Release 5.1 / 5.1.1 / 5.1.2 (copied)
Our team is fired up and ready to launch Metric Insights Version 5.1. This time we have invested heavily into Alerting automation, specifically, managing Alerts via Workflows which are going to serve for keeping the history of Alert cases, users who are assigned issue handling and overall resolution outcome. Also, User Maps are no longer used exclusively for Datasets - the process of mass subscribing Users to KPI Alerts has been enhanced by an ability to apply User Maps to them. Report Alerts have been revamped dramatically as well - subscribing to Report updates can be now done in seconds.
We also offer easier and quicker ways of creating new Metrics: bulk Metric creation from Datasets or creating Metrics and other objects from templates. These methods are designed to save hours of your time since the majority of settings are going to be populated automatically.
Check out the full list of improvements and updates in this article.
HOW TO OPERATE ALERTING
Alerting in Metric Insights
- [KEY FEATURE] Managed Alerting: Workflows assigned to KPI Alerts
- KPI Alert Rules: New Subscription method - User Maps
- Report Alerts: Renamed to "Report Notifications", extended functionality
- [5.1.1 / 5.1.2] Bursting: reorganized Editor, custom email subject, header and footer text
- [5.1.1] Standard Deviation / Moving Average: An ability to exclude certain anomalies from calculations
Advanced Element Creation
- Metrics: Bulk Metric creation from Datasets
- Object Templates: Creating Metrics, Dimensions, Datasets in a snap
- Data Sources: "Existing Dataset - SQL" for creating Metrics and Reports
Metrics / Reports / Dimensions
- [5.1.1] Metrics: An ability to add "% Change" against the moving average
- [5.1.1] Report Editor: Show sample result set in drawer
- [5.1.1] Snapshot Reports: The logic for sharing content has been changed
- [5.1.1] Reports built from Datasets: Dataset's Display masks are inherited by Reports
- [5.1.1] Pivot Tables: Design improvement
- [5.1.2] Dimensions: Sourcing Reports from "Existing Datasets - SQL"
- [5.1.2] Dimension Security: Synchronization with a User Map
- [5.1.2] Reports: An ability to include the "Total" Dimension Value has been added
- [5.1.2] External Reports: Collect Object Types from Plugins
Plugins
- Sisense: An ability to apply filters has been added
- [5.1.1] Microsoft PowerBI: Visual Editor
- [5.1.2] Microsoft PowerBI: An ability to scale original images for External Reports
- [5.1.2] Cognos / Business Objects: Filters + Embedding Visualization into a regular Reports of any Data Source
- [5.1.2] GoogleDrive: A new plugin in our collection
User Interface Updates
- Top Menus (New, Content, Admin, My Preferences): Rearrangements and Updates
- [5.1.0 / 5.1.1] User Preferences: Options optimization, design improvement
- Homepage: Left Sidebar and Filters rearrangement
- [5.1.2] Homepage: Changed logic for the "Most Popular" folder
- Element Viewer: More Info accessed quicker - Certified, Tags, Owners
- [5.1.1] Homepage: Multi-selecting Tags
- [5.1.1] Homepage: Grid View and List View are now hidden by default
- [5.1.1] Data Dependency: A new date dependency mechanism has been added
- "Measure of" setting: Removed from Metrics, Targets
- [5.1.2] Status Monitor: Upgraded for clarity and efficiency
- [5.1.2] Export Utility: Datasets and User Maps can be added to the export
- [5.1.2] Alert Inbox: Enhanced page
Alerting Enhancements


Metrics / Reports Updates
Metrics: An ability to add "% Change" against the moving average
A new option for comparing current value to the moving average has been added. In this case, current values are compared to default or custom moving average.
To access the new setting, go to Metric Editor > Charting tab > Value Display > Show percent change from.
For more details refer to:
Report Editor: Show sample result set in drawer
The Data Preview drawer that shows sample result set has been added to the Report Editor. It allows checking out the Report content before publishing it.
Depending on the Data Source used, the Data Preview drawer is opened by clicking Show data right after you generate a command or choose the Dataset View that should serve as a Report basis.
Snapshot Reports: The logic for sharing content from the Viewer has been changed
In previous versions, when sharing a snapshot report via email, only the latest iteration of this report was sent by design.
Starting from Version 5.1.1. the instance which is active in the report viewer at the moment of Report the sharing is going to be sent in the email along with a URL pointing to that specific historical instance. For example, if your Report is updated daily and today is Tuesday, but you open the Friday instance, the Friday instance is going to be sent when you share this Report.
In previous versions, when sharing a snapshot report via email, only the latest iteration of this report was sent by design.
Starting from Version 5.1.1. the instance which is active in the report viewer at the moment of Report the sharing is going to be sent in the email along with a URL pointing to that specific historical instance. For example, if your Report is updated daily and today is Tuesday, but you open the Friday instance, the Friday instance is going to be sent when you share this Report.
For more details refer to: The Share function
Reports built from Datasets: Dataset's Display masks are inherited by Reports
The Display Masks applied to numeric fields of a Dataset at the Dataset Editor > Data tab > Dataset Columns table are automatically applied to all Reports built from this Dataset.
For more details refer to:
Pivot Tables: Basic Design Polish
We are gradually improving design and functionality for Pivot Tables which can be created for any Report at Report Editor > Report Content tab > Report Tables and Charts > + Pivot.
For more details refer to: Create a Pivot Table in a Report
Dimensions: Sourcing Reports from "Existing Datasets - SQL"
A new Data Source has been added to the Dimension Editors. All Datasets created in the system are saved as SQL tables. This functionality helps to build Dimensions that span multiple Datasets.
NOTE: In order to grant Power users access to this feature (create Metrics / Reports / Datasets from the "Existing Datasets - SQL" Data Source), grant this user a Privilege via User or Group Editors > Create Content Using Datasets.
For more details refer to: Source a Report from "Existing Datasets - SQL"
Dimension Security: Synchronization with a User Map

A new mechanism for defining dimension access has been added to synchronize it to a User Map.
When users create a Dataset based on a User Map and then subsequently create Dimensioned Metrics from the Dataset using the same columns as are in the User Map, the Dimension security model can be defined via the User Map and have that information automatically synchronized with the user/dimension access mapping so that no manual access re-assignment is required.
To access a new feature, go to the Dimension Editor > Access tab. Two options are available there:
1. (Introduced in 5.1.2) Set Permissions via User Map: This option chnages page content dynamically allowing you to define a User Map from the drop-down list and Synchronize users who should be granted access to this Dimension.
2. Manual Permissions: Represents a traditional way of granting access to the Dimension via assigning individual Users or Groups to it. For more details, see:
Reports: An ability to include the "Total" Dimension Value has been added

In versions prior to 5.1.2, Metric Insight offered an ability to add a Metric View for a Total Dimension Value. For example, a "Country" Dimension could include a "Total" Value that aggragated data for all countries in this Dimension. This functionality allowed generating a unique Metric View and analyze the changes the cumulative data per all Dimension Values.
Starting from version 5.1.2 this functionality is also available for Dimensioned Reports.
How to enable this functionality?
1. Add a "Total" value to the Dimension: Add a "Total" or "Subtotal" to a Simple Dimension
NOTE: If a Dimension has to "Total" or "Subtotal" Value, this functionality is unavailable.
2. Go to the Report Editor > Advanced tab > Display options section > For Totals. The following options are available in this field:
- (default option) Do not generate a report: no view for the Total value is generated.
- Show rows for all individual values
- Aggregate numeric values for all fields
NOTE: Whether "Show rows for all individual values" or "Aggregate numeric values for all fields" values are selected in the For Totals field, this Report becomes a source Report (it is saved as a system table that can be queried to from other elements. For details, see: Source a Report from An Existing Report
External Reports: Collect Object Types from Plugins
For easier navigation, an object type has been added to the lower right corner of the External Report Viewers for the following Plugins:
- Tableau: Tableau Visualization, Tableau Dashboard
- Microsoft PowerBI: PowerBI Tile, PowerBI Dashboard, PowerBI Report
- Sisense: Sisense Dashboard, Sisense Widget
- Google Drive: Google Slide, Google Sheet, Google Doc
- Qlick Sense / QlickView: Sheet
- Microstartegy: Graph, Report, Document
- Beckon: Beckon Report, Beckon Dashboard
- SAP Business Objects: Business Objects Report, Business Objects Table
- Re:dash: Visualization
- Tibco Spotfire: Table, Graph
NOTE: Upon clicking the object type, you are redirected to the object's source page.
Plugins
Sisense: Filters added
When sourcing data for Metrics, Reports, External Reports, Dimensions and Datasets from Sisense dashboard, you can pre-filter data before fetching it. This function allows focusing on the slice of data that you really need and exclude those values that are currently irrelevant for you and your research.
Filters can be added at Element Editor > Data tab.
For more details refer to: Pre-filtering Sisense data
Microsoft PowerBI: Visual Editor
In previous Versions, the PowerBI plugin functionality was limited to creating External Reports (collecting image upon the Trigger). We've extended its functionality to allow you extract data from PowerBI Tiles and PowerBI Datasets. You can now create Metrics, Reports, and Datasets sourced from PowerBI plugin.
Additionally, a Visual Editor has been added to the Microsoft PowerBI Plugin Editor > Data tab for an easy way of constructing Plugin commands.
Instead of constructing a command manually, a Visual Editor fetches all available fields from the source system, so all you have to do is choose those fields which are needed for collecting the data you are going to need for this element.
For more details refer to: Sourcing Data from Microsoft PowerBI
Microsoft PowerBI: An ability to scale original images for External Reports
For more details refer to: How to collect External Reports from Microsoft PowerBI
Cognos / Business Objects: Filters Added + Embedding Visualization into a regular Reports of any Data Source

Filters: We are gradualy updating all Metric Insights pluging with the functionality allowing to pre-filter the source data. In Version 5.1.2 this feature became available for Cognos and Business Objects.
Embedding visualizations into regular Reports: In the versions prior to 5.1.2, we offered an ability to include external charts using links to other objects with an ability to adjust width and height of External Image. We have extended this functionality and it is now possible to combine Internal Report of any source and Cognos ot Business Objects Visualizations in a single Viewer. When configured with Bursts or Alerts, these mixed data can be delivered to users by email.
GoogleDrive: A new plugin in our collection
Our plugin collection has been expanded with a new Google Drive plugin. You can access your google drive files directly from Metric Insights.
To establish between Metric Insights and Google Drive, you should:
- Create a Google Service Account
- Share your Google Drive files with the newly created Service Account
- Create a plugin in Metric Insights.
Each step is described at this article: Establish Connectivity to Google Drive
User Interface Updates
Top Menus (New, Content, Admin, My Preferences): Rearrangements and Updates
The New menu:
- Datasets and Dimensions can now be created from the Templates or in a regular way by choosing the "Custom" option.
The Content menu:
- Access to the full list of Datasets created in the system has been moved from the Admin menu.
- Alert Workflows: represents a new system feature: Managed Alerting
The Admin menu
- Object Templates is a new system function.
- Access to the full list of Datasets created in the system has been moved from the Content menu.
My Preferences menu:
- My Bursts are removed from this menu but now they can be created from the New menu by all types of Users (Admin, Power, Regular)
- My Schedules item has been removed as well. The process of Burst creation allows defining a personal distribution Schedule. In other cases, new Schedules are created by Admin users at Admin > Notification Schedules.
User Preferences: Options optimization
In line with rearrangements made to the My Preferences menu (as described above), the User Preferences screen has been changed as well:
- Bursts can now be created from the New menu. All created Bursts are available in My Notifications tab together with the Digests and other Notifications.
- My Schedules tab has been removed as well. The process of Burst creation allows defining a personal distribution Schedule. In other cases, new Schedules are created by Admin users at Admin > Notification Schedules.
For more details refer to:
Version 4.2, 5.0.x: My Notifications (Overview, Set up, Turn on / off)
Version 5.1: My Notifications (Overview, Set up, Turn on / off)
Homepage: Left Sidebar and Filters rearrangement
- My Content: a new folder has been added to the Homepage > Left Sidebar below the Show All option. Only those elements, where a user is designated as a Business or Technical Owner are shown. For details refer to Grant Users Element View and Dimension Access via Element Ownership
- Filters: Filter options have been slightly rearranged in Version 5.1 but no significant changed has been made to the search/grouping logic.
For more details refer to: Homepage Basics
Homepage: Changed logic for the "Most Popular" folder
Most Popular Folder: This folder is populated with the tiles, representing the elements which either have been recently added to some of your favorite folders or were viewed by you within the last days. We added two new variables which can be used for defining the number of tiles to be shown in this folder:
- The default number of tiles shown in this folder is 5, but you can increase it at Admin > Utilities > Config Variables > MOST_POPULAR_FOLDER_TILE_COUNT.
- The amount of days to consider while scoring the "Most Popular" folder can be defined at Admin > Utilities > Config Variables > MOST_POPULAR_FOLDER_VIEW_DAYS.
For more details refer to: Homepage Basics
Element Viewer: More Info accessed quicker
New prompts and details have been added to the Element Viewers:
- Certified: The certification icon, which was previously shown only on the respective tiles on a Homepage and Preview, has been added to the element Viewer. Certification is a means for Admin and Power Users to identify elements that have been approved as being valid and accurate. To certify an element, go to the Element Editor > Info tab. For more details refer to: Certifying an Element
- Tags (previously named "Topics". Are defined at Element Editor > Info tab.): All tags assigned to the element are displayed on the top panel of the Viewer. Upon clicking a specific Tag label, you are redirected to a Homepage with content filtered down to only those elements which are tagged with the same label. For details, refer to: Create a Topic / Tag
Summary section (to display the Summary, go to the Quick Edit > Show Summary or Metric Editor > Charting tab > Show Summary :
- Business / Technical Owner: For more details refer to Grant Users Element View and Dimension Access via Element Ownership
- Data refreshed: shows the date of the last collected data point.
For more details refer to: Certifying an Element
Homepage: Multi-selecting Tags
The more elements you create, the better filtering options you should have for find them in a snap.
You are now able to filter out the Homepage content down to multiple element Tags.
If your Homepage is opened on a specific folder or Category, the Tags option list is going to be limited to those Tag options, which are assigned to the elements belonging to this folder/category. To access all available Tags through this drop-down list, choose the Show All view at the top of the Left Sidebar.
For more details refer to: Create a Topic / Tag
Homepage: Grid View and List View are hidden

Grid and List Views have been removed from the default Homepage settings. Only Tile View and List View are now available by default.
To make Grid and List Views available on the Homepage, access Admin > Utilities > Config Variables and find the following variables:
- SHOW_NEWS_VIEW,
- SHOW_GRID_VIEW and set them to "Y".
For more details refer to: Homepage Basics
Data Dependency: A new date dependency mechanism has been added
In previous Versions, Metric Insights Data Dependency feature was tied to data loading analysis specifically. For example, it could check whether < 70% of data is loaded, and if this condition was satisfied - stop any downstream processes.
In Version 5.1.1 a new Date mode has been added for an easy scan aimed at determining whether the new data has been added. In this mode the system checks whether any new rows have been added since the last run, meaning whether there are any new rows with a newer date. If data dependency is satisfied, the trigger runs and this new data is added to the elements. If data dependency is not satisfied (there are no rows with newer dates), the trigger doesn't run and the elements are not updated.
For more details refer to: Configure Data Dependencies for a Data Collection Trigger
"Measure of" setting: Removed from Metrics, Targets
The "Measure of" setting is no longer required for creating system elements. It was used to identify what is being computed in a Metric or Report (for example, Revenue, Sales, Orders, Customers, etc).
Instead, Metrics can be designated as additive or non-additive across time periods. This setting is available at the Metric Editor > Data tab.
Due to this change the following functionality has been removed or changed:
- Metric auto-naming. A user should compose a descriptive name while creating a new Metric. The name is defaulted to 'New Metric (nn)' where nn is next consecutive number.
- The See related drop-down list in the Metric Viewer is now populated differently. This drop-down now includes elements linked with this Metric by Tags only (formerly, Topics).
- Metric's Associations (defined at the Metric Editor > Associations tab) do not include elements united by the shared measure criteria. Measurement Interval (daily, weekly, etc.) is now a key criterion.
- Sharing Annotation with other Metrics, which was based on Metrics' Measures is not available anymore.
- Event Calendars can be applied to Metric Charts individually, by adding Tags or to Categories.
Status Monitor: Upgraded for clarity and efficiency
The Status Monitor page provides details on how well your Metric Insights system is functioning.
We reorganized page components and updated page design to fit the tiles into the logical groups:
- Data Collection
- Messages
- System Configuration
- System Stats
The tiles which are colored in red represent certain error and should be fixed.
For more details refer to: Status Monitor Page
Export Utility: Datasets and User Maps can be added to the Import/Export function
The Import / Export Utility is a tool to push elements and their related objects from one Metric Insights instance to another.
Due to introduction of Datasets and User Maps, Import / Export Utility has been upgraded to interact with the new system entitties and bacame more robust and intutive.
NOTE: Whenever a user chooses a Report or a Metric sourced from a Dataset to the export package, the original Dataset is automatically added to the export package as well. This automated procedure eliminates the data loss probability.
For more details refer to: Migrate Elements / Datasets / User Maps from one Metric Insights instance to another
Alert Inbox: Enhanced page
The tabs in the Alert Inbox page have been reorganized and renamed. See below for details:
Previous Versions | Renamed to |
Description |
---|---|---|
My Alerts | Assigned | The alerts which are assigned to the profile owner and expect his action. |
My Subscriptions | Subscriptions | All the Alerts to which the user is subscribed to. |
Open Alerts | Removed | |
All Alerts | Triggers | All alerts that were triggered in the system. |
Bugs Fixed
Homepage:
- Logo file was being deleted after upgrading to a new Version.
- The ampersand sign (&) was not showing properly in the Search field.
Metric Viewer:
- The Element was downloaded for the wrong time period after double-clicking Download data at the upper right corner of the screen.
- Highcharts custom chart Axis Titles were not showing properly in earlier versions.
Plugins:
- Salesforce: Salesforce plugin failed against Salesforce Reports
- Beckon: There was a null pointer error on some Beckon Reports
- Beckon: uneven font and a scroll bar
- Tableau: Tableau server 10.2 connection failure due behind reverse proxy