KB17936: Incorrect report results retrieved when OBJECT EXISTS STATUS attribute is used in the filter qualification of a MicroStrategy Enterprise Manager 9.x report

SYMPTOM:
A user wishes to create a Strategy Enterprise Manager 9.x report that lists all currently existing reports in the metadata and the last time they were executed. However, executing such a report results in errorneous data. Only the list of reports that have been deleted from the metadata is presented to the user.
 
STEPS TO REPRODUCE:
Follow the steps below to reproduce this issue:
 

1. In the out-of-the-box Enterprise Manager project, create a new report.
2. Place the attribute 'Report' on the row.
3. Place the metric 'RP Last Exec Request Timestamp' on the column.
4. In the report filter, add an attribute filter on 'Object Exists Status' elements in list (EXISTS IN THE MD REPOSITORY).
5. Run the report, and the SQL is shown below:

Note that the connection between the IS_REP_FACT table and the IS_REP table takes place through IS_DOC, rather than directly joining to IS_REP as expected. This is because in the schema, `Object Exists Status` is mappd to both IS_DOC and IS_REP and both relationships (report to document and report to report) are valid. Due to this unpredictable behavior, the user sees errorneous results.
 
CAUSE:
The above SQL is generated because of the way the attribute 'Object Exists Status' is mapped to the objects in the metadata (Report, Template, etc). Object Exists Status is the one-to-many parent of every object in the metadata.
 
ACTION:
To support such a reporting requirement, the user should filter on the 'EXIST_DESC' attribute form of the attribute Report (as shown below) instead of using "Object Exists Status" attribute in the filter qualification. 
 

 
The SQL and report results will be correct as shown below: