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Mondrian - Getting started with Flexmonster Accelerator

NOTE: new features and further improvements are no longer released for the Mondrian data source.
Instead of Mondrian, our team highly recommends considering Flexmonster Data Server. Just like Mondrian, this tool aggregates data on the server side and can handle large datasets.
You can see the full list of available data sources here: Supported data sources.

Flexmonster Accelerator for Pentaho Mondrian cubes is a special server-side proxy that increases data loading speeds from the server to the user's browser.

When working with OLAP cubes, a browser component communicates with the server via the XMLA protocol. The XMLA protocol is heavy and exchanges a lot of excessive information - it takes too much time and memory to load and process the data.

We replaced the XMLA protocol and use direct requests from the component to the server.

This is our solution to two major problems that many of those who work with big data face:

  • We made big data transfer from the server to the browser incredibly fast. Our tool allows you to transfer large multidimensional data super easily and quickly. Reporting becomes more enjoyable and prompt for your end users.
  • We greatly reduced the load on the browser memory.

Requirements

  • Flexmonster Pivot version 2.2 or higher
  • A relational database with a Mondrian schema
  • Java JRE 1.7+

Step 1. Embed the component into your webpage

If Flexmonster is not yet embedded, set up an empty component in your webpage:

In pure JavaScript

Complete the Integrating Flexmonster guide. Your code should look similar to the following example:

let pivot = new Flexmonster({
  container: "pivotContainer",
  componentFolder: "node_modules/flexmonster/",
  toolbar: true
});

In React

Complete the Integration with React guide. Your code should look similar to the following example:

<FlexmonsterReact.Pivot
 toolbar={true}
/>

In Angular

Complete the Integration with Angular guide. Your code should look similar to the following example:

<fm-pivot
 [toolbar]="true">
</fm-pivot>

In Vue

Complete the Integration with Vue guide. Your code should look similar to the following example:

<Pivot
 toolbar
/>

Step 2. Configure Flexmonster Accelerator on the server

The package with the Accelerator contains the following files in the server/ folder:

  • flexmonster-proxy-mondrian.jar - a server-side utility that handles connectivity between Pentaho Mondrian and Flexmonster Pivot.
  • flexmonster-proxy-mondrian-4.jar - same as flexmonster-proxy-mondrian.jar, but for the newer version of Pentaho Mondrian 4.4.
  • flexmonster.config - a file that contains configuration parameters for the utility (connection string, port, etc.).

There are also additional sample files:

  • FoodMart.xml - a sample Mondrian schema for a FoodMart database.
  • FoodMart-4.xml - same as FoodMart.xml, but for the newer version of Pentaho Mondrian 4.4.
  • mysql-connector-java-*.jar - a Java connector for a MySQL database.

Let’s review flexmonster.config file. It contains the following parameters:

  • CONNECTION_STRING - (required) the connection string for Pentaho Mondrian. Example:
    Jdbc=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/foodmart?user=root&password=password;JdbcDrivers=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver;
  • JDBC_DRIVER_JAR - (required) the path to the Java connector (a .jar file) for the database. Example: ./mysql-connector-java-5.1.37.jar.
  • JDBC_DRIVER_CLASS - (required) the class name of the Java connector. Example: com.mysql.jdbc.Driver.
  • CATALOGS_PATH - optional a path to the folder that contains the Mondrian schemas. Default value: ./.
  • PORT - optional the port number for the proxy service endpoint. Default value: 50006.
  • CACHE_MEMORY_LIMIT - optional the maximum memory size available for caching (in MB). Default value: 0 (unlimited).
  • CACHE_ENABLED - optional indicates whether caching is enabled.
    Available since version 2.211. Default value: true.
  • HTTPSoptional indicates whether the HTTPS protocol is enabled. Default value: false.

After configuring all the necessary options, the Accelerator is ready to be launched. Just execute the following commands in terminal:

# navigate to the folder that contains the Accelerator
cd {path_to_package}/server
# start the Accelerator
java -jar flexmonster-proxy-mondrian.jar

If your schema is built for Mondrian 4, use flexmonster-proxy-mondrian-4.jar instead.

Step 3. Open a port for Flexmonster Accelerator in the firewall

If you plan to allow connections to the Accelerator from outside the server, open the appropriate port in the firewall. The default port number is 50006, but it can be changed using the PORT parameter in the flexmonster.config file.

Step 4. Configure Flexmonster Pivot Table and Charts

Now it’s time to configure the client – Flexmonster Pivot Table and Charts. Let’s create a minimal configuration using the JavaScript API (replace proxyUrl, catalog, and cube parameters with your specific values):

var pivot = new Flexmonster({ 
container: "pivotContainer",
toolbar: true,
report: {
dataSource: {
type: "mondrian",
/* URL to Flexmonster Accelerator */
proxyUrl: "http://localhost:50006",
/* Data source info */
dataSourceInfo: "MondrianFoodMart",
/* Catalog name / Mondrian schema */
catalog: "FoodMart",
/* Cube name */ cube: "Sales",
// Flag to use the Accelerator instead of XMLA protocol
binary: true
}
}
});

Launch the webpage from a browser — there you go! A pivot table is embedded into your project.

Cache control

Flexmonster Accelerator for Mondrian has two levels of cache:

  • Mondrian cache
  • Accelerator cache (controlled by the CACHE_ENABLED parameter)

Usually, a cache can improve performance greatly. However, if the underlying database ever changes, the cache goes out of date. Mondrian cannot deduce when the database is being modified, so we introduce a method to force clear the Mondrian cache.

It works by triggering the “ClearCache” as follows:

http://localhost:50006/FlexmonsterProxy/ClearCache 

The Accelerator cache can be disabled with the CACHE_ENABLED parameter in flexmonster.config (available since version 2.211):

CACHE_ENABLED=false

Mondrian configuration

Mondrian has a properties file to allow you to configure how it is executed. It is possible to use any of these properties with the Accelerator.

To do this, create a mondrian.properties file in the same location as flexmonster-proxy-mondrian.jar.

For example:

mondrian­.­rolap­.­aggregates­.­ChooseByVolume = false
mondrian­.­rolap­.­aggregates­.­generateSql = false

Refer to the full list of Mondrian properties to find out more.