KB11426: How to change the order of attributes in the SELECT clause for more effective indexing on the temporary tables in MicroStrategy 10.x

The order of attributes in the SELECT clause is not determined alphabetically or by the position on the template.
 
Consider a report with the attributes "Brand" and "Customer State" and the metrics "Revenue" and "Cost," illustrated below:

 
The report generates the following SQL:
 
select a15. AS CUST_STATE_ID,
a12. AS BRAND_ID,
sum((a11. * (a11. - a11.))) AS Revenue_test
from a11,
a12,
a13,
a14,
a15
where a11. = a12. and
a11. = a13. and
a13. = a14. and
a14. = a15.
and a13. = 1
group by a15.,
a12.
create index ZZMD00_i on ZZMD00 (CUST_STATE_ID, BRAND_ID)
Customer State is selected before Brand regardless of the order in which attributes are placed on the template.
 
In order for a user to change the order of attributes used in the SELECT clause, the Attribute Weights must be altered. To do this, perform the following steps:
 

• Right-click the project and choose Project Configuration Editor > Report Definition > SQL Generation > Attribute Weights > Modify:
  

• Select Brand followed by Customer State so that Brand has a higher weight:
  

• The Original report will now use Brand first in the SELECT clause and then Customer State. The following SQL will be returned:
  insert into ZZMD00
  select a12. AS BRAND_ID, a15. AS CUST_STATE_ID,
  sum((a11. * a11.)) AS WJXBFS1
  from a11,
  a12,
  a13,
  a14,
  a15
  where a11. = a12. and
  a11. = a13. and
  a13. = a14. and
  a14. = a15.
  and a13. = 1
  group by a12.,
  a15.
  create index ZZMD00_i on ZZMD00 (BRAND_ID,cUST_STATE_ID)
  

For more details on Attribute Weights, refer to the following Strategy Knowledge Base document:
 
KB8983: What is the “Attribute weights” setting in MicroStrategy Developer 9.x.