KB6948: How to obtain the XML for a MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server service

In MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server 8.x and newer, the eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) stylesheet MSTR7ToHTML-ReturnXML.xsl returns the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) for a given Information Object contained in a HTML Document of a service:

 

To obtain the XML for a specific Information Object contained in a HTML Document for a given service:

1. Create an Information Object pointing to the desired report
2. Create a HTML Document and insert the Information Object from Step 1
3. Right-click on the Information Object and select Edit document element. Browse and select the MSTR7ToHTML-ReturnXML.xsl
4. Create a service that delivers this HTML Document as an attachment
5. Set the e-mail Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Information Transmitter to Save To File. The message will be saved as an EML file in the specified directory
   

1. Run the service. Open the EML file. Open the attached HTML file
2. Right-click on the body of the HTML file and select View Source

 

This opens the source code of the HTML body in Notepad. The XML for the report is located between the open and close <mi> tags. Select everything between these two tags, including the <mi> tags and save the file as an XML file.

 

To test the XML with various XSL Stylesheets, users can use the utility TestXML.exe from C:\Program Files\MicroStrategy\Narrowcast Server\Delivery Engine\Utilities. This utility asks for the XML and an XSL Stylesheet. Users can, then, transform the data into HTML format to see what the service would look like, had this service been run through MicroStrategy Narrowcast Server.000013292