Open API, Built for Developers by Developers

The MicroStrategy BI platform contains the most complete and comprehensive API in the BI industry developed with full adherence to industry standards such as J2EE, .NET, XML, JSR168, WSRP, SOAP, Adobe Flex, and COM. The open API allows developers to access and extend upon the functionality in the MicroStrategy BI platform. Several thousands of API methods and properties span the full spectrum of BI functionality, allowing developers to customize applications or integrate with other applications that comprise the enterprise’s application portfolio. The MicroStrategy platform’s API is so broad, complete, and extensive that all MicroStrategy products were built using the API.

Object-Oriented, Layered Architecture Built for Seamless Platform Extension and Reusability

The MicroStrategy platform architecture is built on distinct layers of Java™ objects that separate the underlying communication, application, presentation, and layout logic. This architecture leverages a surface layer that is optimized for performance and reusability, easily integrating with a wide variety of third-party technologies.

The MicroStrategy Web architecture uses an underlying J2EE™ technology through both JSP and ASP.NET pages to provide platform independence from a single code base. This allows organizations to use their choice of operating system and still reap the benefits of the underlying J2EE-based architecture. The single code base of the architecture also provides customers with access to the latest upgrades and issue fixes without delay, regardless of their hardware and operating system. This object-oriented, layered architecture makes it easy for developers to identify and isolate the objects to be customized, minimizing impact to unaffected objects and functions. This means that organizations can easily upgrade their MicroStrategy Web customizations to future versions of the MicroStrategy platform. In addition, a reusable task layer above the MicroStrategy Web SDK encapsulates all potential customizations, allowing developers to render changes in any way, including XML, HTML, and Web Services.

MicroStrategy Developer Library

The MicroStrategy Developer Library (MSDL) contains comprehensive, HTML-based documentation and reference material, complete with API references and how-tos for developers to quickly access information at the most detailed level. It provides:

• Comprehensive documentation detailing the MicroStrategy BI platform architecture
• API references, complete with input/output parameters
• Several dozens of task-oriented examples with sample code
• Tools and tips to upgrade to the latest version of the MicroStrategy BI platform
• Case studies for integration with external applications
• Sample applications and utilities