MicroStrategy | TN42534: How to clear the various caches interacting with MicroStrategy Web 9.x.

Good tech note for clearing the respective caches in Web..

When troubleshooting JavaScript issues in MicroStrategy Web 9.x, one of the most important steps taken is to clear the various web-relatedcaches interacting with the application.

Note: These caches are completely unrelated to the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server caches and do not contain dataset or element caches.

The following list describes all of those locations and how to clear them.

Temporary ASP.NET Files (Microsoft IIS).
JSP Application Server caches.
MicroStrategy Web 9.x application caches.
Browser caches and cookies.
Clearing Flash Player cache.

1. Temporary ASP.NET Files (Microsoft IIS).

Microsoft IIS, which uses the .Net Framework to compile the application will keep application level caches. These caches are not cleared when uninstalling MicroStrategy Web or when installing a newer version MicroStrategy Web on top of an older one. For this reason it is crucial to know where these caches are located and how to delete them.

The location of these cache files varies based on the OS version of the web server machine, the IIS version, and the .NET version.

Running a 64-bit machine with Windows 7, IIS 7, and .NET 2.0 or .NET 4.0, the location might be:

C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv2.0.50727Temporary ASP.NET Files
C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv4.0.30319Temporary ASP.NET Files
C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFramework64v2.0.50727Temporary ASP.NET Files
C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFramework64v4.0.30319Temporary ASP.NET Files

To purge the caches, simply delete the folder with the MicroStrategy Web application name under that folder.

Note: For other versions of Windows or IIS refer to the 3rd party vendor for more information on their location.

2. JSP Application Server caches.

JSP application servers will also have their own application level caches. These caches are not cleared when undeploying or redeploying a war file. For this reason it is crucial to know where these caches are located and how to delete them.

The location of these cache files varies based on the OS version of the web server machine and the application server brand.

E.g. Apache Tomcat will have a cache folder under:

<tomcat home>/work/Catalina/<web_server_name>/

To purge the caches, simply delete the folder with the MicroStrategy Web application name under that folder.

For WebSphere, please refer to TN44754

Note: For other JSP application server brands refer to the 3rd party vendor for more information on their location.

3. MicroStrategy Web 9.x application caches.

The MicroStrategy Web 9.x application will cache certain files that are loaded into the application server memory in order to speed up its internal processes. These caches are mostly the same caches that get cleared when the application server is restarted; although actually restarting the application server may clear up a little more than just these caches.

For more information on how to clear these caches refer to tech note TN16403.

Note:These caches are not specific to ASP or JSP.

4. Browser caches and cookies.

MicroStrategy Web 9.x stores some of its settings using browser cookies. This is the default option in the MicroStrategy Web Admin page. Some temporary settings stored in cookies are lost when the browser is closed; these settings include the last page visited, filter and template definitions for report execution, shared report location, and so on. Persistable settings are stored in cookies and can be restored when the user visits the application in the future, for example when editors are opened or closed.

Furthermore, static content served by the application server can also be cached in the browser. Because these files are static, i.e. never modified by the MicroStrategy Web application, they can be cached in the browser to speed up the communication process between the client machine and the web server machine. These static files include things such as images, CSS files, and JavaScript files. In time, these files may get mixed between versions of the MicroStrategy Web application. For this reason it is crucial to know where these caches are located and how todelete them.

Mozilla Firefox 3.6

Select the ‘Tools’ menu.
Select ‘Clear Recent History’.
Make sure that the ‘Time range to clear’ pull-down menu is set to ‘Everything’ and all boxes are checked.
Select the ‘Clear Now’ button.
Close and re-open the browser.

Mozilla FireFox 7.x

Select the ‘Firefox’ button in the upper left hand corner.
Select ‘History’.
Select ‘Clear Recent History’.
Make sure that the ‘Time range to clear’ pull-down menu is set to ‘Everything’ and all boxes are checked.
Select the ‘Clear Now’ button.
Close and re-open the browser.

Internet Explorer 9

Select the cogwheel icon in the upper right hand corner of the IE window.
Select ‘Internet Options’.
Select the ‘General’ tab (default).
Under ‘Browsing History’ select the ‘Settings’ button.
Under “Check for newer versions of stored pages:”, select ‘Every time I visit the webpage’.
Click OK.
Under ‘Browsing history’ select the ‘Delete‘ button.

Note: In some cases, it will also be helpful to access the Settings button next to the Delete button shown above. There will be 2 buttons in the Settings page: View objects and View files. Manually access both buttons and clear the entire contents of these folders.
In the ‘Delete Browsing History’ menu, make sure all boxes but the top one are checked as shown below.
Note: Make sure that to UNCHECK the option that reads ‘Preserve Favorites website data’.
Select the ‘Delete‘ button.
Close then re-open the browser.