Partition Mapping Warehouse

Partitioning
Application partitioning in MicroStrategy is of two types Warehouse partitioning and Metadata
partitioning. By the name it self, it defines that the partitioning is implemented in Warehouse for
Warehouse partitioning and similarly for Metadata partitioning.
Warehousing Partitioning
To describe this in detail, I will take the following example We wanted to improve the performance
of the reports hitting the face table with billions/trillions of records. We decided to go with partition
tables so that one table is created for every month. And based on the data required in the report,
only those tables will be used.
Lets say, there are five tables created
revenue_fact_012009
revenue_fact_022009
revenue_fact_032009
revenue_fact_042009
revenue_fact_052009
Each table has data for one month and the name indicates the month for every table. These tables
are called Partition base tables (PBT)
MicroStrategy SQL should be able to hit the right table based on the months required in the report.
To achieve this, we would need a Partition mapping table (PMT) which describes mapping between
between month and the table name. Structure of the table should as shown belowTable name: map_revenue_fact
MONTH_ID PBTNAME
012009
revenue_fact_012009
022009
revenue_fact_012009
Note: The name of the first column in the PMT tables should match the attribute (month) and the
second column name should strictly be PBTNAME. This can not be changed.
Step 1: After all the above tables are available in the warehouse. Pull them into the project
Schema > Warehouse Catalog [as shown below]. It is not required to pull the PBTs as there will not
be any objects mapped directly to them.
The PMT should be with a different icon displaying the number of PBT in parenthesis

Step 2: Map the month attribute to the PMT table map_revenue_fact

Step 3: Create a fact revenue.

In the fact editor (in source table), if you do not find the PMT table, simple select All Tables in the
drop down.

On the left pane, revenue is displayed. Select revenue and check the source table as
map_revenue_fact
Step 4: Navigate to Schema Objects\Partition Mappings, edit the PMT to add the Partition level
attribute (Month). This describes that the partitioning is by month.

Step 5: Create a metric on the fact revenue, Revenue

All Done !
Create a report with Month attribute, revenue metric and a filter on month for Feb 2009 and the
report SQL should look like

The first pass is hitting the PMT and returns the name of the PBT which should be used in the SQL.
The second pass generates the output data.
Metadata Partitioning will have the PMT in the metadata.

Dheeraj Nallagatla

January 10, 2010

MicroStrategy Design & Development

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Dheeraj Nallagatla(19 Posts