Challenges faced in FreeForm SQL

Report
06/01/2011

Domain: Retail

Author: Trinadhbabu Singaladevi

s.trinadhbabu@tcs.com

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What is a FF SQL?
FreeForm SQL (aka FreeStyle SQL) is a type of report which allows the designer to define its
own SQL code. Notice this is a rather different approach than what we are normally used
to in MicroStrategy, where we would usually let the SQL Engine do the job.

When should it be used?

• when we are unable to get a specified join required in the report using currently
existing schema objects or by any other means like VLDB properties, Metric Levels,
Attribute Relationships, Table Logical Size, Data Model changes then using FFQl
would be the best choice
• Whenever you want to use a data source which does not exist in the Warehouse
Catalog. That’s right, with FF SQL you can use almost any data source, including
those tables you see in the left hand side of the Catalog.

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Form Selection:
Form selection should be taken care, if the form selection is wrong then it will show the
below alert box after clicking ‘ok’. If we create the only one attrbute form for the an
attribute the the form should be the Desc.

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Mention the Schema name:
Schema name should be mentioned along with the table name. Otherwise it will show the
below error after running the report

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Size of the SQL should be limit:
The size of the SQL should be less than 65536 bytes. If the SQL is longer than this size then
we will the the following error.

To over come the above error, we have to change VLDB settings as mention in below
steps:
1. Using MicroStrategy Desktop 8.x, right-click on a project and select Project
Configuration, as shown below:

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 2. In the Project Configuration Editor, select 'VLDB Properties…' under Database
instances -> General, as shown below:

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3. In the VLDB Properties Editor, expand Governing and select 'Maximum SQL/MDX Size,'
as shown below:

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4. Uncheck the 'Use default inherited value - (Default Settings)' and increase the Maximum
SQL/MDX Size as applicable, as shown below:

The options for the VLDB property are:

• 0 or -1, both default to 64000 bytes
• Any number between 1 and 999999999, this is the maximum SQL pass size in bytes
• Use default inherited value (depends on data-base)

NOTES:
• The default size may be different for different databases. It changes depending on
the database instance, which is selected by the user.
• This size should be set to a value that a certified ODBC driver can handle.
• Increasing this size to a large value may risk the report failing in the ODBC driver.
• If increasing this value does not resolve the issue, then reduce the size of the SQL
being generated by simplifying the report through removing attributes, metrics,
and/or filters. An area to be especially aware of is importing large sets of elements
for filters.

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Note:
The FF SQL is not subjected to automatic Schema updates. That is to say, you won’t be
warned if you delete a table which is being used by such a report. So please bear in mind
that maintenance for FF SQL can be harsh

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