System and method for automatic transmission of personalized OLAP report output

A system for automatic generation of personalized output from an on-line analytical processing system. The system processes at least one scheduled service in an on-line analytical processing system and generates personalized output based on personalization information for subscribers of the service to one or more subscriber output devices. The system enables a user to specify global and service-specific personalization information including specification of multidimensional filters to be applied to services and the specification of trigger criteria to be satisfied before output is generated. Personalization information may also be set for each output device for a particular subscriber.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a system and method for automatic broadcasting of 
personalized reports processed by an on-line analytical processing system 
reports to subscriber devices, including electronic mail, pagers, personal 
digital assistants (PDA), facsimiles, printers, telephones, and mobile 
phones, based on subscriber-specified or administrator-specified criteria. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The ability to act quickly and decisively in today's increasingly 
competitive marketplace is critical to the success of any organization. 
The volume of data that is available to organizations is rapidly 
increasing and frequently overwhelming. The availability of large volumes 
of data presents various challenges. One challenge is to avoid inundating 
an individual with unnecessary information. Another challenge is to ensure 
all relevant information is available in a timely manner. 
One known approach to addressing these and other challenges is known as 
data warehousing. Data warehouses, relational databases, and data marts 
are becoming important elements of many information delivery systems 
because they provide a central location where a reconciled version of data 
extracted from a wide variety of operational systems may be stored. As 
used herein, a data warehouse should be understood to be an informational 
database that stores shareable data from one or more operational databases 
of record, such as one or more transaction-based database systems. A data 
warehouse typically allows users to tap into a business's vast store of 
operational data to track and respond to business trends that facilitate 
forecasting and planning efforts. A data mart may be considered to be a 
type of data warehouse that focuses on a particular business segment. 
Decision support systems have been developed to efficiently retrieve 
selected information from data warehouses. One type of decision support 
system is known as an on-line analytical processing system ("OLAP"). In 
general, OLAP systems analyze the data from a number of different 
perspectives and support complex analyses against large input data sets. 
There are at least three different types of OLAP architectures--ROLAP, 
MOLAP, and HOLAP. ROLAP ("Relational On-Line Analytical Processing") 
systems are systems that use a dynamic server connected to a relational 
database system. Multidimensional OLAP ("MOLAP") utilizes a proprietary 
multidimensional database ("MDDB") to provide OLAP analyses. The main 
premise of this architecture is that data must be stored 
multidimensionally to be viewed multidimensionally. A HOLAP ("Hybrid 
On-Line Analytical Processing") system is a hybrid of these two. 
ROLAP is a three-tier, client/server architecture comprising a presentation 
tier, an application logic tier and a relational database tier. The 
relational database tier stores data and connects to the application logic 
tier. The application logic tier comprises a ROLAP engine that executes 
multidimensional reports from multiple end users. The ROLAP engine 
integrates with a variety of presentation layers, through which users 
perform OLAP analyses. The presentation layers enable users to provide 
requests to the ROLAP engine. The premise of ROLAP is that OLAP 
capabilities are best provided directly against a relational database, 
e.g., the data warehouse. 
In a ROLAP system, data from transaction-processing systems is loaded into 
a defined data model in the data warehouse. Database routines are run to 
aggregate the data, if required by the data model. Indices are then 
created to optimize query access times. End users submit multidimensional 
analyses to the ROLAP engine, which then dynamically transforms the 
requests into SQL execution plans. The SQL is submitted to the relational 
database for processing, the relational query results are cross-tabulated, 
and a multidimensional result set is returned to the end user. ROLAP is a 
fully dynamic architecture capable of utilizing pre-calculated results 
when they are available, or dynamically generating results from atomic 
information when necessary. 
The ROLAP architecture directly accesses data from data warehouses, and 
therefore supports optimization techniques to meet batch window 
requirements and to provide fast response times. These optimization 
techniques typically include application level table partitioning, 
aggregate inferencing, denormalization support, and multiple fact table 
joins. 
MOLAP is a two-tier, client/server architecture. In this architecture, the 
MDDB serves as both the database layer and the application logic layer. In 
the database layer, the MDDB system is responsible for all data storage, 
access, and retrieval processes. In the application logic layer, the MDDB 
is responsible for the execution of all OLAP requests. The presentation 
layer integrates with the application logic layer and provides an 
interface through which the end users view and request OLAP analyses. The 
client/server architecture allows multiple users to access the 
multidimensional database. 
Information from a variety of transaction-processing systems is loaded into 
the MDDB System through a series of batch routines. Once this atomic data 
has been loaded into the MDDB, the general approach is to perform a series 
of batch calculations to aggregate along the orthogonal dimensions and 
fill the MDDB array structures. For example, revenue figures for all of 
the stores in a state would be added together to fill the state level 
cells in the database. After the array structure in the database has been 
filled, indices are created and hashing algorithms are used to improve 
query access times. 
Once this compilation process has been completed, the MDDB is ready for 
use. Users request OLAP reports through the presentation layer, and the 
application logic layer of the MDDB retrieves the stored data. 
The MOLAP architecture is a compilation-intensive architecture. It 
principally reads the pre-compiled data, and has limited capabilities to 
dynamically create aggregations or to calculate business metrics that have 
not been pre-calculated and stored. 
The hybrid OLAP ("HOLAP") solution is a mix of MOLAP and relational 
architectures that support inquiries against summary and transaction data 
in an integrated fashion. The HOLAP approach enables a user to perform 
multidimensional analysis on data in the MDDB. However, if the user 
reaches the bottom of the multidimensional hierarchy and requires more 
detailed data, the HOLAP engine generates an SQL to retrieve the detailed 
data from the source relational database management system ("RDBMS") and 
returns it to the end user. HOLAP implementations rely on simple SQL 
statements to pull large quantities of data into the mid-tier, 
multidimensional engine for processing. This constrains the range of 
inquiry and returns large, unrefined result sets that can overwhelm 
networks with limited bandwidth. 
As described above, each of these types of OLAP systems are typically 
client-server systems. The OLAP engine resides on the server side and a 
module is typically provided at a client-side to enable users to input 
queries and report requests to the OLAP engine. Current client-side 
modules are typically stand alone software modules that are loaded on 
client-side computer systems. One drawback of such systems is that a user 
must learn how to operate the client-side software module in order to 
initiate queries and generate reports. 
Although various user interfaces have been developed to enable users to 
access the content of data warehouses through server systems, many such 
systems experience significant drawbacks. All of these systems require 
that the user connect via a computer system to the server system to 
initiate reports and view the contents of the reports. 
Moreover, current systems require that the user initiate a request for a 
report each time the user desires to have that report generated. A 
particular user may desire to run a particular report frequently to 
determine the status of the report. 
Further, reports may be extensive and may contain a large amount of 
information for a user to sort through each time a report is run. A 
particular user may only be interested in knowing if a particular value or 
set of values in the report has changed over a predetermined period of 
time. Current systems require the user to initiate the new report and then 
scan through the new report to determine if the information has changed 
over the time period specified. 
These and other drawbacks exist with current OLAP interface systems. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the invention is to overcome these and other drawbacks in 
existing systems. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system that 
automatically broadcasts personalized messages to subscribers based on 
criteria established by the subscriber or a system administrator when 
those criteria are determined to be satisfied by an on-line analytical 
processing system. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide personalized 
information broadcasts of information from an on-line analytical 
processing system through a variety of user output devices depending on 
the criteria established by the user. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system that enables 
a user to personalize the content of information broadcasts from a data 
warehouse through a subscription interface system that contains references 
to the contents of the data warehouse. 
These and other objects are realized by a system and method according to 
the present invention as described below. Such a system and method 
comprises a broadcast module that connects to an on-line analytical 
processing (OLAP) system comprising a server system for accessing 
information in one or more data warehouses to perform report analysis. The 
broadcast module may enable the defining of a service. A "service" as used 
herein should be understood to include one or more reports that are 
scheduled to be run against one or more data warehouses, relational 
databases, files in a directory, information from a web or file transfer 
protocol site, or information provided by a custom module, by a server 
system. These services may be subscribed to by users or user devices to 
enable the broadcast module to determine who should receive the results of 
a service. 
These and other objects of the present invention are realized through 
various embodiments described herein. According to one embodiment, a 
system for automatic generation of personalized output from an on-line 
analytical processing system is provided. The system processes at least 
one scheduled service in an on-line analytical processing system and 
generates personalized output based on personalization information for 
subscribers of the service to one or more subscriber output devices. The 
system enables a user to specify global and service-specific 
personalization information including specification of multidimensional 
filters to be applied to services and the specification of trigger 
criteria to be satisfied before output is generated. Personalization 
information may also be set for each output device for a particular 
subscriber. 
The broadcast module enables the creation of a service, the scheduling of 
the service, subscription of users to the defined services, generation of 
reports for the service, formatting of outputs of the service and 
broadcasting of messages based on the output for the service, among other 
functions. A subscription interface module may be provided to enable users 
to select the services they want to subscribe to, the schedule on which 
they want to receive the contents of the service, and the personalization 
criteria to use for personalizing their content. A personalization module 
may be provided that enables subscribers to personalize the content of an 
individual service to which the subscriber is subscribing or to all 
services to which the subscriber subscribes. The broadcast module may be 
connected to a plurality of user devices including a personal digital 
assistant (PDA), facsimile, printer, pager, mobile phone, telephone, 
electronic mail, and web page output. 
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system for 
automatically generating output from an on-line analytical processing 
system based on scheduled services specified by subscribers of the system 
is provided. The system processes scheduled services in an on-line 
analytical processing system with each service comprising at least one 
query to be performed by the on-line analytical processing system. The 
system then automatically forwards output from the services to one or more 
subscriber output devices specified for that service. Users may define new 
services, including the schedule of the services and the type, such as 
alert services or scheduled services, and may also subscribe to the 
services provided by the system. If an alert service is processed, the 
system may forward output only when one or more alert criteria are 
satisfied. Subscribers may be specified by a dynamic recipient list that 
is resolved each time the service is processed to determine recipients of 
the service output. A dynamic recipient list may be, for example, a list 
that determines the recipients of a service based on dynamically resolved 
criteria. For example, a bank may generate a list every month that 
identifies customers who have an account balance greater than $100,000 and 
who have not made a transaction within the last three months. The output 
devices the system may forward output to may comprise electronic mailbox, 
facsimile, printer, mobile phone, telephone, pager, PDA or web pages. 
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a system that 
enables subscribers to personalize services used for automatically 
generating output from an on-line analytical processing system is 
provided. In addition to enabling subscribers to specify the content and 
schedule of one or more services, the system enables subscribers to 
personalize various other parameters relating to the service. For example, 
subscribers may specify the format of service output, filters to be 
applied to the service, and a variety of other personalization options 
described in greater detail below. 
According to another embodiment of the invention, the system utilizes 
static recipient lists ("SRL") and dynamic recipient lists ("DRL") for 
determining subscribers to a service. SRLs may be a list of manually 
entered subscriber names of a particular service. DRLs, however, may be a 
report generated by the system listing subscriber names that meet a 
predetermined criteria for a service. DRLs enable lists of subscribers to 
change according to certain criteria applied to contents of a database. 
For example, a DRL may be used to broadcast a sales report to only those 
subscribers who are managers of stores who have not met a predetermined 
sales goal. 
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to 
one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the detailed description 
of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided 
for automatic transmission of OLAP report output to one or more of a 
plurality of user output devices. FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a system 
100 according to the present invention. System 100 may comprise a data 
warehouse 12, a server system 14, a broadcast module 20, an object 
creation module 24, an agent module 28, and one or more user devices 40. 
User devices 40 may comprise a facsimile 40a, pager 40b, mobile telephone 
40c, electronic mail 40d, and web page output 40e. 
Broadcast module 20 may comprise a module that broadcasts personalized 
information derived from the OLAP system (e.g., data warehouse 12 and 
sever system 14) to users via one or more user devices 40 such as 
electronic mail, facsimile, printer, pager, mobile phone, telephone, PDA, 
and multiple other types of user information devices. Broadcast module 20 
enables users to define services (e.g., queries and reports) that are to 
be run against an OLAP system such as server system 14 and data warehouse 
12 based on a predetermined schedule. A "service" as used herein should be 
understood to include one or more reports that are scheduled to be run 
against data warehouse 12 by server system 14. Broadcast module 20 also 
enables users on the system to subscribe to one or more services and then 
broadcast module 20 outputs the results of these services to subscribers 
according to criteria established by the subscribers. 
Data warehouse 12 may comprise any data warehouse or data mart as is known 
in the art including a relational database management system ("RDBMS"), a 
multidimensional database management system ("MDDBMS") or a hybrid system. 
Server system 14 may comprise an OLAP server system for accessing and 
managing data stored in data warehouse 12. Server system 14 may comprise a 
ROLAP engine, MOLAP engine or a HOLAP engine according to different 
embodiments. Specifically, server system 14 may comprise a multithreaded 
server for performing analysis directly against data warehouse 12. One 
embodiment of server system 14 may comprise a ROLAP engine known as DSS 
Server.TM. offered by MicroStrategy. Accordingly, data warehouse 12 and 
server system 14 comprise an OLAP system that connects to broadcast module 
20 for broadcast of user-specified reports from data maintained by data 
warehouse 12. 
Broadcast module 20 may also be connected to an agent module 28 which may 
also be connected to server system 14. Agent module 28 may be provided to 
define reports and queries that may be selected as part of one or more 
services by broadcast module 20. Agent module 28 may be used to define 
queries to be performed against the data contained in data warehouse 12 
using components, templates, filters, reports, agents, etc. Components may 
include dimensions, attributes, attribute elements, and metrics--in other 
words, the building blocks for templates, filters, and reports. Templates 
generally define a report format and specify the attributes, dimensions, 
metrics, and display properties comprising a report. Filters generally 
qualify report content and identify a subset of data warehouse 12 to be 
included in a report. Filters may also be used to apply set math to report 
content. For example, filters may be used with set math, multidimensional 
qualifications, and metric qualifications. Using set math, users can 
define and embed any set of limiting criteria (e.g., union, intersect, 
exclude). Multidimensional qualifications enable users to indicate general 
subject areas or perspectives on data (e.g., time, geography, product). 
Metric qualifications may be used to compute mathematical calculations of 
various numerical data (e.g., total sales, profit, cost, percent change, 
profit). Metrics may be displayed in a variety of formats (e.g., 
percentages, currency, fonts indicating predetermined values). Reports are 
generally understood to be a data analysis created by combining a template 
(the format) with a filter (the content). Agents may be a group of reports 
cached on a time- or event-based schedule for rapid retrieval and batch 
processing. According to one embodiment of the invention, agent module 28 
may comprise a software package known as DSS Agent.TM. offered by 
MicroStrategy. 
Agent module 28 may operate on any user system 26 including personal 
computers, network workstations, laptop computers or any other electronic 
device connected to server system 14 or may comprise an object connected 
to broadcast module 20. 
Broadcast module 20 therefore, cooperates with server system 14 and agent 
module 28 to send personalized information to users at predefined 
intervals or when criteria specified in reports defined through either 
broadcast module 20 or agent module 28 exceed predefined thresholds. To 
provide this functionality, broadcast module 20 enables users of the 
system to create services that run against the OLAP system to generate 
information and subscriptions that specify the recipients of the 
information derived from a service. A service may comprise one or more 
reports that are processed by the OLAP system and may be a specific 
report, series of reports or elements within a report. Also, subscribers 
may include users, groups of users or only specific user devices 40 for a 
particular user. Services may be based on predefined reports from 
broadcast module 20 or agent module 28 or may be based on filter/template 
combinations set up through broadcast module 20 and/or agent module 28. 
Once services have been defined and subscribers to that services are 
established, broadcast module 20 continually monitors the schedules for 
the services, runs the scheduled reports, and automatically generates 
outputs where conditions specified in the service are satisfied using push 
technology. Outputs from broadcast module 20 may be personalized to 
subscriber demands and/or formatted to meet a subscriber's user device 
requirements to ensure that users see only that portion of a report that 
is relative to that user and in a manner that is most useful for the user. 
Accordingly, a user can thus have up-to-date information about the 
contents of data warehouse 12 without having to submit a query or log-in 
to a software module on the user system. 
To provide the functionality described above, broadcast module 20 may 
comprise a plurality of modules that perform certain functions. Although 
described as separate modules, it should be understood that such modules 
may be combined or separated further. In an embodiment of the present 
invention, as depicted in FIG. 1, broadcast module 20 may comprise a 
service definition module 42, a service schedule module 44, a service 
generation module 46, a service format module 48, a personalization module 
50, a subscription interface module 52, and a service administration 
module 54. 
Service definition module 42 of broadcast module 20 may comprise a module 
for enabling a user to create or modify a service. In an embodiment, the 
services may be defined based on reports or workbooks specified in agent 
module 28. Users may then subscribe to services defined in service 
definition module to enable broadcast module 20 to determine who should 
receive the results of a service. 
At least two types of services may be provided--scheduled services and 
alert services. A schedule service may comprise a service that generates 
information to subscribers at a given time interval. An alert service may 
comprise a service that provides information to all subscribers if an 
alert condition is true. 
Service schedule module 44 may provide the functionality to enable 
selection of when a service should be run. Service schedule module 44 may 
enable a user, administrator or other person having access thereto to 
specify the frequency that the service should be performed. The schedule 
may be based on an interval (such as every several hours, days, weeks, 
months, years, etc.) or on one or more specified days (such as March 15th 
and September 15th). Other methods of scheduling events to be processed 
may also be used. 
Service generation module 46 may comprise a module for following a schedule 
set by service schedule module 44 and completing the operation specified 
in service definition module 42. For example, if a service were specified 
to run the monthly sales totals for the Midwest region of a company every 
weekend and generate an alert to the supervisor on Monday morning if sales 
drop below 5%, then service generation module 46 would be responsible to 
monitor the schedule of this service to ensure that the report contained 
therein was processed over the weekend and then generate an alert report 
if the criteria set in the service is satisfied. To monitor the schedule 
of all services specified by broadcast module 20, service generation 
module 46 may operate constantly to ensure that every scheduled service is 
completed. 
Service format module 48 may be responsible for taking the results of a 
service and formatting it to a proper format corresponding to each of the 
subscribers of a particular service. Service format module 48 may be 
responsible for formatting service results for generation to user devices 
40a-40e. 
Personalization module 50 may be provided to enable subscribers to specify 
the content for a service in which they are interested. Users may input 
personalized choices for personalization module 50 through subscription 
interface module 52 by selecting personalization filters from filters 
available in the service. Personalization module 50 captures the criteria 
selected by the user and creates a subscription based on the selected 
criteria which may be multidimensional based on the data structure in the 
data warehouse, relational database, etc. Because personalization module 
50 enables subscribers to specify the content of a service, this reduces 
the amount of data output to a subscriber by providing the subscriber with 
data that the subscriber is interested in. 
Personalization may be set on a global level that is applied to all 
services to which the subscriber subscribes and on a service level basis 
that apply only to specific services. For global level personalization, a 
profile may be created on the system in an address book module maintained 
by broadcast module 20. The address book may comprise an entry for each 
subscriber of any service on the system. That subscriber may define global 
personalization filters to be applied to all services to which the 
subscriber applies rather than providing personalization on only a service 
by service basis. Each subscriber may have multiple addresses in the 
address book, each address assigned to a different output device. Thereby, 
a subscriber may have multiple addresses for different output devices and 
for each address, different filters may be applied to a service level 
request or to global subscriptions by that user for that address. For 
example, a user may desire to get stock information via pager but sales 
information via e-mail. By setting up two separate addresses--one for the 
pager and another for the e-mail--and selecting a service for that 
address, the may be able to customize content to different output devices 
according to the present invention. A user may also set-up a pager alert. 
The pager alert may contain a summary of information requested by the user 
that is communicated to the user's pager. The pager alert may also direct 
the user to another information source (e.g., an e-mail message or web 
page) that contains more detailed information. 
For a chosen user, personalization may also be set on a project level 
basis. For example, a project may comprise multiple reports. Each report 
within a project may have different personalized filters applied according 
to user desires. Personalization module 50, however, also enables 
subscribers to personalize the entire rather than doing so for each. For 
example, subscribers may assign particular operations to be performed for 
each of the reports within a project. This enables subscribers to 
personalize multiple reports simultaneously. 
Additionally, subscribers may personalize style parameters using, for 
example, personalization module 50. Styles may be used to tailor a display 
format of a report to a particular device (e.g., pager, electronic mail, 
facsimile). Styles may be designed according to the needs of each 
subscriber depending on the characteristics and properties of a recipient. 
For example, a user may desire to have pages generated from the report 
sent in a particular format and may set up that format using styles. 
With both global personalization filters set for a particular user or user 
device and service-level filters selected, the system may apply an order 
of priority to these filters. In an embodiment of the present invention, 
service-level filters override and take priority over global 
personalization filters. All filters may be merged and only the 
conflicting filters may be resolved in favor of the service-level filters. 
Subscription interface module 52 may be provided to enable users or 
administrators of the system to monitor and update subscriptions to 
various services provided by broadcast module 20. Service administration 
module 54 may be provided to provide administrative functions to monitor a 
queue to schedule services and to provide throughput of services to ensure 
efficient completion of those services by broadcast module 20. 
Subscription interface module 52 may be used to create a subscriber list by 
adding one or more subscribers to a service. Users or system 
administrators having access to broadcast module 20 may add multiple types 
of subscribers to a service such as a subscriber from either a static 
recipient list (SRL) (e.g., addresses and groups) or a dynamic recipient 
list (DRL) (described in further detail below). The subscribers may be 
identified, for example, individually, in groups, or as dynamic 
subscribers in a DRL. Subscription interface module 52 permits a user to 
specify particular criteria (e.g., filters, metrics, etc.) by accessing 
data warehouse 12 and providing the user with a list of available filters, 
metrics, etc. The user may then select the criteria desired to be used for 
the service. 
A SRL is a list of manually entered names of subscribers of a particular 
service. The list may be entered using service administration module 54 or 
subscription interface module 52. SRL entries may be personalized such 
that for any service, a personalization filter (other than a default 
filter) may be specified. A SRL enables different personalizations to 
apply for a login alias as well. For example, a login alias may be created 
using personalization module 50. Personalization module 50 enables 
subscribers to set preferred formats, arrangements, etc. for displaying 
service content. The login alias may be used to determine a subscriber's 
preferences and generate service content according to the subscriber's 
preferences when generating service content for a particular subscriber. 
A DRL may be a report which returns lists of valid user names based on 
predetermined criteria that are applied to the contents of a database such 
as data warehouse 12. Providing a DRL as a report enables the DRL to 
incorporate any filtering criteria desired, thereby allowing a list of 
subscribers to be derived by an application of a filter to the data in 
data warehouse 12. In this manner, subscribers of a service may be altered 
simply by changing the filter criteria so that different user names are 
returned for the DRL. Similarly, subscription lists may be changed by 
manipulating the filter without requiring interaction with service 
administration module 54. Additionally, categorization of each subscriber 
may be performed in numerous ways. For example, subscribers may be grouped 
via agent filters. In one specific embodiment, a DRL is created using DSS 
Agent.TM. offered by MicroStrategy. 
Service administration module 54 enables monitoring of reports (e.g., 
ability to see who is using system, what reports they are generating, 
etc.), scheduling of reports, address book and dynamic recipient list 
maintenance, and subscriber management. Subscriber management involves 
enabling system administrators to review, access, and generate information 
about subscribers to the system through the maintenance of detailed 
subscriber lists including the DRL's and SRL's. This list may track 
information on which subscribers subscribe to which services and 
vise-versa. 
A method 200 of operation of system 100 is provided in FIG. 3. Method 200 
comprises several steps for generating information to a plurality of user 
systems using "push" technology. In step 100, one or more services are 
defined by users or system administrators for broadcast module 20 to 
monitor, as described in more detail below with respect to FIG. 4, such as 
through service definition module 42. In step 102, subscribers for each of 
these various services are provided, such as through subscription 
interface module 52. In step 104, the system monitors and processes 
services according to their defined schedules. Step 104 may be performed 
by service schedule module 44, and/or service generation module 46, for 
example. 
In step 106, the system determines whether an alert criteria has been met 
or if a scheduled service has been completed, such as through service 
generation module 46. If an alert criteria has not been satisfied or a 
scheduled service has not completed, the system continues to monitor and 
process services. If an alert condition has been met, or if a scheduled 
service has been completed, in step 108, the system, such as through 
service generation module 46, builds the service output and the 
subscription list for that particular service. Building the subscription 
list for a service may involve using a recipient list resolution method. 
For example, a recipient list resolution (RLR) may be used to build a list 
of all of the subscribers to a service in step 108. This may be performed 
by resolving and merging all DRLs with all SRLs for a given service. All 
DRLs are generated and the resulting list is merged with the SRL. 
Typically, there is only one SRL (although additional SRLs may be used) 
and none to numerous DRLs per service. The list that results from merging 
all of the DRLs and SRLs produces a list which consolidates all 
subscribers of a given service. 
Next, in step 110, the system, such as through personalization module 50, 
applies personalization filters to services that are scheduled to be 
output to the subscribers. Personalization filters may modify the output 
of a service according to the subscriber's desired criteria. The 
personalized outputs may then be formatted for the user device 40 selected 
by the user for output. Additionally, personalization module 50 may also 
be used to personalize the contents of one or more services as described 
above. In step 114, broadcast module 20 broadcasts the formatted and 
personalized services to subscribers at user devices 40a-40e. 
As described above, step 100 defines the service or services to be 
monitored by broadcast module 20. FIG. 4 depicts a method 210 according to 
one embodiment of the present invention for performing step 100. According 
to one embodiment, in step 116, a user may name and provide a description 
of the service or services to be monitored. By providing a name and 
description, users may be able to uniquely identify the services from an 
object browser or in a service queue. 
Next, in step 118, the user selects the type for the service. As described 
above, at least two types of services may be provided. A first type, a 
scheduled service, is a service that is run according to a predetermined 
schedule and output is generated each time the service is run. An alert 
service is one that is run periodically as well, however, output is only 
generated when certain alert criteria is satisfied. If an alert service is 
selected by the user, the user may then specify a report or a 
template/filter combination upon which the alert is based. According to 
one embodiment, reports and template/filter combinations may be predefined 
by other objects in the system including agent module 28 or object 
creation module 24. For example, agent module 28 such as the DSS agent.TM. 
offered by MicroStrategy, may be used to create and define reports with 
filters and template combinations, and to establish the alert criteria 
that are to be used for an alert service. 
Next, in step 120, the duration of the service is input by the user. 
Service duration indicates the starting and stopping dates for the 
service. The start date is the base line for the scheduled calculation, 
while the end date indicates when the broadcast will cease to be sent. The 
user has the option of starting the service immediately or waiting until 
some time in the future. Various calendaring features may be provided to 
enable the user to easily select these start and stop dates. For example, 
a calendar that specifies a date with pull-down menus that allow the users 
to select a month and year may be provided according to known methods of 
selecting dates in such programs as electronic calendaring programs and 
scheduling programs used in other software products. One specific aid that 
may be provided is to provide a calendar with a red circle indicating the 
present date and a blue ellipse around the current numerical date in each 
subsequent month to more easily allow the user to identify monthly 
intervals. Other methods may also be used. 
Next, in step 122, the user selects the schedule for the service. According 
to one embodiment, predefined schedules for services may be provided or 
the user may choose to customize the schedule for the service. If the user 
desires to create a new schedule, a module may be opened to enable the 
user to name the schedule and to set the parameters for the schedule. 
Schedules may be run on a several-minute, hourly, daily, monthly, 
semi-annual or annual basis, all depending upon what frequency is desired. 
The next step, step 123, may be performed to enable the user to specify the 
content of a service. The content of a service is the various information 
reports and template/filter combinations that the server system 14 
processes using the data in data warehouse 12 in order to provide the 
output requested for that particular service. The content of a service may 
comprise many different items or combination of items to suit the user's 
needs. For example, the user may be able to include a text grid, an agent 
alert, a web uniform resource location (URL), a spreadsheet container, a 
new sheet container, a text container, a text message, contents from a 
text file, or a file attachment. According to one embodiment, the system 
may organize these various contents into containers. A broadcast container 
may comprise the highest level container under which all content pieces 
reside. A grid may comprise an element that is associated with a report or 
a template/filter combination. The grid may be bound via a macro to a 
report/filter and template combination. An agent alert may be associated 
with a particular report that is therefore incorporated within the 
service. Any report available on agent module 28 may be selected. The web 
URL item may be associated with the report through network output module 
22 that specified that URL for the particular report. A spreadsheet 
container may be the parent of an embedded spreadsheet attachment. When 
created, a particular spreadsheet may be included as a child. 
Additionally, markup language (e.g., XML and/or HTML) documents may also 
be included. 
After the user has named the service, selected the type, duration, and 
schedule for the service, the user may select the personalization type in 
step 124. For example, the user may select an option to either prevent 
personalization, require personalization, or allow personalize optionally. 
Upon completion of these steps, the service may be stored by service 
definition module 42 in a database structure to enable users to retrieve 
predefined services to subscribe to these services through subscription 
interface module 52. 
Method 210 may also comprise an error condition step. An error condition 
step may be used to enable users to specify "error" conditions and 
actions. For example, an "error" condition may be a user notification that 
a server is "down" or that there is no data to be returned. A user may 
specify particular actions to be performed by the system in response to 
one or more error conditions. For example, a user may specify a "server" 
error (e.g., not responding) and indicate a particular action to be 
performed in response to a "server not responding" error (e.g., reattempt 
in a predetermined time). Various other conditions and actions may be 
specified. 
The system described may also comprise a portion of a larger decision 
support system 10 as depicted in FIG. 4. System 10 may comprise a data 
warehouse 12, a server system 14, an architect module 16, an administrator 
module 18, a broadcast module 20, a network output module 22, a plurality 
of user systems 26, and an object creation module 24. User systems 26 may 
comprise an agent module 28 as described above. 
Agent module 28 may enable a user access to the contents of data warehouse 
12 to provide detailed analysis on an ad hoc basis. One of the advantages 
of DSS Agent.TM. includes its use of a ROLAP architecture on server system 
14 and a RDBMS in data warehouse 12 to provide a more scaleable 
environment. Through DSS Agent.TM., a user can "drill down." Drilling down 
allows the user to dynamically change the level of detail in a report to a 
lower level attribute so that the resulting report displays data with a 
greater level of detail. For example, one can drill down from year to 
month to week to day. DSS Agent.TM. also enables users to "drill up" to a 
higher level attribute. Drilling up summarizes the selected data to a 
higher level total. For example, one can drill from day to week to month 
to year. DSS Agent.TM. also enables a user to "drill within." Drilling 
within allows a user to go to a different hierarchy within the same 
dimension. Drilling within is often used to examine the characteristics of 
selected data. For example, drilling within enables a user to drill from 
item to color when looking at a particular retail item such as an 
automobile, clothing or the like. Drilling across allows the user to drill 
to an altogether different dimension. For example, one can drill across 
from a region to a month. Accordingly, through use of agent module 28, 
server system 14, and data warehouse 12, drilling is a powerful tool that 
is easily implemented using a ROLAP architecture which is not as easily 
accessible in MOLAP. 
Architect module 16 may comprise a module that enables developers to create 
and maintain data and metadata in data warehouse 12. Metadata may be 
considered to be data about data, such as data element descriptions, data 
type descriptions, attributes/property descriptions, range/domain 
descriptions, and process/method descriptions. Data and metadata stored in 
data warehouse 12 may thus be modified and organized by architect module 
16. According to one embodiment of the invention, architect module 16 may 
comprise a software package known as DSS Architect.TM. offered by 
MicroStrategy. 
Administrator module 18 may comprise a module for facilitating the 
development, deployment, and management of data warehouse applications 
supporting large volumes of users over various distribution mechanisms. 
Administrator module 18 may comprise an object manager and a warehouse 
monitor. The object manager allows objects to be shared across databases 
for easy migration from development to production. The warehouse monitor 
provides performance monitoring and management tools to support thousands 
of users across a distributive database environment. The warehouse monitor 
collects statistics for the purpose of identifying performance 
bottlenecks, warehouse tuning, cost analysis and various other purposes. 
According to one embodiment of the invention, administrator module 18 may 
comprise a module known as DSS Administrator.TM. offered by MicroStrategy. 
Server system 14 may also connect to an object creation module 24. Object 
creation module 24 may comprise an open object linking and embedding 
("OLE") application program interface ("API") for custom decision support 
development. According to one embodiment of the invention, object creation 
module 24 may comprise software module known as DSS Objects.TM. offered by 
MicroStrategy. Additionally, custom applications may interface with object 
creation module 24 including Delphi, Visual Basic, and C++ programming 
modules. 
User systems 26 may also include a report writing module 30, an executive 
module 32, and a spreadsheet module 34. Report writing module 26 may 
comprise an OLAP report writer. Executive module 32 may comprise a module 
design tool for developing custom EIS applications. This module is a 
design tool for developing briefing books that provide high level users 
with a series of views that describe their business. Once created, end 
users can access briefing books through agent module 28 in EIS mode. Such 
a system is easily implemented with agent module 28 by compiling sets of 
analyses into dynamic pages that immediately focus users on their key 
business drivers. One embodiment of executive module 32 may comprise 
software known as DSS Executive.TM. offered by MicroStrategy. 
Spreadsheet module 34 may comprise an add-on to existing spreadsheet 
programs or may comprise an entirely new spreadsheet program. Spreadsheet 
module 34 may enable reports and analyses generated from agent module 28 
to be presented in a traditional spreadsheet program format to enable 
users to view results in preexisting front-end interfaces. Spreadsheet 
module 34 may comprise the Microsoft Excel.TM. spreadsheet program offered 
by Microsoft and/or an Excel.TM. Add-In program offered by MicroStrategy. 
Another module for accessing content of server system 14 may comprise a 
network output module 22. Network output module 22 enables user system 26 
access to server system 14 and data warehouse 12 without requiring an 
additional agent module 28 to be stored on user system 26. Instead, user 
system 26 may have a user interface module 38 residing thereon. User 
interface module 38 may comprise any module that enables a user system, 
such as user system 26, to interface with network output module 22 over a 
network 36. According to one embodiment of the invention, network 36 may 
comprise an intranet, the Internet or other developed Internet-type 
networks. Further, user interface module 38 may comprise any standard 
browser module such as Microsoft Internet Explorer.TM., Netscape 
Navigator.TM. or other. As many user systems 26 already have a user 
interface module 38 stored and operating thereon, network output module 22 
offers the advantage of enabling users access to server system 14 and data 
warehouse 12 without learning to operate a new module such as agent module 
28. One embodiment of network output module 22 may comprise a web-based 
module called DSS Web.TM. offered by MicroStrategy. Accordingly, in one 
embodiment, a user can access server system 14 through a standard web 
browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer.TM., or over the Internet 
through network output module 22, such as DSS Web.TM.. 
In this embodiment, network output module 22 may comprise a World Wide Web 
tool used in conjunction with server system 14 for allowing users to 
deploy data warehouse/decision support applications over the Internet 
using industry standard World Wide Web browsers as a client. As a result, 
a user can access the data warehouse with little or no client maintenance, 
little or no software to install, and only a small amount of additional 
training while still maintaining all of the capabilities of agent module 
28. One embodiment of network output module 22 comprises DSS Web.TM. 
offered by MicroStrategy. This embodiment provides a broad array of 
options for viewing information sets, such as spreadsheet grids and a wide 
variety of graphs. Through this module's reporting capabilities, users 
receive key elements of a report in easily interpretable, plain language 
messages. This module also allows users to "drill" dynamically to a lower 
level of detail to view the underlying information or to create and save 
new analyses. For sensitive information, this module provides security 
plug-ins that allow the user to extend the standard security functionality 
with additional user authentication routines. This module may also provide 
an API that allows users to customize, integrate, and imbed this 
functionality into other applications. For example, a data syndicator for 
health care information may utilize this module with a customized 
interface to sell access to health care information to Health Maintenance 
Organizations, hospitals, pharmacies, etc. 
Other embodiments and uses of the invention will be apparent to those 
skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of 
the invention disclosed herein. The specification and examples should be 
considered exemplary only. The scope of the invention is only limited by 
the claims appended hereto.