Importing Data from a Dropbox File - Web

Importing data from a Dropbox file
You can import data from a file stored on Dropbox directly into Strategy Web, then use the data to create dashboards, documents, and reports. You can:

• Import data from a file directly into an open dashboard or a document. Your imported data is saved and can be used immediately in the dashboard or the document. For general steps to add data to a dashboard, see Adding and removing datasets from a dashboard. For general steps to add data to a document, see the Document Creation Guide.
  
• Import and save data in a folder location. You can use this data immediately to create a dashboard, document, or report, as described above, or create dashboards, documents, or reports using the data at a later time.
  

You can import data into Web from the following file types:

• .xls
  
• .xlsx
  
• .txt
  
• .csv
  

Steps are provided below to import data from a file stored on Dropbox.
If you import data from a file stored on Dropbox, you can republish or schedule updates for imported data, without having to manually select and upload the file each time the data is updated.
For text/CSV files, Web uses English (United States) localization settings to import data. For example, a comma is used as the separator symbol for every three digits.
For Excel files, Web uses the localization settings specified in the User Preferences. For steps to specify locale and internationalization settings, see Specifying locale, time, date, and measurement settings for Web.

Prerequisites

• You must have the Web Import Data privilege.
  
• Your Administrator must have enabled importing data from Dropbox into Strategy Web. Steps to do so are included in the Installation and Configuration Guide as part of deploying Strategy Web.
  
• When an administrator configures Strategy Web as a remote access application, Dropbox provides a Client ID and a Client Secret. This information is required to complete the steps to configure the OAuth parameters for Dropbox.
  
• Read Best practices: Importing data into MicroStrategy Web.
  

To import and publish data from a Dropbox account

• Log in to the project to import data to.
  
• Do one of the following:
  
• To import data into a dashboard:
  
• Click the name of the dashboard to run it.
  
• From the toolbar, click the arrow next to the Add Data icon 

• , and then select Import Data. The Connect to Your Data page opens.
  
• To import data into a document:
  
• Open the document in Design Mode or Editable Mode.
  
• In the Dataset Objects panel, click the Add Dataset icon 

• . The Select Dataset dialog box opens.
  
• Click Import new data. The Connect to Your Data page opens.
  
• To import data into the project: On the home page, click Access External Data 

• . If you are on a folder page, click Create on the icon bar on the left, and then click Access External Data. The Connect to Your Data page opens.
  
• Select the data source
  
• Click Dropbox.
  
• If you are not logged in to your Dropbox account, log in to Dropbox using your Dropbox user name and password.
  
• If a message is displayed asking you to allow Strategy to access the files and folders in your Dropbox, click Allow.
  
• Your Dropbox files are displayed on the left. Drag and drop the file to import from the left pane to the right pane. You can drag and drop multiple files.
  
• To refresh the contents of your Dropbox account, click the Refresh icon

• .
  
• To access a different Dropbox account, click Sign Out at the top of the page. Log into the new Dropbox account to display the files and folders in this account.
  
• If you want to preview and modify your data before importing, click Prepare Data. A preview of the data to import is displayed on the Preview page. You can modify your data before it is imported. For example, you can define data columns as attributes or metrics, automatically generate additional time or geographic data, change the data type of a data column, and so on. For steps, see Previewing your data and specifying data import options.
  
• Save the imported data
  
• Click Finish. The Save Dataset dialog box opens.
  
• Browse to the location to publish the imported data to, then type a name and description for the published data in the Name and Description fields.
  
• Click OK. Your data is saved and published as an Intelligent Cube.
  
• If you imported data while creating a dashboard or a document, the data is added to the dashboard or the document as a dataset. For steps to work with datasets on a dashboard, see Adding and removing datasets from a dashboard. For steps to work with datasets on a document, see the Adding Text and Data to Documents chapter in the Document Creation Guide.
  
• If you are not creating a dashboard or a document, the Data Imported page is displayed. You can use the imported data to create a dashboard, report, or document. To do so, select one of the following:
  

• To create a dashboard, select Create Dashboard. For steps to create a dashboard, see Creating a dashboard.
  
• To create a report, select Create Report. For steps to create a report that runs against your new Intelligent Cube data, see Creating a report that accesses an Intelligent Cube. For general steps to create a report, see Creating a report.
  
• To create a document, select Create Document. See the Adding Text and Data to Documents chapter in the Document Creation Guide for steps to create a document using an Intelligent Cube as a dataset. For general steps to create a document, see the Designing and Creating Documents chapter of the Document Creation Guide.