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Retrieve a fact's definition

Available since 2021 Update 1
tip

You can try out this workflow at REST API Playground.

Learn more about MicroStrategy REST API Playground here.

This topic covers two workflows for retrieving a fact’s definition:

Retrieve a fact's definition​

This workflow sample demonstrates how to retrieve the definition of a fact through the Modeling service.

You want to get the definition of the "Profit" fact object. The object ID of the fact is FDD652E7444ADD7AB6B25F9C1FA15F92 in the MicroStrategy Tutorial project. The project ID is B7CA92F04B9FAE8D941C3E9B7E0CD754.

info

Get the authorization token needed to execute the request with POST /api/auth/login.

Get the project ID from GET /api/projects.

Retrieve the fact's definition using GET /api/model/facts/{factId}.

Sample Request Header:

"accept": "application/json"
"X-MSTR-AuthToken": "ouddou5qdd421ndfpjqd6ssman"
"X-MSTR-ProjectID": "B7CA92F04B9FAE8D941C3E9B7E0CD754

Sample Request Body: Empty

Sample Curl:

curl -X GET "https://demo.microstrategy.com/MicroStrategyLibrary/api/model/facts/FDD652E7444ADD7AB6B25F9C1FA15F92" -H "accept: application/json" -H "X-MSTR-AuthToken: ouddou5qdd421ndfpjqd6ssman" -H "X-MSTR-ProjectID: B7CA92F04B9FAE8D941C3E9B7E0CD754"

Sample Response Body:

You can view the fact's definition in the body of the response.

{
  "information": {
    "dateCreated": "2021-03-22T18:05:47.821Z",
    "dateModified": "2021-03-22T18:05:47.821Z",
    "versionId": "3FF0319C5B496906BE3EF5A0F825CE77",
    "primaryLocale": "en-US",
    "objectId": "FDD652E7444ADD7AB6B25F9C1FA15F92",
    "subType": "fact",
    "name": "Profit"
  },
  "dataType": {
    "type": "float",
    "precision": 53,
    "scale": 0
  },
  "expressions": [
    {
      "expressionId": "7A4ABE8CAC6F11D58AD900C04FF2C54C",
      "expression": {
        "text": "TOT_DOLLAR_SALES - TOT_COST"
      },
      "tables": [
        {
          "objectId": "9A28CFCC42DB8E9627D547975958C138",
          "subType": "logical_table",
          "name": "CITY_MNTH_SLS"
        },
        {
          "objectId": "54D82D5B4BD115DA313C03A5742900AE",
          "subType": "logical_table",
          "name": "CUSTOMER_SLS"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "entryLevel": []
}

Response Code: 200 (The fact's definition was returned successfully.)

Retrieve a fact's definition with expressions in tree and tokens formats​

In this sample workflow, you want to get the definition of the "Profit" fact object, with its expressions returned in tree and tokens formats. The object ID of the fact is FDD652E7444ADD7AB6B25F9C1FA15F92 in the MicroStrategy Tutorial project. The project ID is B7CA92F04B9FAE8D941C3E9B7E0CD754.

tip

Expressions are presented in the following formats:

  • "text": A human-readable, but non-parsable text, describing the expression. This is the default format that is always returned in the response.
  • "tree": A tree data structure fully defining the expression. This format can be used if you want to examine and modify the expression programmatically.
  • "tokens": A list of parsed tokens. This format can be used if you want to examine and modify the expression using the parser component. Be aware that generating tokens requires additional time.

Tokens are a semi-structured representation of MicroStrategy expression text that includes object references. For example, let’s say a fact expression is "Revenue - Cost". When the fact expression is represented as tokens, the text is broken down into pieces (tokens) with information about what these pieces represent in the metadata: ("Revenue", Revenue_ID), ("-", Minus_ID), ("Cost", Cost_ID).

If showExpressionAs is omitted, the expression is returned in "text" format.

If showExpressionAs is tree, the expression is returned in "text" and "tree" formats.

If showExpressionAs is tokens, the expression is returned in "text" and "tokens" formats.

This workflow sample is similar to Retrieve a fact's definition, except with showExpressionAs=tree and showExpressionAs=tokens.

Sample Request Header:

"accept": "application/json"
"X-MSTR-AuthToken": "ouddou5qdd421ndfpjqd6ssman"
"X-MSTR-ProjectID": "B7CA92F04B9FAE8D941C3E9B7E0CD754

Sample Request Body: Empty

Sample Curl:

curl -X GET "https://demo.microstrategy.com/MicroStrategyLibrary/api/model/facts/FDD652E7444ADD7AB6B25F9C1FA15F92?showExpressionAs=tokens&showExpressionAs=tree" -H "accept: application/json" -H "X-MSTR-AuthToken: ouddou5qdd421ndfpjqd6ssman" -H "X-MSTR-ProjectID: B7CA92F04B9FAE8D941C3E9B7E0CD754"

Sample Response Body:

You can view the fact’s definition in the body of the response. Notice that, each fact expression contains the fields "tree" and "tokens", representing the expression in tree and tokens format respectively.

{
  "information": {
    "dateCreated": "2021-03-22T18:05:47.821Z",
    "dateModified": "2021-03-22T18:05:47.821Z",
    "versionId": "3FF0319C5B496906BE3EF5A0F825CE77",
    "primaryLocale": "en-US",
    "objectId": "FDD652E7444ADD7AB6B25F9C1FA15F92",
    "subType": "fact",
    "name": "Profit"
  },
  "dataType": {
    "type": "float",
    "precision": 53,
    "scale": 0
  },
  "expressions": [
    {
      "expressionId": "7A4ABE8CAC6F11D58AD900C04FF2C54C",
      "expression": {
        "text": "TOT_DOLLAR_SALES - TOT_COST",
        "tree": {
          "function": "minus",
          "children": [
            {
              "type": "column_reference",
              "columnName": "TOT_DOLLAR_SALES",
              "objectId": "8D6792A011D3E4981000E787EC6DE8A4"
            },
            {
              "type": "column_reference",
              "columnName": "TOT_COST",
              "objectId": "7A4ABDFD11D5AC6FC000D98A4CC5F24F"
            }
          ],
          "type": "operator"
        },
        "tokens": [
          {
            "level": "resolved",
            "state": "initial",
            "value": "TOT_DOLLAR_SALES",
            "type": "column_reference",
            "target": {
              "dateCreated": "2001-01-02T20:48:35.000Z",
              "dateModified": "2016-08-18T19:20:24.000Z",
              "versionId": "CFE0642A11E66578144C0080EF557A15",
              "primaryLocale": "en-US",
              "objectId": "8D6792A011D3E4981000E787EC6DE8A4",
              "subType": "column",
              "name": "TOT_DOLLAR_SALES"
            }
          },
          {
            "level": "resolved",
            "state": "initial",
            "value": "-",
            "type": "character",
            "target": {
              "dateCreated": "2001-01-02T20:47:41.000Z",
              "dateModified": "2021-03-09T15:22:04.454Z",
              "versionId": "3417594811EB80EB25D80080EF25AB1A",
              "primaryLocale": "en-US",
              "objectId": "8107C311DD9911D3B98100C04F2233EA",
              "subType": "function",
              "name": "-",
              "description": "Returns the difference between two values."
            }
          },
          {
            "level": "resolved",
            "state": "initial",
            "value": "TOT_COST",
            "type": "column_reference",
            "target": {
              "dateCreated": "2001-09-18T19:59:30.000Z",
              "dateModified": "2016-08-18T19:20:24.000Z",
              "versionId": "CFE0642A11E66578144C0080EF557A15",
              "primaryLocale": "en-US",
              "objectId": "7A4ABDFD11D5AC6FC000D98A4CC5F24F",
              "subType": "column",
              "name": "TOT_COST"
            }
          },
          {
            "level": "resolved",
            "state": "initial",
            "value": "",
            "type": "end_of_text"
          }
        ]
      },
      "tables": [
        {
          "objectId": "9A28CFCC42DB8E9627D547975958C138",
          "subType": "logical_table",
          "name": "CITY_MNTH_SLS"
        },
        {
          "objectId": "54D82D5B4BD115DA313C03A5742900AE",
          "subType": "logical_table",
          "name": "CUSTOMER_SLS"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "entryLevel": []
}