository connection information across various users by
selecting this check box. Once the setting is changed to read from the
system-specific registry keys, it overrides the entries in the user-specific
registry keys.
Important: You can edit the setting and create shared repository
connections only if you are a Windows NT administrator.
Note: By default, the Allow all Narrowcast Server administrators to
access each registered system on this machine check box is cleared. If a

user is not an NT administrator on the machine, this check box is disabled.
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Chapter 12 Preferences Dialog Box
SECTION III
How Do I...?
III
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Section III How Do I...?
C H A PT E R
13
13
Narrowcast
Administrator
Procedures
13.
Begin
This Getting Started Guide includes a built-in tutorial for getting you
started with MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server. Instructions for installing
and using the MicroStrategy Tutorial for Narrowcast Server can be found
in the following chapters of this guide:
Narrowcast Server System
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Narrowcast Server Services
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Narrowcast Server Subscription Portal
By reading this information and following along with the steps described
on your own computer, you can create a working Narrowcast Server
system including a Subscription Portal and a working service.
Change the appearance of the Narrowcast

Administrator display
Steps
1. To hide or display the status bar, select Status Bar from the View
menu. This option works as a toggle, hiding and displaying the Status Bar.
2.
To hide or display the folder list, select Folder List from the View
menu. This option works as a toggle, hiding and displaying the Folder List.
3. To display the folder contents differently, select one of the following

from the View menu:
Large Icons
Small Icons
List, which includes object names and icons in a compact format
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Details, which includes the owner, creation date, and other

information
4. To sort the items in the Folder List, select one of the following from
the View menu:
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By Name
By Type
By Date
By Owner
By Modified Date
By Status
Change the name and description of an object
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Steps
1. Right-click the object to update and select Names/Descriptions. The

Names and Descriptions dialog box opens.
2.
Click the Locale tab to work with.
3.
Change the Name.
4. Select from the drop-down list the Environment for which to change
the description.
5.
Modify the Description.
6.
Click OK to save the changes.
Change the status of an object

Steps
1.
Select the object for which you wish to change the status.
2. Click Activate/Deactivate on the toolbar. This acts as a toggle

switch. If the object is inactive, it activates it, and if it is active it
deactivates it.
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Chapter 13 Narrowcast Administrator Procedures
Check the impact of modifying an object

You can verify the impact of modifying an object by viewing its
dependents in a tree view.
Steps
1.
Start the Narrowcast Administrator.
2.
From the Edit menu, select Find. The Find dialog box opens.
3.
Click the Dependencies tab.
4.
On the Dependencies tab, select Object Tree. The Parent

dependencies dialog box opens.
5.
From the View menu, select required options, or click the required
icons on the toolbar.
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Create a service
Steps
1.
2.
Select the Applications folder.
3.
From the Edit menu, select New, then Service (Wizard).
4. Follow the steps in the Service Wizard to create your service. For
more information about using the Service Wizard, refer to Creating
Services in the MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server Application Designer
Guide.
Create a subscriber
Steps
1.
2. From the Tools menu, select Open Subscription Book. The

Subscription Book Editor opens.
3.
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From the Edit menu, select New User.
Check the impact of modifying an object
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4. Define the new user and click OK. For more information about
defining subscriber users, refer to The Subscription Book in the
Create a subscription
Steps
1.
2. To create a subscription, you must first locate the subscription set in

which you want to create it.
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If the subscription set is reusable, locate it by using the Narrowcast

Administrator object browser, then double-click the subscription set.
If the subscription set is embedded, locate it by using the Narrowcast

Administrator object browser to locate the service in which it was
created, editing that service in the Service Wizard, proceeding to the
Subscriptions and Schedules page, then double-clicking the
subscription set.
3. In the Static Subscription Set Editor, in the left pane containing

users and addresses available in the Subscription Book, select the address
you want to use in your subscription.
4.
From the Edit menu, select Subscribe Addresses.
5.
Click Save and Close to exit the Static Subscription Set Editor.
Delete an object with all its dependents

You can delete an object and its dependents recursively.
Steps
1.
2.
From the Tools menu, select Preferences. The Preferences dialog

box opens.
3.
Select the Offer ability to delete dependent objects upon object

deletion check box.
4.
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Select the Show hidden objects check box.
5.
Click OK to save the settings and close the Preferences dialog box.
6.
Right-click the object you want to delete and select Delete from the
shortcut menu. You are prompted to confirm the deletion.
7. Select Yes to confirm the deletion. The Delete Objects dialog box
opens. It displays all the dependent objects.
8.
Click Delete All to delete the selected object with all its dependents.
Execute (run) a service

Steps
1.
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2.
Using the Narrowcast Administrator object browser, locate the

service you want to execute and select it.
3.
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From the Edit menu, select Run Immediately.
4.
If the system is not currently running, you are asked whether you
would like to start the server. Click Yes.
5.
If the service uses more than one subscription set, you are asked to
choose which of the available subscription sets you want Narrowcast
Server to use when executing the service. Select the desired subscription
set and click OK.
Find an object based on its creation or modification

dates
Steps
1.
2.
3.
Click the Date tab.
4. On the Date tab, select the Limit search results based on creation
or last modified date check box.
5.
Make the appropriate selection:
Execute (run) a service
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To specify the dates between which an object was created or

modified, click Between the dates and select the appropriate dates.
To specify the number of days from the current day backward to

search, click During the previous ... day(s) and enter the number of
days.
To specify the number of months from the current month backward

to search, click During the previous ... month(s) and enter the
number of months.
6.
Click Find Now. The search executes and a list of the objects found
appears.
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Find an object based on its name and location

Steps
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1.
2.
3.
On the Name and Location tab, enter or select the name of the object
you want to find in the Named box.
4. For the location, click the browse button next to the Look in box. The
Browse for Folder dialog box opens.
5.
Select the location from which the search should start and click OK.
The path appears in the Look in box.
6. To search through all subfolders of the folder identified in the Look
in box, select the Include subfolders check box.
7.
appears.
Find an object that is used by another object

Steps
120
1.
2.
3.
4.
On the Dependencies tab, select the Search based on object

dependencies check box.
5.
Click the browse button to open the Object Browser dialog box.
6.
Select the object to use in the search and click OK.
7.
Click the Used by the selected object option.
8.
appears.
Find an object that uses another object

Steps
1.
2.
3.
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4.
On the Dependencies tab, select the Search based on object

dependencies check box.
5.
Click the browse button to open the Object Browser dialog box.
6.
Select the object to use in the search and click OK.
7.
Click the Uses the selected object option.
8.
appears.
Find a particular type of object

Steps
1.
2.
3.
Click the Type tab.
4.
On the Type tab, select the type or types of objects to find.
5.
appears.
Find an object that uses another object
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Launch Subscription Portal

Step
From the Microsoft Windows Start menu, select Programs,

MicroStrategy, Narrowcast Server, then Subscription Portal.
Note: This assumes that Narrowcast Server is installed on your computer.
If Narrowcast Server is running on a different computer, you need to get

the URL for the Subscription Portal from that computer.
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Refresh the Narrowcast Administrator console
D
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Step
From the View menu, select Refresh, or press F5.
Set preferences
Steps
1.
2. From the Tools menu, select Preferences. The Preferences dialog

box opens.
3.
Select the Offer ability to delete dependent objects upon object

deletion check box, which allows you to delete all the dependent objects
before the selected object is deleted.
4.
Select the Show hidden objects check box, which allows you to
view hidden and embedded objects in the object browser. This check box
also governs the display of hidden folders from the metadata when
upgrading to a newer version of Narrowcast Server.
5.
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Click OK to save the settings and close the Preferences dialog box.
Set the display locale

Steps
1. Double-click the system. The System Governing Settings dialog
box opens.
2.
On the Console tab, select a Locale from the drop-down list. This
locale is used on the Narrowcast Administrator display.
3.
Click OK.
Note: You must exit and return to the Narrowcast Administrator before
locale changes take effect. The console will then show object names and
descriptions for the selected locale.
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Set the service queue parameters
Steps
1.
Select the Scheduled Services object in the Administration folder.
2.
Click Set Queue Parameters on the toolbar. The Modify Schedule

Queue Parameters dialog box opens.
3. The Scheduled Services object lists each service with its next
execution time during the period specified here. Select the amount and unit
of time (minutes, hours, days, or weeks), or the number of executions.
4.
Select the maximum scheduled executions to display.
Note: A maximum of 999 executions is calculated for each service.
Set the display locale
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Start the Narrowcast Server system

Steps
From the System menu, select your system name, then select Start
System.
Stop the Narrowcast Server system

Steps
From the System menu, select your system name, then select Stop System.
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View object properties

Steps
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1.
Right-click the object and choose Properties from the menu.
2.
Information on the Properties dialog box includes
Type
Owner
Status (whether it is active, inactive, or invalid)
ID (the object identifier used by Narrowcast Server)
Creation Time
Modification Time
Description
View scheduled services

Steps
1.
Double-click the Administration folder to open it.
2. Click the Scheduled Services object in the object browser folder list.
Services scheduled to execute the soonest appear in the object browser
folder contents window. The services shown depend on the service queue
parameters specified.
Note: The information displayed is only a snapshot of the upcoming
services to be executed. Since the listing is not dynamic and does not
update to reflect recently executed services, it must be refreshed whenever
an accurate list of upcoming services is needed. However, the listing is
automatically updated whenever a service is activated or deactivated in the
object browser.
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View scheduled services
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SECTION IV
Appendixes
IV
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128
Appendixes
APPENDIX
User and Task

Documentation
A.
This section includes a set of tables to assist you in determining where to

look for information as you use MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server. The
tables were created according to anticipated search criteria; they are
presented according to those criteria, as follows:
by user, pointing to the information units that address that user
by tool, pointing to the information unit that addresses that tool
Note: Once you access the Help facility, you can search for procedural
information addressing a specific task by looking under How do I...? help.

Tasks are listed three ways: by role, by object, and in alphabetical order.
Reference by user
User
Information Units
Application administrator
Application Designer Guide

Online Help: Task by role - Application Designer
End user (portal)
Online Help (on screen)
Portal administrator

Online Help (on screen)
Application designer

Subscription
administrator

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User
Information Units
System administrator
Installation and Configuration Guide

System Administrator Guide
Online Help: Task by role - System Administrator
System developer
System Developer Guide

Online Help: Task by role - System Developer
Reference by tool
The information that follows is broken into three tables, each
corresponding to one of the following tool categories:
editors
wizards
dialogs
Reference by editor
Editor
Device
Information Units
Documented Under
Device Editor
Task by role - System Administrator

Task by object - Devices
Excel Document
Excel Document Editor
Task by role - Application Designer

Task by object - Documents
Imported
Document
Imported Document Editor

HTML Document
HTML Document Editor

Locale
Locale Editor

Task by object - Locales
Plaintext
Document

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Appendix A User and Task Documentation
Plaintext Document Editor
Editor
Service
Information Units
Documented Under
Service Editor

Task by object - Services
Static
Subscription Set
Editor
Subscription
Book
Static Subscription Set Editor

Task by object - Subscription Set
Subscription Book Editor

Task by object - Subscription Book
Subscription
Properties
Subscription Properties Editor

Task by object - Subscription
User Properties
User Properties Editor

Task by object - User properties
Reference by wizard
Wizard
Information Units
Documented Under
Configuration
System Configuration Wizard
Task by role - Application Designer,

System Administrator
Task by object - Configuration
Dynamic
Subscription Set

Dynamic Subscription Set

Wizard
Task by object - Subscription set

Information
Object
Information Object Wizard

Task by object - Information objects
Information
Source
Information Source Wizard

Task by object - Information sources
Installation
Installation Wizard
Task by role - Application Designer,

Task by object - Installation
Reference by tool
131
Wizard
Information Units
Documented Under
Portal
Administrator
Portal Administrator Wizard
Publication

Publication Wizard

Task by object - Publications
Schedule
Schedule Wizard

Task by object - Schedules
Service
Service Wizard

Task by object - Services
Static
Subscription Set

Static Subscription Set

Wizard
Task by object - Subscription sets
Reference by dialog box

Dialog
Information Units
Documented Under
Add Accounts
Add Accounts dialog box

Task by object - Account
Assign Role to
Account

Assign Role to Account dialog

box
Task by object - Account

Distribution
Manager
Configuration
Document
Formatting
Module - Excel
Document
Properties

Task by object - Distribution
manager
Document Formatting Module

- Excel dialog box
Task by object - Document

formatting module

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Distribution Manager
Configuration dialog box
Document Properties dialog

box
Dialog
Information Units
Documented Under
Execution Engine
Configuration
Execution Engine
Configuration dialog box

Task by object - Execution engine
Import File
Import File dialog box

Task by object - Imported files
Information
Object
Information Object dialog set

Task by object - Information object
Information
Source
Information Source dialog set

Task by object - Information source
Information
Transmission
Module - SMTP
Modify Schedule
Queue
Parameters
Name\Descriptio
n Entry
Information Transmission
Module dialog set
Task by object - Information

transmission module
Modify Schedule Queue

Parameters dialog box
Task by object - Schedule queue

Information Object dialog set

Task by object - Information object
Names and
Descriptions

Task by role - Application
Administrator, Application Designer,
Names and Descriptions

dialog box
Task by object - Properties

Narrowcast
Administrator
console

console
Task by object - Narrowcast

Administrator
New Document
New Document dialog box

Subscription Set
Properties

Subscription Set Properties

dialog box
Reference by tool
133
Dialog
Properties
Information Units
Documented Under
Properties dialog box

Task by object - Properties
Question Object
Selection
Question Object dialog set

Task by object - Question object
Question Object
Question Object dialog set

Task by object - Question object
Register
Document
Formatting
Module
Register
Information
Source Module
Register
Information
Transmission
Module
Register
Subscription
Book Module
Save Information
Source
Register Document
Formatting Module dialog box

formatting module
Register Information Source

Module dialog box
Task by object -Information source

module
Information Transmission
Module dialog set
Task by object - Information

transmission module
Register Subscription Book

Module dialog box
Task by object - Subscription book

module

Select
Information
Source
Subscription
Selection

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Subscription Selection dialog

box
Dialog
Information Units
Documented Under
System
Governing
Settings
System Governing Settings

dialog box
User Details
Information
Source

Task by object - System

Reference by tool
135
136
SECTION V
Glossary
137
138
Glossary
G L O S S A RY
MicroStrategy
Narrowcast Server
Glossary of Terms
account
Used to assign access privileges to users of Narrowcast Administrator.

Account permissions are based on granted roles, and each role has specific
privileges.
See also:
application administrator
application designer
subscription administrator
system administrator
address
Set of information that tells Narrowcast Server how to send services to a

particular subscriber. Each address can be associated with one and only
one login/user. Each address is defined to use a specific device.
See also device.
Address Display
Used to identify an address when displayed by receiving systems. For email delivery, this string is used to identify the e-mail address. For
example, johnsmith@microstrategy-tutorial.demo might
be displayed as John, Smith by the receiving e-mail client.
Address ID
An ID value used to identify individual addresses. Each address can be

subscribed to a subscription set multiple times.
139
administration object
The Narrowcast Server components that control the processing of

narrowcast messages, providing the means to acquire, format, and transmit
messages to recipients. These objects are created and configured by the
system administrator. Administration objects include
account
device
distribution manager (DM)
document formatter
execution engine (EE)
information source
information source module (ISM)
information transmitter
locale
Subscription Book
All Subscription Data
An XML string that returns all subscription information. It requires you to

select an XSL stylesheet to format the subscription information returned as
desired.
API
See application program interface (API).

Narrowcast Administrator user role. This role is designed for a Narrowcast

Administrator console user who performs some of the same tasks as the
application designer but has the ability to modify application objects
created by any Narrowcast Administrator account. This role is intended for
quality managers, development managers, configuration managers, and
other users requiring full access to all application objects.
See also application designer.
application designer

Administrator console user who develops and tests services, which include
documents, publications, schedules, and subscription sets. Also configures
and manages Subscription Portals that allow end users to subscribe to a
140
Glossary
variety of narrowcast services via the Web. Configures data sources,

content, and portal layout. Publishes services and device types, and selects
default devices for Subscription Portals. Specifies information source
properties and default site preferences. Also installs, configures, and
administers the development environment. Also administers subscribers
and subscriptions for development and testing purposes.
See also application administrator.
application object
The Narrowcast Server components that create and define the message,
define recipients, and schedule message transmission. These objects are
created by application designers and administered by the application
administrator. They include
document
imported file
information object
publication
question object
schedule
service
subscription set
application program interface (API)
A set of related functions that provides an interface between existing

applications and new applications. The API can be seen as a platform
consisting of a set of routines and functions on which new applications can
be built. The functions, or interfaces, are defined and published in a
standardized fashion.
See also service provider interface (SPI).
attachment
Any file that is included in an e-mail message. Attachments can originate

from outside Narrowcast Server (that is, any pre-existing file can be sent
as part of a service) or can be created by Narrowcast Server (that is,
Narrowcast Server can create an Excel attachment on the fly).
Glossary
141
attribute
A data level defined by the system architect and associated with one or
more columns in a database table. Attributes include things like Region,
Order, Customer, Age, Item, City, and Year. They provide a handle for
aggregation and filtering.
See also:
attribute element
attribute form
attribute element
Any of the unique values for an attribute or metric object. It might consist
of one or more attribute forms. For example, New York and Dallas are
elements of the attribute City, and January, February, and March are
elements of the attribute Month.
attribute form
One of several columns in an attribute that are different aspects of the same
thing. ID, Name, Last Name, Long Description, and Abbreviation could be
forms of an attribute called Customer. Every attribute supports its own
collection of forms.
authentication
The multiuser system process of validating user login information. A login

ID and password are compared against an authorized list, and if a match is
detected, specific access rights are granted to the user.
authentication object
Object used by an information source that specifies who the user is and the
security context within which that user will interact with that information
source. Contains the security information required to make a connection or
perform task execution. Depending on the information source module, it
should contain information such as the user login name and password. For
a MicroStrategy Information Source, the object is a MicroStrategy user.
See also personalization object.
backup domain controller (BDC)
A Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000 domain controller

that is currently running as a backup or caching controller for a Windows
domain. The backup domain controller can cache information from the
primary domain controller to improve system performance, and can also
take over for the primary domain controller in the event of a hardware or
software failure.
142
Glossary
See also:
primary domain controller (PDC)
domain controller
Windows domain
BDC
See backup domain controller (BDC).

Boolean
A logical value that is either TRUE or FALSE (sometimes implemented as

1 and 0, respectively).
browse
To scan for an element in a hierarchy. Generally, browsing implies

viewing, rather than changing information.
caching
A special data storage method in which recently accessed values are stored
for quick future access. Caching is used primarily to improve report
execution performance.
client
The type of computer that users employ to access applications in one or

more common server computers.
See also server.
clustering
A way of using machine resources to provide an efficient and robust

processing environment for a Narrowcast Server system. A cluster consists
of two or more machines, each machine running at least one Narrowcast
Server component. These components are
comma separated values (CSV)
A file format that allows tabular data to be represented within a plain text
file. Each line of text represents a row of data, and each value on a line
represents a field or cell within the row represented by that line. Cell values
Glossary
143
on a line are separated by commas and are typically enclosed in doublequotes ("). Files in CSV format can be loaded into Microsoft Excel and
other graphical editors for easy editing.
component
A computing unit that provides a specific piece of the Narrowcast Server

functionality and interacts with other components. Examples are the
Narrowcast Administrator, execution engine, distribution manager,
MicroStrategy Logging Server, Object Repository, and Subscription Book
Repository.
console user
A user who works with the Narrowcast Administrator console, managing

subscriptions, developing services, and administering the system, in
contrast to an end user.
See also end user.
content
The information in services, including all reports, miscellaneous text, and

file attachments that are accessible to the user. Content is dynamic in the
sense that personalization, error handling conditions, and device settings
all influence the overall content output and format of each service.
CSV
See comma separated values (CSV).

data source name
Sometimes referred to as a DSN, it is a pointer to a specific database. The

information it contains varies depending on the particular database server,
but it usually contains the host machine name or IP address, instance name,
and database name.
data warehouse
1) A database, typically very large, used to access a companys historical

data stores. Used for decision support or business intelligence within an
organization, it allows for data organization and coordinated updates and
loads.
2) A copy of transaction data specifically structured for query, retrieval,
and analysis.
See also operational data store.
144
Glossary
database connection
This stores all database-specific connection information such as DSN,

database type, driver mode, and SQL execution mode as well as
connection caching information.
database instance
1) Database server software running on a particular machine. Though it is

sometimes technically possible to have more than one instance running on
a machine, there is usually only one instance per machine.
2) The logical definition of a database according to MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server.
database login
The login ID and password that MicroStrategy Intelligence Server uses to

log in to a particular database on behalf of a user.
See also login ID.
default user preference
For each information object or question object in the system, a user can
have any number of user preferences. One of the user preferences for each
information object or question object can be marked as a users default
preference, that is, this users default answer to that information object or
question object. When a subscription is created and the list of user
preferences is displayed for each information object or question object, the
default user preference for every question object (if any) is preselected. If
any question object is hidden in the service to which the user is
subscribing, Subscription Portal automatically uses the users default user
preference as the answer to the hidden question object (assuming there is
one for that question object).
See also:
question object
user preference
delivery window
Specifies the hours during which messages can be transmitted to the

associated address. The time zone specifies which international time zone
should be used as a reference for the selected times. Time zones take
regional customs such as daylight savings into account.
Glossary
145
device
Administration object used to represent a message receiving technology

employed by end users. Provides a specification for how a publication
should be formatted and transmitted to a specific receiver type. For
example, an Outlook 98 Device might specify that the first document in the
publication must be plain text and no longer than 128 characters. It might
also specify that the second document could be either plain text or HTML,
and if it is HTML, image references can be embedded.
A device includes specifications for both formatting and transmission.
Devices are used in the definition of addresses to specify what information
transmitter will be used to transmit content to those addresses and how that
content should be formatted and packaged.
See also:
address
content
Device ID
Numeric ID value used to indicate the delivery method and device that a
recipient prefers. Devices are specified for subscriptions in dynamic
subscription sets by providing the Device ID for each recipient. Device IDs
are found under the properties for each device within Narrowcast
Administrator. For example, one subscription might specify Outlook 2000,
while another recipient might specify a Nokia phone. One subscriber then
only receives e-mail content formatted for Outlook while the other
subscriber only receives wireless content formatted for this phone.
DFM
See document formatting module (DFM).

directory server
A directory service provider running on a particular machine. Directory

servers are often part of e-mail servers, and are used to store user names,
addresses, and authentication information. Unlike the Subscription Book,
however, they are neither intended nor well-suited to store and retrieve
subscriptions. Directory servers usually enable client connections through
the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP), and are often used for
centralized user authentication across many systems.
146
Glossary
See also:
Subscription Book
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
display locale
Controls which object names are shown in Narrowcast Administrator.

Since objects can have multiple names to support end users in more than
one language, one name must be chosen for display in Narrowcast
Administrator. The display locale serves this role. The locale selected for
this purpose should be the one that the Narrowcast Administrator needs to
use most frequently when defining objects.
See also:
locale
execution locale
selection locale
system locale
user locale
1) Delivery Engine object that receives service execution triggers,

distributes service data to the execution engines for processing, designates
failover execution engines, and tracks the status of other system
components. If the primary distribution manager fails, one of the backup
distribution managers becomes the primary and takes over processing
where the failed component stopped.
2) Piece of software or component used to instantiate a distribution
manager object.
3) Machine being used to instantiate the distribution manager object.
distribution set
A schedule and subscription set pair, created during service definition.

Specifies when and to whom Narrowcast Server will send a service.
See also:
schedule
subscription set
DM
See distribution manager (DM).
Glossary
147
document
Complete, formatted object ready to be transmitted by Narrowcast Server.

Each document has a specific type, such as HTML, plain text, or Excel, or
it might be derived from an imported file. It contains both the static
information from the document template and the dynamic content from
document elements.
See also:
document element
document formatter
document formatting module (DFM)
document template
document element
Piece of a document containing dynamic content that is generated when

that document is executed as part of a service. Consists of at least one
information object, plus error-handling instructions. Might include an XSL
stylesheet selection, depending on the type of information object chosen.
document formatter
Transforms the raw data of the information objects and the structure of the
document templates into a complete, formatted document. The operations
of document formatters include such tasks as XSL processing and
transformation, XML merging, character replacement, and string padding.
Formatting rules might account for device characteristics, locale
definition, and other recipient-specific formatting control information.
A piece of software, or a component, that performs the work required for

turning document templates and information objects into documents. The
formatting process can use device characteristics, locale definition, and
other recipient-specific control information.
document template
Provides the structure and layout for a document. For example, an Excel
document template includes the basic workbook structure, any predefined
macros, and static worksheet content.
domain
See:
Windows domain
Internet domain
148
Glossary
domain controller
A computer running either Microsoft Windows NT Server or Microsoft

Windows 2000 that has been configured to operate as an authentication
source for users and machines. Each domain controller stores the set of
Windows accounts that have been created to provide access to a domain,
as well as the set of computers running Windows and other devices that
have been registered in the domain. When a user logs in to Microsoft
Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000, the operating system makes an
authentication request to the domain controller in order to authenticate the
user.
See also:
Windows domain
driver
A hardware device or a program that controls or regulates another device.

See also ODBC.
DSN
See data source name.

dynamic content
Document content that is dynamically retrieved at service execution time

and that can be personalized for each message recipient. Dynamic content
is created using content information objects. This content changes
depending on the results returned by the information object and can return
different results for different subscribers. For example, a weekly report
returns different information from week to the next, and each subscriber
might request different content in his report. Examples include a
MicroStrategy report, a Web query, a SQL query, or content from an
external system.
See also static content.
Glossary
149
dynamic subscription set
A subscription object containing at least one piece of subscription

information retrieved from an information object instead of from the
Subscription Book Repository. Useful for changing or alert-driven
subscription sets. Some dynamic subscription sets acquire all their
information from a single information object. Others retrieve only the
Subscription ID from the information object while the rest of the
subscription information is acquired from the Subscription Book
Repository. Still others combine both methods.
See also:
segmentation information object
Subscription ID
subscription information object
subscription set
EE
See execution engine (EE).

end user
A subscriber, the person receiving messages from Narrowcast Server

service, in contrast to a console user.
See also console user.
1) Delivery Engine object that controls the execution of narrowcast

messages, called services. It receives service segments from the
distribution manager, then determines the content and subscriber
information with input from other components, including the Subscription
Book Module and information source modules.
2) A piece of software or component that is used to instantiate an execution
engine object.
3) A machine being used to instantiate an execution engine object.
execution locale
Determines how content is generated for the users who receive it. When a
document is created, the application designer can specify that the
document should be executed in a specific execution locale. The definition
of the locale then controls how information should be gathered, formatted,
packaged and delivered for this document. For example, an application
designer might define a French and a German locale to gather information
150
Glossary
in the appropriate languages. If one of these locales is chosen as the

execution locale for a document, all dynamic content in this document is
retrieved using the corresponding language.
See also:
locale
display locale
selection locale
system locale
user locale
expiration date
Date a user or address becomes inactive. If a user is inactive, no services

are sent to any addresses for this user. If an address is inactive, no services
are sent to this address.
filter
A MicroStrategy object that specifies a set of criteria used to limit the

amount of data returned on a report.
folder
Used for grouping and storing a set of objects that are related such as
documents, publications, services, or all objects used by a particular
service.
governing parameters
Designed to keep the execution profile of a system within acceptable

limits. Protects the system from overconsumption of resources such as
memory, disk space, network capacity, and CPU cycles.
graph
A graphical image display of data. Sometimes referred to as a chart.

See also report.
grid
A spreadsheet-style two-dimensional display of data.

See also table.
Glossary
151
idle state
Functionally equivalent to the stopped state of Narrowcast Server, except

that all loaded components remain in memory and complete execution of
any currently running services before idling server. Not receiving any new
requests.
imported file
A file imported from outside of Narrowcast Server and stored in its

original format. For example, a text file contains only plain text and an
HTML file contains only HTML. Storing information in the file format
preserves the integrity of the original data since files cannot be modified
with Narrowcast Server. Files cannot be directly included in publications;
they must first be associated with imported documents, which serve as
containers to allow them to be attached to publications. Imported files can
also be used as stylesheets or templates for documents.
incremental fetch
A feature that returns a large set of information, such as subscriptions, to

the console in numerous small pieces as those pieces are needed. This
ensures that network traffic and client processing is kept to a minimum.
information delivery platform
Server that, whenever certain conditions are in effect, acquires information

from a variety of sources, personalizes that information, formats it, and
transmits it through a variety of technologies.
information object
Application object containing a set of instructions that specify how to get

data from a particular type of information source. Defined by using an
information source module, it is set up when a service is built and executed
when the service that uses it is run. Plays one of three roles: content,
subscription, or segmentation.
See also:
information object role
information object type
information source
information object role
Indicates how the information supplied by the information object is used

by Narrowcast Server. Three roles are available:
152
Glossary
Content: supplies information for the document

Subscription: provides a list of subscribers and related subscription
information for dynamic subscription sets
Segment: specifies the first and last subscriptions for each segment of
the subscription set
See also information object.
information object type
Indicates the format of the data returned by the information object and how
Narrowcast Server can use this data. Three types are available:
Text: returns a plaintext string that is inserted directly into a document's
content.
XML: returns an XML string that must be combined with an XSL
stylesheet to produce content appropriate for each type of document.
Image: returns an image in JPG format that is inserted directly into the
document's content.
See also information object.
information source
Contains information about how to connect to a specific source of content

using an information source module. The Delivery Engine requests and
acquires information from information sources. An information source
uses personalization objects for personalization.
See also:
personalization object
An executable process that receives requests for information and returns

that information as well-defined data. It defines and processes information
objects. One ISM can be used to load various information sources. For
example, an ISM can be set up to access MicroStrategy Desktop projects
and can be used for any MicroStrategy Desktop projects you wish to use
as an information source.
See also:
information object
information source
Glossary
153
information transmission module (ITM)
An executable process or component designed to support a particular

delivery capability. For example, MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server
provides the E-Mail (SMTP) Module, which is used for the E-Mail
(SMTP) Information Transmitter. The ITM indicates what documents and
document types it supports, as well as the arrangement of these documents.
Also, the ITM provides a user interface for defining device characteristics.
Those characteristics are stored in the Object Repository and retrieved by
the information transmission module to control packaging and delivery.
See also:
device
document
publication
Administration object that delivers formatted content, in the form of

publications, to end user devices. An information transmitter might serve
the purpose of sending e-mail via SMTP or wireless messages using an
SMS gateway. In general, an information transmitter supports one type of
of transmission technology, such as SMTP, FTP, HTTP, or ODBC, but this
is not a requirement. Information transmitters depend on information
transmission modules.
See also:
device
document
publication
Internet domain
A registered name on the Internet, such as microstrategy.com. Internet

domains include information about available resources such as Web
servers (for example, www.microstrategy.com), mail servers, and other
Internet-based services.
See also SMTP.
ISM
See information source module (ISM)
154
Glossary
ITM
See information transmission module (ITM).

Java database connectivity
A Java API that enables Java programs to execute SQL statements. This
allows Java programs to interact with any SQL-compliant database. Since
nearly all relational database management systems (DBMSs) support
SQL, and because Java itself runs on most platforms, JDBC makes it
possible to write a single database application that can run on different
platforms and interact with different DBMSs. JDBC is similar to ODBC,
but is designed specifically for Java programs, whereas ODBC is
language-independent.
SequeLink
SequeLink; complete, end-to-end solution for configuring and managing

data access across virtually any number of data stores, operating systems
and deployment options.
SequeLink machine
The machine where SequeLink is installed. This machine can be

independent from the rest of the Subscription Portal.
SequeLink services
SequeLink creates two NT services SLAgent 54, which is the

Administrator, and SLSocket54, which is the Server.
JDBC
See Java database connectivity.

LDAP
See Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

LDIF
See Lightweight Directory Interchange Format (LDIF).

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
An open standard with which client computers communicate with

directory service providers. Client machines make a connection to a
particular logical directory on a particular physical directory server.
See also directory server.
Glossary
155
Lightweight Directory Interchange Format (LDIF)
File format that is exported from LDAP directory services.

locale
Specifies what regional characteristics to apply to data and formatting,

including number format, date format, time format, and character sets.
Your system might support multiple locales.
See also:
display locale
execution locale
selection locale
system locale
user locale
Locale ID
Numeric ID value used to indicate the locale that a recipient prefers.

Locales are specified for subscriptions in dynamic subscription sets by
providing the Locale ID. Locale IDs are found under the properties for
each locale within Narrowcast Administrator. For example, one
subscription might specify French, while another recipient might specify
German. One subscriber then only receives French content while the other
subscriber only receives German content.
login ID
Login identifier, typically supplied with a password.

MAPI
See messaging application program interface (MAPI).

messaging application program interface (MAPI)
Allows Windows applications to send e-mail messages through external email programs. Designed primarily to connect client applications such as
Microsoft Outlook to mail servers such as Microsoft Exchange Server. Not
intended for server-to-server communications.
156
Glossary
MicroStrategy Logging Client
Service that receives logging messages from Narrowcast Server

components and relays them to the MicroStrategy Logging Server.
Logging messages include segment status information, statistics
information, and error event notification.
See also MicroStrategy Logging Server.
Server that collects logging messages from MicroStrategy Logging Clients

and distributes them to consumers. Logging messages include segment
status information, statistics information, and error event notification.
See also MicroStrategy Logging Client.
mid-tier slicing
See:
information object
personalized page execution
MIME
See multipurpose Internet mail extensions (MIME).

multipart MIME
Part of the MIME specification; the inclusion of more than one body part
in a body section within a MIME message. This is typically used to enable
the inclusion of separate text and HTML message bodies, embedded
images, and other body parts within an e-mail message.
See also multipurpose Internet mail extensions (MIME).
multipurpose Internet mail extensions (MIME)
The specification as defined by RFC 1521 (maintained by the Internet

Engineering Task Force at http://www.ietf.org/) for encoding message
contents, attached files, embedded images, and other embedded files into
a single (typically 7-bit) data string. Many modern e-mail clients support
MIME. Because the MIME specification includes encoding of message
contents, it allows for messages that use character sets other than USASCII.
See also multipart MIME.
Glossary
157
Narrowcast Administrator account
An object that allows a user to log in to MicroStrategy Narrowcast

Administrator. It is created within Narrowcast Administrator, and its
definition is stored in the Object Repository of a system. Each Narrowcast
Administrator account is based on a specific Windows account. When a
new Narrowcast Server system is created, two Narrowcast Administrator
accounts are automatically added to it, one of which is the local
Administrator Windows account for the machine that was used to create
the system. Narrowcast Administrator accounts can have various
privileges, which control what Narrowcast Administrator users can do.
These privileges include:
service design
application administration
system administration
subscription administration
See also Windows account.
Narrowcast Server system
A collection of machines, software components, and objects that

collectively provide the ability to process and deliver narrowcast messages
to recipients. The objects that make up a system are divided into two
categories, administration objects and application objects.
See also:
application object
clustering
component
object
The basic building block with which systems and applications are
constructed. An object is an entity that is created by Narrowcast
Administrator and Subscription Portal users, and is used to define a
system's configuration, to construct an application, or to define user
personalization. Each object definition is stored in an information
repository such as the Narrowcast Server Object Repository. Examples of
objects include information transmitters, devices, information sources, and
locales, which combine to control how a system should operate, and
services, documents, and information objects, which work together to
control how applications deliver information.
158
Glossary
ODBC
See open database connectivity.

ODBC driver
Software interface to an ODBC service provider.

See also open database connectivity.
open database connectivity
An open standard with which client computers to communicate with

relational database servers. Client machines make a connection to a
particular logical database, on a particular physical database server, using
a particular ODBC driver.
See also ODBC driver.
operational data store
A database that typically stores transactional data generated by and used in

the conducting of business operations. The data can be used as a trigger
condition or as content.
page-by
In the context of a MicroStrategy Information Source, a means of breaking

report results into separate pages and treating each individual page as a
viewable result. Used in personalized page execution mode.
See also:
prompt
question object
password
Preserves user account integrity in self-subscription applications. Both a

password and a password hint can be associated with each user.
PDC
See primary domain controller (PDC).
Glossary
159
personalization
The process whereby each subscriber receives data that has been filtered
and formatted specifically for him. Narrowcast Server uses locale,
subscription, and personalization objects to personalize services.
See also:
locale
subscription
An object handled by information sources for personalization. The three

types are
authentication
preference
security
The combination of the authentication, preference, and security objects
control the data that is returned by an information object.
See also:
authentication object
information object
information source
preference object
question object
security object
personalization set
A combination of locale, authentication, security, and preference objects to

achieve personalized information, or information filtered and formatted
specifically for a subscriber.
In the context of the MicroStrategy Information Source Module, each page

of a report is used as a result for one or more subscribers.
See also:
page-by
personalization set
160
Glossary
personalized report execution
In the context of the MicroStrategy Information Source Module, each

result is derived from the separate execution of a report. Answers to
prompts and MicroStrategy users both impact personalization in this
execution mode.
See also personalization set.
physical address
The address location used to locate recipients and deliver messages. For email delivery, this is a standard SMTP address in the form
recipient@domain.xxx. No physical address is required for delivery to the
Subscription Portal. The physical address required by other information
transmitters depends on the individual information transmitter.
PIN
The personal identification number required by some delivery methods. A

PIN is not used for e-mail, wireless, or Subscription Portal delivery. The
use of a PIN by other information transmitters depends on the individual
information transmitter.
plug-in
An additional processing component integrated with MicroStrategy

products. For example, advanced statistical and financial functions can be
added as additional processing components.
See also:
service provider interface (SPI)
Subscription Book Module
portal
A site that offers a centralized access point for finding and managing
information via a variety of different services. It offers a broad array of
resources and services, such as e-mail, discussion forums, search engines,
and other online services. A portal is accessible through the use of a Web
browser (for example, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, and the like).
See also:
Subscription Portal
Glossary
161
preference object
Type of personalization object that uses the answers to question objects to

specify the information the user wants. At run-time, the preference object
is applied to information objects to personalize them. Preferences are
usually controlled by the user, but can be set by the subscription
administrator for the purposes of correction or enhancement. For a
MicroStrategy Information Source, preference objects are prompt
answers.
See also:
question object
The Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000 domain

controller that is currently running as the primary controller for the
domain. The primary domain controller is the authority on all
authentication and security information in a Windows domain.
See also:
domain controller
Windows domain
privilege
See role.
project
In the context of the MicroStrategy Information Source module, a

MicroStrategy Intelligence Server project.
project source
Information that defines a project, such as metadata connections and the

location of the warehouse. One project source can contain many projects.
The administration tools found at the project source level monitor and
administer all projects in the project source.
162
Glossary
prompt
In the context of the MicroStrategy Information Source Module, a set of

questions that can be answered to apply parameters to the execution of a
report. Prompt answers are used as preference objects and are part of
personalization. Examples include attribute elements and selection of
metrics.
See also:
preference object
question object
proxy server
A server that sits between a client application, such as a Web browser, and
a real server. Enhanced the security of your intranet by preventing
unauthorized access by someone on the Internet. Also enhances
performance by caching recently accessed Web pages, which minimizes
download time.
publication
Ordered collection of documents that completely defines the content of a

service for a specific set of devices. Each publication is used for exactly
one locale and one information transmission module. A publication
specifies
an information transmitter
at least one device
a set of documents
See also:
device
document
Glossary
163
question object
Type of personalization object that specifies the questions to ask the user
to determine the users preferences. Answers are used as preference
objects. For a MicroStrategy Information Source, a question object is
defined by choosing a report, and the questions to be asked depend on the
definition of that report.
In personalized page execution mode, the question asked of the user is
what page to return, using the page-by function. In personalized report
execution mode, the questions include all prompt objects defined on the
selected report except the security object prompt.
See also:
page-by
preference object
report
In the context of a MicroStrategy Information Source module, a

MicroStrategy object that defines the parameters used to gather results and
the formatting options used to display the results. When a report is run, its
corresponding SQL is run against the data warehouse server and the results
are cross-tabulated and formatted according to the wishes of the report
designer. Narrowcast Server can insert report results directly into services,
and can sometimes (in the case of Excel) apply almost all formatting
settings as well. Reports are used for information objects and question
objects.
See also:
information object
page-by
prompt
question object
report resolution
In the context of a MicroStrategy Information Source module, the process

of filling placeholders such as prompts with information determined at run
time, such as prompts.
164
Glossary
role
In a Narrowcast Server environment, facility of the security subsystem that

defines which objects a given user can create and which operations he can
perform. The different MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server roles are
system administrator, who manages the entire system
application administrator, who administers application objects only
application designer, who develops application objects only and cannot
modify objects owned by other users
subscription administrator, who manages the Subscription Book
portal administrator, who configures and manages Subscription Portals
SBM
See Subscription Book Module.

SBR
See Subscription Book Repository.

schedule
Sets the times or frequencies a service is executed, representing a

recurrence pattern, not a fixed date, a service is executed. It is defined
relative to time zones to account for daylight savings, date boundaries, and
other time zone-specific issues. To allow subscribers throughout the world
to receive services at specific local times, a service can contain more than
one schedule.
SDK
See Software Development Kit (SDK).

security
Data and system protection from incorrect or inappropriate use or misuse

by persons or other systems.
Glossary
165
security object
Type of personalization object that specifies what information the user

should have access to. Security filtering criteria applied to an information
source during subscriber interaction. For a MicroStrategy Information
Source, it is a response to a prompt in the form of a single attribute element.
For each user, there is only one security object per information source.
See also:
security object prompt
security object prompt
In the context of a MicroStrategy Information Source Module, this prompt

specifies which attribute in the project corresponds to a user, or subscriber.
The answer to this prompt is used as a security object in MicroStrategy.
See also:
prompt
security object
segment
A group of subscriptions within a subscription set. Subscription sets are

divided into multiple pieces, or segments, so that the work required to
execute a service for all subscriptions can be distributed across multiple
systems to allow parallel work processing. The segment size is set as part
of the service definition and controls how large the work packages are that
are sent to each execution engine.
segmentation
The task of dividing the subscriptions within a subscription set into equalsized groups or segments and ensuring that all subscription information
objects and content information objects return only information for
subscriptions in the current segment. Subscription sets are always
segmented using Subscription ID, and the boundaries of segments are
specified as Subscription ID values. For the MicroStrategy Information
Source, segmentation can either be performed automatically by
Narrowcast Server, or the application designer can control how the
subscription set is segmented and how subscription information objects
and content information objects constrain the information they return.
Segmentation ID
See Subscription ID.
166
Glossary
segmentation information object
A special type of information object that returns the segment boundary

values for a subscription set. Boundary values are always given in the form
of Subscription ID values corresponding to the first Subscription ID in
each segment. Segment information objects are used only for dynamic
subscription sets.
See also:
information object
segmentation prompt
A prompt that is used to control the information returned in a report used

as a content information object or subscription information object.
Segmentation can be performed automatically by Narrowcast Server, or,
alternatively, prompts can be added to content information objects and
subscription information objects to limit the number of subscriptions and
content pages returned to only provide information for subscriptions in the
current segment.
selection locale
Determines which users should receive which content. When a user is

created, the subscription administrator (via Narrowcast Administrator) or
the user (via Subscription Portal) selects a locale for which he will receive
content. When a publication is created, the application designer chooses a
selection locale that determines which users receive the content in a
publication. If a user chooses Locale A, the application designer must
choose Locale A as the selection locale for a publication for the user to
receive this publication.
See also:
locale
display locale
execution locale
system locale
user locale
server
In a client/server computing environment, the server receives and

processes all requests that come from the client.
See also client.
Glossary
167
service
1) A Windows service is a computer program configured to start

automatically when the operating system boots.
2) A Narrowcast Server service is an object that provides all the
information needed for the Delivery Engine to correctly generate
messages. That information includes the delivery conditions, content,
personalization rules, and subscriptions for sending messages for a
particular purpose. For example, one service delivers a daily message
containing a stock portfolio update, while another delivers alerts to
wireless devices when the value of a stock changes significantly. A service
comprises at least one schedule-subscription pair and a set of publications.
service designer

Administrator console user who develops and tests services, which include
documents, publications, schedules, and subscription sets. Also configures
and manages Subscription Portals that allow end users to subscribe to a
variety of narrowcast services via the Web. Configures data sources,
content, and portal layout. Publishes services and device types, and selects
default devices for Subscription Portals. Specifies information source
properties and default site preferences. Also installs, configures, and
administers the development environment. Also administers subscribers
and subscriptions for development and testing purposes.
See also application administrator.
The specification for a set of related functions that can be implemented by

a software developer to augment or enhance the capabilities of a software
product or platform. This allows a developer to enable his software to be
called by an existing piece of software.
See also:
plug-in
service queue
In the Narrowcast Administrator, a visual representation of upcoming

services to be processed.
slice
One page of content in a multi-page report executed using personalized

page execution.
168
Glossary
slicing
The process in which Narrowcast Server divides a single multi-page report

into multiple individual pages of content that are used as personalized
content for individual subscriptions.
slicing attribute
A slicing attribute is the attribute used to divide multi-page reports

executed using personalized page execution mode into multiple individual
pages of content. The first attribute on the page axis is used as the slicing
attribute.
SMPP
Abbreviation for short message peer to peer protocol, the specification for
the interface between short message entities such as information service
applications like MicroStrategys Narrowcast Server and the SMSC. This
is the most widely used protocol for sending SMS messages.
SMS
Abbreviation for short message service, a text messaging service to mobile

phones that is popular throughout Europe. This services provides a way to
send a short text message to the display on a specific cellular phone. An
SMS message is typically 160 alphanumeric characters in length.
SMSC
Abbreviation for short message service center, the message handling

system operated by the wireless service provider that is capable of
receiving SMS messages from MicroStrategys Narrowcast Server and
forwarding those messages to mobile phones in the network. The SMSC is
the gateway between MicroStrategys Narrowcast Server and the wireless
service provider.
SMTP
Abbreviation for simple mail transfer protocol, a TCP/IP-based protocol

used to send and receive e-mail messages across the Internet. SMTP e-mail
addresses are composed of an e-mail account name (for example, info)
and an Internet domain name (for example, microstrategy.com),
separated by the @ symbol.
See also:
Internet domain
physical address
address
Glossary
169
Software Development Kit (SDK)
A distribution package of application program development software and

the instructions for its use.
See also:
SPI
See service provider interface (SPI).

SQL
See Structured Query Language.

static content
Document content that is contained directly in the document and does not
change from one service execution to the next. It cannot be personalized
for different subscribers. Examples include an HTML template, a static
URL, and so on.
See also dynamic content.
static subscription set
Application object that retrieves subscription information from the

Subscription Book Repository. Useful when the set of end user addresses
that should receive a service does not change.
See also subscription set.
Structured Query Language
The relational database language standardized in 1986 by the American

National Standards Institute (ANSI) and used to read data from tables in a
relational database and to manipulate both their structure and their data.
style
See device.
subscriber
A person who receives content from at least one service.

Each individual who receives messages from Narrowcast Server has a
login that provides password-controlled access to subscription and user
preference information for the individual and his addresses. It is the
subscription of at least one of these addresses to a particular service that
allows the individual to receives messages.
170
Glossary
subscription
An enrollment in a service, composed of one user and one address.

Narrowcast Administrator user role.This role is designed for a console user

who manages the Subscription Book, including users, addresses, and
subscription sets. Also installs, configures, and administers the
Subscription Book Module.
See also Subscription Book.
Subscription Book
Contains all users, addresses, and subscription sets. Stored in the

Subscription Book Repository.
See also subscription set.
A software component that provides the ability to create, edit, and use the
objects within a Subscription Book. Those objects include users,
addresses, and subscriptions.
See also Subscription Book Repository.
Stores all subscription information, including addresses and user

information.
Subscription ID
The ID value used by Narrowcast Server to segment subscription sets. It is

also called Segmentation ID. This value is required for dynamic
subscription sets.
Glossary
171
subscription information
All information related to an individual subscription. This information

allows Narrowcast Server to deliver services to individual recipients in the
desired manner. Subscription information includes the following:
Subscription ID
Address ID
Address Display
Device ID
Locale ID
physical address
PIN
Subscription ID
Subscription Set ID
User ID
All Subscription Data
Unique Message Identifier
subscription information object
Retrieves subscription information for a given segment.

See also:
information object
segmentation
Subscription Portal
A feature of Narrowcast Server that allows end users to subscribe to any of

a series of Narrowcast Server services offered through a Web-based portal.
This enables end users to experience personalized and proactive
interactions on a one-to-one basis via any medium (Web, wireless, voice)
based on user-defined permissions and preferences.
See also:
portal
172
Glossary
subscription set
A collection of addresses that are returned by a Subscription Book Module

after passing in a subscription set object. Subscription sets are either static
or dynamic.
See also:
static subscription set
subscription set object
Subscription Set ID
An ID value used to identify each subscription set.

subscription set object
Application object that defines how to retrieve or modify a subscription

set. Does not actually contain the subscription set, but provides
instructions for how a Subscription Book Module should retrieve it.
See also:
subscription set
Narrowcast Administrator user role. This role is designed for a console

user who performs the following tasks:
installs and configures the information delivery platform
migrates system objects and application objects
monitors, analyzes, and tunes the system to ensure the smooth and
balanced operation of the decision support or business intelligence
environment
performs troubleshooting and error recovery
system developer
Narrowcast Administrator user role. This role is designed for a

MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server user who employs the SDK and embeds
MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server technology into another product or
application.
Glossary
173
system locale
A special locale in which all objects are guaranteed to have a name. Since
objects can be given names in more than one locale, it is necessary to have
one locale where a name is always exists. The system locale serves this
role. The system locale cannot be deleted, but its settings can be modified
to control execution.
See also:
locale
display locale
execution locale
selection locale
user locale
system tables
The table or set of tables containing the names of, and information about
all non-temporary tables in a data warehouse.
table
The primary physical component of a data warehouse, logically consisting

of rows and columns of data. Also refers to a tabular, or grid, display
format.
text container
See document.
transmitter
See information transmitter.

Unique Message Identifier
An ID value that is unique for all messages delivered by any Narrowcast

Server system. It can be used for message tracking purposes to determine
which recipients have received and opened messages. This is typically
done by creating a URL containing this ID value that refers to a zero-size
image on a Web server that is configured to track references to this URL.
174
Glossary
user
Object that tracks general user information. First, users instantiate the
concept of an account, allowing a login ID and password to be associated
with a user, thus enabling the creation of self-subscription interfaces that
can enforce authentication requirements. Second, users allow all
personalization settings to be defined at the account level. Finally, users
provide the structure necessary to allow one user to have multiple
addresses, such as a pager address and an e-mail address, so that
personalization can be applied consistently across them.
See also:
end user
console user
user account
In a multiuser computer system, an established means for an individual to

gain access to the system and its resources. Usually created by the system
administrator, a user account consists of information about the user, such
as password, rights, and permissions.
user category
See also:
service designer
system developer
User ID
An ID value used to identify individual users. Each user can be subscribed

to a subscription set multiple times.
user information
The collection of information, including first name, last name, address, zip
code, and other personal information, that changes from one subscriber to
the next.
Glossary
175
user locale
Defines which content the user receives. This is set up by either the
subscription administrator via Narrowcast Administrator or by the user via
Subscription Portal. The user locale must match the selection locale.
See also:
locale
display locale
execution locale
selection locale
system locale
user preference
A saved, reusable answer to a question object. Each user preference has a

name and description, belongs to only one user, and can be used as the
answer to only one question object. The same user preference can be used
as the answer in any number of subscriptions for that user, but only as an
answer to the question object that is used to create the user preference. A
user can have any number of user preferences for each question object in
the system. When a subscription is created, for each question object that is
displayed, the user sees a list of all the user preferences that correspond to
that question object so that he can select and reuse one of them.
See also:
default user preference
question object
subscription
UUencode
A set of algorithms for converting files into a series of 7-bit ASCII

characters that can be transmitted over the Internet. Originally, UUencode
stood for Unix-to-Unix encode, but it has since become a universal
protocol used to transfer files among different platforms such as Unix,
Windows, and Macintosh. UUencoding is especially popular for sending
e-mail attachments. Nearly all e-mail applications support UUencoding for
sending attachments and UUdecoding for receiving attachments. In
Narrowcast Server, only attachments are encoded using these algorithms.
The rest of the message (headers and text body) are not encoded at all.
176
Glossary
virtual directory
A collection of Web pages grouped by Microsoft Internet Information

Server. A virtual directory has a corresponding physical directory on the
Web server machine, which contains the ASPs, HTML files, and other files
for this virtual directory.
Windows account
An object that allows a user to log in to Microsoft Windows NT or

Microsoft Windows 2000. Its definition is stored on the primary domain
controller as part of a Windows domain definition. Each Narrowcast
Administrator account is based on a specific Windows Account.
See also:
domain controller
Windows domain
Narrowcast Administrator account
Windows domain
A logical grouping of users, computers, and devices (such as printers and

scanners) that are connected to a network. It is maintained on primary and
backup domain controllers, and administered using the administrative
tools that are installed with Microsoft Windows NT Server and Microsoft
Windows 2000.
See also:
Windows account
domain controller
WYSIWYG
Pronounced wizzy-wig, stands for what you see is what you get. A
WYSIWYG application is one that enables you to see on the display screen
exactly what appears when the document is printed. This differs, for
example, from word processors that are incapable of displaying different
fonts and graphics on the display screen even though the formatting codes
have been inserted into the file.
XML
Abbreviation for Extensible Markup Language. Provides a standard, or set

of rules, for representing data within a document. Like a database table,
XML contains both data and information about that data. It is stored as
Glossary
177
tags, which provide information about how to display data, and attributes,
which provide characteristics about a tag and also about the underlying
data. Each piece of underlying data is called an element.
XSL
Abbreviation for Extensible Stylesheet Language. An XSL Stylesheet is a

specific type of XML document and therefore must observe the same rules
as any other XML document. The XSL standard provides a set of special
rules, tags, and methods that can be used together to process XML
documents and turn them into formatted output such as HTML.
See also XML.
178
Glossary
Index
A
accounts, Microsoft Windows 17
Active Server Page 15, 50
addresses 27
administration 11
alerting 39
appearance of Narrowcast Administrator, changing 115
Application toolbar options, Narrowcast Administrator 87
architecture xi
ASP see Active Server Page
authentication objects 59
B
beginning 115
benefits
high performance xii
intelligent alerting xi
open architecture xi
scalability xii
Service 1a Sales Executive - Quarterly Sales Analysis 31
Service 1b Regional Marketing Manager - Sales Trend
Update 35
Service 1c Regional Sales Manager - Call Center
Performance Update 37
Service 1d Call Center Manager - Employee Performance
Alert 40
Service 1e Sales Director - Sales Performance Analysis 43
C
changing
Narrowcast Administrator display 115
object names and descriptions 116
object status 116
channels 26, 27
character sets 58
computers, Microsoft Windows 16
condition evaluation 55
configure the Tutorial system 21
content
dynamic 66
formatting 66
generation 58
management xii
selection 57
content information objects 42, 51, 52
Create a Service page 23
creating
services 117
subscribers 117
subscriptions 118
Service 3a Customer - Significant Buyer Retention 48
Service 3b Customer - Repeat Buyer Incentive 52
D
Delete Objects dialog box 97
deleting objects
with all its dependents 118
delivery
to e-mail address 44
to network location 44
to printer location 44
Delivery Engine 14
delivery methods, multiple 35, 45
Desktop documents
HTML 65
Report Services 64
devices 57
display locales, setting 123
distribution managers 14
document creation process 60
document formatters 14, 67
document process 60
documentation, online xviii
documents 67
dynamic content 66
dynamic subscriptions 41, 48, 51
E
Edit menu options
administration object focus 82
application object focus 83
179
Edit toolbar options, Narrowcast Administrator 85

e-mail accounts 17
e-mail address delivery 44
employee performance 40
Excel 32
executing services 119
execution engines 14
execution periods see schedules
Execution queue toolbar options, Narrowcast Administrator 87
Explore Tutorial Services page 23
F
features
content management xii
formatting xiii
profile management xii
profile-based personalization xii
Subscription Portal xii
transmission xiii
Find dialog box 99
finding objects
based on creation or modification dates 119
based on name and location 120
particular types 121
used by another object 120
flexibility of platform 11
folder structure 34
formatting xiii
G
graphs
color 32
formatting 32
H
Help toolbar options, Narrowcast Administrator 87
Home page 22, 88
HTML documents, Desktop 65
I
image links 52
information acquisition 60
information acquisition process flow 60
180
Index
information objects
content 42, 51, 52
overview 63
subscription 41, 48, 49, 52
information source modules 63
information source personalization 58
information sources 14, 63
information transmission modules 68
information transmitters 14, 68
installing and configuring
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery 16
Narrowcast Server 16, 19
intelligent alerting xi
inventory analysis 46
ISM see information source modules
ITM see information transmission modules
J
Java Server Page 50
jobs see services
JSP see Java Server Page
L
languages see locales
languages, multiple 45
launching Subscription Portal 122
link to existing MicroStrategy report 44
locales 57, 59
locales, display - setting 123
log in 27
M
menu bars, Narrowcast Administrator 81
messages
generation 3
see also services
tracking 49
transmission 68
Microsoft Internet Information Server 15
Microsoft Windows
accounts 17
computers 16
MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server 18
Logging Server 14
report 64
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery xi, 15, 18

Create a Service page 23
Explore Tutorial Services page 23
Home page 22
pages 22
requirements 16
services 29
setup 18
Subscribe via the Web page 23
MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery services
Business Activity Monitoring 29, 31
Customer Relationship Management 29, 48
Supply Chain Management 29, 45
N
Names and Descriptions dialog box 107
Application toolbar 87
Edit menu (administration object focus) 82
Edit menu (application object focus) 83
Edit toolbar 85
Execution queue toolbar 87
Help toolbar 87
introduction 79
menu bars 81
Narrowcast Server Home page 88
refreshing 122
Schedule queue toolbar 87
System menu 84
System toolbar 87
toolbar 85
Tools menu 85
user tasks 79
Narrowcast Server system
starting 124
stopping 124
network location delivery 44
O
Object Repository 14, 17
objects
changing name and description 116
changing status 116
checking the impact of modifying an object 117
deleting an object with all its dependents 118
finding based on creation or modification dates 119
finding based on name and location 120
finding objects that use another object
finding objects
that use another object 121
finding objects used by another object 120
finding particular types 121
viewing properties 124
online
documentation xviii
help xvii
P
performance xii
personalization
characteristics 56
profile-based xii
using user preferences 36
personalized page execution 41, 42
PIN 49
Portal 26
Portal Repository 26
portal systems 25
portals 26
Preferences 111
preferences 59
Preferences dialog box 111
printer location delivery 44
process flow, information acquisition 60
profile management xii
projects see information sources
prompts 37, 38
Properties dialog box 109
R
recipient determination 55
recipients see subscriptions
refreshing Narrowcast Administrator 122
relational databases 17
Report Services documents 64
report translators see document formatters
report types see documents
Index
181
reporting a problem xxi

reports
delivery methods see information transmitters
formatting 37, 47
modifiers see document formatters
multiple 32
see also information objects
re-using information 44
running first service 8
running services 119
S
sales
coupons 48, 52
goals 37
increase 35
information 31
inventory 46
sales performance 43
scalability xii
Schedule queue toolbar options, Narrowcast Administrator 87
scheduled services, viewing 125
schedules 8, 55
security objects 59
segmentation 51
SequeLink 15
Service Editor 4
service execution flow 55
service queue parameters, setting 123
Service Wizard 4
services
basic 32
creating 117
definition 8
executing 119
execution 55
overview 3
running 119
running first 8
sample 15
viewing schedules 125
setting
display locales 123
service queue parameters 123
sites 26
starting Narrowcast Server system 124
static subscription sets 43
stopping Narrowcast Server system 124
182
Index
stylesheets 47
Subscribe via the Web page 23
subscribers
creating 117
overview 56
Subscription Book 32
Subscription Book Repository 14
subscription information 48, 66
subscription information objects 41, 48, 49, 52
Subscription Portal xii, 15, 25, 27, 33
Subscription Portal, launching 122
subscription sets 6, 56
subscriptions
creating 118
definition 56
overview 27
Service 2a Supplier - Seasonal Sales Alert 45
Service 2b Supplier - Low Inventory Alert 46
system information 44, 66
System menu options, Narrowcast Administrator 84
system overview 11
System toolbar options, Narrowcast Administrator 87
T
tasks
application administration xv
application design xv
application development 72
getting started xiv
introduction 69
subscription administration xv
system administration xv, 74
system development xvi
system setup 70
technical support xviii
threshold values 40
toolbars
Application 87
Edit 85
Execution queue 87
Help 87
options 85
Schedule queue 87
System 87
Tools menu options, Narrowcast Administrator 85
transmission
introduction xiii
parameters 57
recording 50
see also services
transmitters see information transmitters
trends 31, 35, 45
tutorial
pages 22
requirements 16
services 29
setup 18
Tutorial Configuration dialog set
accessing 95
introduction 95
Select MicroStrategy Intelligence Server dialog box 96
Summary dialog box 96
Welcome dialog box 96
tutorial services
Service 1a Sales Executive - Quarterly Sales Analysis 31
Service 1b Regional Marketing Manager - Sales Trend
Update 35
Service 1c Regional Sales Manager - Call Center
Performance Update 37
Service 1d Call Center Manager - Employee Performance
Alert 40
Service 1e Sales Director - Sales Performance Analysis 43
Service 2a Supplier - Seasonal Sales Alert 45
Service 2b Supplier - Low Inventory Alert 46
Service 3a Customer - Significant Buyer Retention 48
Service 3b Customer - Repeat Buyer Incentive 52
V
viewing
object properties 124
scheduled services 125
U
user
information 65
preferences xii
user assistance
contact numbers xix
documentation structure xvi
online documentation xviii
online help xvii
reporting a problem xxi
technical support xviii
users and tasks xiv
Index
183
184
Index

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MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server

Getting Started Guide

Sixteenth Edition, March 2009, version 9.0

MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy 6, MicroStrategy 7, MicroStrategy 7i, MicroStrategy 7i Evaluation Edition, MicroStrategy 7i

Chapter 2 Narrowcast Server System 11

Install and configure the tutorial system 16

Chapter 3 Narrowcast Server Subscription Portal 25

Chapter 4 MicroStrategy Tutorial - Delivery 29

Chapter 5 Service Execution Flow 55

Chapter 7 Tutorial Configuration Dialog Set 95

Chapter 8 Delete Objects Dialog Box 97

Chapter 9 Find Dialog Box 99

Chapter 10 Names and Descriptions Dialog Box 107

Chapter 11 Properties Dialog Box 109

Chapter 12 Preferences Dialog Box 111

How Do I...? 113

Chapter 13 Narrowcast Administrator Procedures 115

Appendix A User and Task Documentation 129

Getting Started with

What is MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server?

High performance and scalability: Narrowcast Server offers a

Getting Started with MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server

Formatting and transmission: Narrowcast Server administrators can

Whats new in this version

Whats new in this version

Users and tasks

Getting Started with MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server

Users and tasks

Using the documentation

Getting Started with MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server

button name commands, check boxes, dialog boxes, options,

variable information to be replaced by the user

keyboard command key (such as ENTER)

How Do I? to see procedural help organized by object

By pressing F1 to see interface-level help

From the Start menu, choose Programs, MicroStrategy, then

Consult the online Knowledge Base at

you resolve some of your issues immediately.

3. A technical administrator in your organization may be able to help

If the resources listed above do not provide you with a solution,

Getting Started with MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server

Belgium: + 32 2792 0436

Technical Support may be obtained by a Customers Support Liaisons. A

Getting Started with MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server

What causes the condition to occur?

Does the condition occur sporadically or each time a certain action is

Does the condition occur on all machines or just on one?

When did the condition first occur?

What events took place immediately prior to the first occurrence of

If there was an error message, what was the exact wording?

System configuration (the information needed for this purpose

computer hardware specifications (processor speed, RAM, disk

network protocol used

ODBC driver manufacturer and version

database gateway software version

(for MicroStrategy Web-related problems) browser manufacturer and

(for MicroStrategy Web-related problems) Web server manufacturer

If the issue requires additional investigation or testing, you and the

Getting Started with MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server

content security and preference characteristics, so that a user can choose

Create a sample service

Create a user (subscriber).

Chapter 1 Narrowcast Server Services

This procedure assumes that you have a working Narrowcast Server