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Hello, and welcome again...!

Can we use the same QlikView application for fetching the data from two different database servers if they are having same db name and structure.

We have created two system DSNs with name as ‘MySQL’ and ‘Redshift’ as –

Our target is, to use single “QVW” file where the user should be able to switch between the DSN names. Below are the steps which we can use for same -

• Keep all the column names in small case in views for both MySQL and Redshift Server
• Create a Variable in Qlikview, like ‘vDSN’ which will be used in ODBC CONNECT statement like, and having System DSN name

• Selecting all records from the view using “select *” statement is not a good practice, but as we have only created the views and includes only the required columns, so we have written below statement to fetch the data from views –

• Lastly, add, the RENAME functionality in Qlikview using Mapping LOAD, for aliasing purpose –

• Try to run the code, change the variable ‘vDSN’ and check the result:
• Variable Overview to “MySQL” as –

                Reload the data

               

•      Variable Overview to “Redshift” as 

                         Reload the data

This kind of behaviour, when we have same structure of database, tables, views in different DB servers, and we still want to achieve the same  functionality using single QlikView Application.

Hope this helps.

That's it for this post, stay tuned for more and more articles. Lets give Power to Data...!!!

Whole Story | One place - II

Hello, and welcome all...!

As per my previous post, I have noted down few of the key things, which I like personally in new release of QlikSense. In this article, I am going to tell you few more features, not only related to QlikSense, but also NPrinting and Mobile which Qlik has added in this new Feb 2019 version.

Consider a scenario, where you want to add last refreshed data - date in the email which you are sending as a subscription report to user. Now, in Qlik NPrinting, you have the flexibility to add the variable in the Email part of Publish Tasks as -

This feature also helps in a way, when you want to add the variable in any of the Reports. In Previous versions, we need to add the variable in the NPrinting Designer so that it will be visible in Report, but now, we can also have the same variable used in the Email Message.

Now, we can also have Image improvements in Qlik NPrinting. Suppose, we are fetching any image in the Qlik NPrinting, we can now adjust the Dimensions of same, i.e. Width, height in the Properties window. This feature is only available in Microsoft Office or HTML templates.After upgrading Qlik NPrinting,you must run a metadata reload to see the new Data Displayed width and height parameters under image properties.

In Previous version, whenever there is an error in generating an email, a failure email was sent to user like below -

Now, Qlik has come up with an enhancement, where we can disable this feature. Un-commenting the new parameter <add key="disable-failure-email-sending" />in the scheduler.config file stops emails from sending when report generation fails. If reports are not sent an error will be logged.If you enable this parameter:

• If all reports for a user in a task are correctly generated,the user will receive the email.
• If only some of the reports for a user in a task are generated the user will receive an email with only the generated reports.
• If the generation of all reports for a user in a task fails they will not receive an email.

That's it for this post, stay tuned for more and more articles, lets give Power to Data...!!!

Whole Story | One place

Hello and welcome once again…!

So, Qlik has come up with a new version of QlikSense and i.e. Feb 2019.

It has number of new features like –

•           Improvements w.r.t. usability
•           More visualisations added
•           Mobile features
•           Advance authoring

In this article, I am going to highlight the points which I like the most from this version –

Share button 

Team work, results is good output. This button gives you the flexibility to share your analysis and work collaboratively. You can directly copy the link using this button and share the same through Skype, email etc..

Single Page Tabbed structure

Now, you can have your story, data and analysis in one single page. The way they have kept the tab structure replicates the Qlik Process. So, first you will create data model changes using Data tab, then user will be doing analysis on top of the data and finally creates stories to present or share the outcomes.

Set Analysis $ sign expansion

This is most useful from Developer point of view. How about getting the values of variables and functions in the set analysis editor while creating the expression itself. This is what exactly it does for you, have a look at below image –

That’s it for this article, there are few more things related to NPrinting, mobile features which I will cover in next article.

Stay Tuned…!!!

Mashup Security in QlikSense

Hello and welcome back...!

In one of my previous blogs, we discussed regarding Mashups in QlikView and QlikSense, how we can use them to show near to real time data etc. In today's article, I am going to tell you how Security Rules work in case of Mashups. 

If you want, we can also include few articles on Security Rules, please provide your comment in the comment box below. So, when we say Mashup can have combination of objects from one or different QlikSense Applications, there are possibilities where all users will not be having access to all objects in Mashups. In such cases, how the Mashup will work ?

Consider below scenarios -

1. There is a html link where we have two application objects in one Mashup, and for one application, user is having access and user cannot access the other application in hub
2. There is a web link where the objects in Mashups are from one application only, but user is not having access to the complete application itself
3. User is having access to all objects and application in the Mashup web link

As you can easily guess from above scenarios, for the third scenario, there will not be any problem while accessing the Mashup link. But in case of first and second scenario the behaviour will differ like -

1. In this case, user will be able to access only objects of application which he is having access.  For other objects, there will be blank space 
2. In this case, a blank page will be open with only static content visible

Note: -  In both the cases above, a message will be shown come as a pop-up at the right end corner saying : “Forbidden” 

That's it for this article.

Stay tuned, for more and more articles.

Auto Refresh Near to Live Data

Hello everyone...!

Sorry for delay in posting this blog. Well, as per my one of the blog, we have started a discussion regarding Mashups. We can build mashups in QlikView and QlikSense as well. If you not gone through it, you can read the same by clicking on this link.

So, as promised earlier, I am going to give few more tips and trick regarding Mashups, as most of the development part you can get through Youtube.com, or help.qlik etc.

Now, suppose, you want that your Mashup should get refreshed after few seconds and that too automatically. This scenario comes, when you are presenting near to live data using Mashups.

In such scenario, you can actually integrate HTML features with Mashups. In HTML, if we want to refresh the page automatically, we can simply add below line where the "content" value gives the number of seconds after which the page will get refreshed -

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5">

We can add the same tag in our Mashups page, below are the steps for same -

• Login to QlikSense Hub
• Go to Developer hub > Mashups Editor
• Click on HTML page tab which you want to get refreshed. 
• Add above tag inside <Head> tag as -

          <head>

                      <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5">

         </head>

• Save and test

A small tag and you can play with your near to live data.

That's it for this article. Stay tuned for more articles..!!

New Pie Chart in QlikSense

Hello and welcome all…!

I was planning to continue with my articles on Mashups, but could not resist myself to post an article on a new Pie chart from QlikSense. So, here we go…

Have you ever thought about Pie chart with two measures? So, here in Nov 2018 version of QlikSense, they have come up with a chart called, Rose chart. It’s another style of Pie chart, where you can add two measures, and the radius of the chart defines the second measure – 

Now, suppose, we have –ve values for 2^nd metric, which we will not be able to plot in the above chart. In that case, the Pie chart can be represented as donut chart with –ve values and of course two measures.

Other properties like, Sorting, Alternate states etc., will remain as is.

I really like this visualisation, where you can instantly understand the proportion of the measure to the total. But suppose, if you have many values for dimensions, like products in 100's this might not help. Also this chart takes a lot of space, but of course a good visualisation though.

That’s it for this article. Stay tuned for more and more articles…!!

Mashups in Qlik

Hello, and welcome all...!

Today we are going to discuss regarding Mashups in Qlik. When I say Qlik, I mean QlikView and QlikSense both. If you are not aware, let me tell you that you can create Mashups in QlikView as well.

So, what are mashups..? As name suggested, you can actually include number of objects from different applications in one single HTML page. So, a mashup is a web page or web application that uses content from more than one source to create a single new service displayed in a single graphical interface.

In QlikView, we can create Mashup depending on the requirement using three ways -

• Simple Document - where we can embed the complete QlikSense Document in IFRAME
• Simple Object - where we can embed the complete QlikSense Object in IFRAME
• Div Integration - Where we can embed the objects of QlikView in Div Tag of HTML

Details can be found in below location - 

http://tools.qlikblog.at/QlikView-Mashups/default.html

While in QlikSense, Qlik has provided the Mashup Editor. It can be accessed from Developer Hub which in turn can be accessed through QlikSense Hub. We just have to drag and drop the objects and create Mashups. Qlik also has provided basic templates to start with. Once you select any template, by default, basic structure of files will be created.

We will discuss the Mashup topic in detail in coming posts. Stay tuned...!!!

That's it for this post. 

SDLC to DDLC

Hello Everyone...!!!

Welcome to the another article of the blog series. In this post, I am going to tell you regarding SDLC (Software / Dashboard Development Life cycle) of any Qlik application, I call it as DDLC (Dashboard Development Life Cycle). 

I have gone through number of documents and articles for QlikView Development Cycle. It was one of the things, which is the base of any development in IT industry. If we have proper process for any development, there are very less chances of more numbers of bugs coming in future. 

So, here I have merged all the data related to QlikView Development Process from different resources like blogs, article, Community etc. and of course my own experience.

Dashboard (QlikView) Development Life Cycle:

• (Analyse) Requirement Analysis
• Interacting with Business Analysts and Business users to understand the dashboard, reporting and BI requirements 
• POC Application
• Developer working with the users will create a mock-up of the dashboard to show the users how the data will be presented on the screen. Also discussions should take place on the type of device(Laptop, Desktop, IPad etc.) and screen resolution where this dashboard will be displayed
• (Design) Data Analysis
• Data elements required to full fill user’s requirements.
• (Develop) Development
• Create a data model and visualisations using QlikView Desktop
• Create n-tier QVD architecture o Any object which does not provide insights into data should not be present in the dashboard o Any changes or expectations from client
• (Testing) Review
• Best Practices
• Peer Review
• Debugging
• Unit Testing
• Fine-Tuning
• (Finalise) 
• Deployment on Access Point

This is just the basics of Development Cycle. It will be helpful for me and to others if you provide your valuable comments on this. Please fill free to add any step or any point if I have missed it in the above Cycle.

That's it for this post. Stay tuned, for more articles... 

More about QlikView Variables

Hello and welcome to everyone...!

In one of my last post, I have told you regarding basics of Variables in QlikView. If you have missed that, please check it out once.

In this article, I am going to cover the usage of variables and how we can use them in bookmarks.

Suppose we have a variable called, “vZoom”, which we are using in Input Box. Now, when we provide the value in the Input Box and save it as a Bookmark say B1, and then change few selections and again select the Bookmark B1, we will not be able to get the variable value in the Input Box.

To get the value in the Input Box, we have to do few settings like below –

• Go to Settings > Document Properties
• Variables Tab
• Select the required variable from List and check the box “Include in Bookmarks”

Variables play an important role in Qlik. For Performance Improvement, there are few things with related to variables, which should be consider –

• Once you have created your app, remove all unused and unneeded variables
• Reuse the variables wherever possible
• If same expression is getting calculated number of times, use it in variable and use the evaluated value in charts
• Try to avoid number of variables for similar calculation
• Not to use ‘=’ in Variable definition

That's it for this article, stay tuned, for more articles like this. 

Zooming Object in QlikView

Hello All,

Recently, I came across a scenario, where when we maximise any object in QlikView, it covers the whole screen and I don't want in the same way. Suppose, we we want to zoom an object to particular percentage, it will surely help so that other objects will also be visible.

We can achieve this, by creating two objects of same type, and show-hide the objects depending on click of a button.

Create a variable ‘vZoom’ with default value as ‘Y’ -

Now create a button, with following properties –

Create a radar chart like –

Now when user clicks on a ‘Zoom-In’ button, the radar chart should get maximise, so that all values should be properly visible.

Create a copy of the chart and zoom the chart to the level we want. Go to Properties of zoomed chart > Layout, Show > conditional as “vZoom='Y'”

Follow above step for first created chart and add the condition as “vZoom='N'”.

Click Apply > OK.

Now when you click on button, the behaviour will look like –

This kind of functionality can be useful when you are dealing with Maps.

That's it for this post. Stay tuned, for more articles...!!! 

Variables in QlikView

Hello All,

and welcome to another post of the blog series. You must have seen that I have changed the URL from 'shapeandqlikdata' to 'bishapes', the reason behind same, is I would like to cover topics not only related to Qlik but also w.r.t. complete BI. So check out his space for more and more articles related to BI industry. 

Coming back to the article, in this article I am going to tell you regarding Variables in QlikView. Variables play an important role in QlikView. They can store values, expressions etc. which can be used in the QlikView Document. We can easily create and delete variables from “Variable Overview” window –

Now suppose, we have 500 variables which we have stored in excel sheet and now we want to add those in QlikView. To add 500 variables in QlikView is a time consuming task.

To achieve this, we can follow below steps –

• Suppose, we have a excel sheet with two columns as Value and Variable
• We have to write below code to fetch the variables inside QlikView in the Edit Script part of QlikView

         Table_Variables:

         LOAD Text as Value,

         Variable

         FROM

         <excel file_name_along_with_location>

         (ooxml, embedded labels, table is <sheet_tab_name>);

         // Create variables

         for i = 0 to NoOfRows('Table_Variables') - 1

         let vName = peek('Variable', i, 'Table_Variables'); // Name of the variable

         let $(vName) = peek(' Value', i, 'Table_Variables') ;//& chr(10) & '/ $(vComment) /'; // Expression

         next I;

• Reload the application
• It will create all the variables in the QlikView along with Value

Benefits of using this method –

• Saves time, as number of variables can be loaded within seconds
• Maintaining variable values is easy
• If there is change in any of the variable, we just have to drop the table and again use above code, to have fresh values of variables

That's it for this post, please provide your comments for any feedback or queries. 

Stay tuned for more articles...!!!

HidePrefix in QlikSense

Hello All...!!!

Today, we are going to discuss about Hide Prefix.

Most of us must have used the variable HidePrefix variable in QlikView, where we can set the text string to variable and all field names beginning with this text string will be hidden in the same manner as the system fields. This is a user-defined variable.

But, can we also achieve the same in QlikSense.

So here is a catch, we can achieve the same to some extent.

In order to restrict fields from the Selection Tool as well we will need to use the

SET HidePrefix = '_'; // for any field name that begins with _ will be hidden

or

SET HideSuffix = '_'; // for any field name that ends with _ will be hidden

and this should make the field invisible to the Selection Tool. 

So, now suppose, we have a table with values as –

And I would like to hide F2 and F3, so I rename the same and set the hideprefix and hidesuffix to- 

 I will not be able to see the fields F2 and F3 in the Selection Tool –

But when I say, to some extent, is because, if there is any user who knows the exact name of the field, he can still type it and use it from a filter pane.

That’s it for this blog post. Stay tuned, for more articles like this…!!!

Object ID in QlikSense

Hello All…!

As the name suggest, do you know whether the App Id or sheet Id is present or visible directly in QlikSense. Have you ever try to find out the URL meaning of the QlikSense Hub.

Whenever we open the sheet in an application in QlikSense hub, the URL looks like below –

https://<servername>/sense/app/<long_string>/sheet/<another_long_String>

Let me tell you the meaning of the URL –

The same object Ids, can also be fetch through the QMC, where in the Column Selector list, we have to check the box for ID –

Uses of Object Ids:

-       In the NPrinting Reporting, we need the App Id for creating a connection

-       No two applications will have same IDs, so to differentiate we should always use IDs

-       Ids can be used in creating Extensions, widgets etc.

-       In Mashups, for mapping purpose, we can update the code directly using Object Ids

-       In Security Rules, if we want to create any rule specific to any object, we can use the ID of same.

That’s it for today’s article. Stay tuned for more articles.

Document Analyzer in QlikSense | How to Use

Hello Everyone...!

In the last post, we have see how to install and what are the uses of Document Analyzer. If you have missed the same, please do read it, and provide your feedback for same.

Well, in this post, I am going to tell you how to use the Document Analyzer in QlikSense.

Below are the steps required to analyse the application:

1.       Open QlikSense Desktop

2.       Open “QS Document Analyzer vn.n” in Qlik Sense Desktop.

3.       Open Data Load editor

4.       In the Data connections, click on theicon of appmeta connector:

5.       Select the App from the Application list:

6.       Click on “Test Connection” > Save Changes > Load Data

7.       When the load completes, we can use the sheets to analyse and understand our application.

Hope this article helps. Stay tuned for more articles.