KB16428: Grid reports in dashboards do not automatically expand to fit to contents in Flash mode for MicroStrategy Web 9,x

SYMPTOM:
Users designing Flash dashboards in Strategy Web 9.x may notice that in Flash mode, grid reports do not expand, while they do in Interactive mode.
 
STEPS TO REPRODUCE:
Follow the steps below to reproduce this issue:
 

• In Design view, add a grid to the template of a dashboard.
• Right-click the grid, choose Properties, and click on the Layout tab.
• Ensure that the width and height of the graph are set to fit to contents, as shown below::
  

• Execute the dashboard in Interactive mode. Notice that the grid expands to display all the data, as shown below:
  

• Switch to Flash mode. Notice that the grid is in a minimized state, as shown below:
  

CAUSE:
This is working as designed. Due to performance considerations with large grid reports, Flash mode has a restriction on it that prevents grid reports from growing automatically.
 
ACTION:
There are several different actions users can take to rectify this issue:
 

• As there is no restriction on the shrinking of grid reports, users can manually click and drag to increase the size of grid, i.e. set a fixed width and height, and then change the properties to fit to content, as shown below:
  

•  
  Once the size is increased, in Flash mode the grid will shrink as necessary to the dimensions of the content, as shown below:
   
  

• A more permanent solution is the increase the default grid size in the template definition, which starts at 1"x0.5". To do this, perform the following:
   
   
  
• Edit a document template used by users in Strategy Desktop > Object Templates > Templates.
• Create a grid with the desired size dimensions.
• Right-click on the grid and choose 'Set Control Defaults'.
• Delete the grid, then save the template. All future documents created from this template will now use the new grid dimensions by default.
• A final alternative is to use the dashboard template for building new documents, which defaults grids to a fixed size, not fit to contents.