Posted by - QVD preview in Qlik SaaS is not enough?
- Cannot use external tools like QViewer or Q-Eye because they require qvd to be on your drive and not in the cloud?
- Simply use this Qlik Sense App to quickly view in full any QVD in your Qlik tenant.
The problem it solves
Viewing QVD files stored in a Qlik Sense tenant can be challenging. External tools are of no help; they require QVDs on your hard drive, and downloading QVDs from the tenant is currently not even possible. One reason is that QVDs are encrypted in SaaS, making it more than a simple download. The data preview in the built-in Data Catalog shows only the top rows and for larger QVDs, the Data Catalog does not open the preview at all.
The solution
There is a straightforward solution to this problem: a Qlik Sense applications that loads the selected QVD on request. It uses standard Qlik Script without the need for APIs or extensions. Adding a native button for partial reload and employing some formula tricks can achieve results as shown in the video.
You can download the app here.
Important points to note
- The app will work in Qlik Sense SaaS and not in Qlik Sense OnPrem.
- The app’s functionality is subject to your tenant’s limitations regarding app size.
- You need to have appropriate access rights to the space where you upload this app and to the spaces from which you wish to view the QVDs.
- Ensure you input the correct space name. Since the reload is initiated from the interface, no error messages will be reported if there’s a mistake, resulting in no output.
- After selecting a QVD, confirm the selection and only then press the “Load Selected QVD” button.
- With large QVDs, executing the Load Selected QVD can take time. Please be patient and wait for the load.
- If QVDs in your tenant are organized with subfolder structure with different paths, e.g., Subfolder1/Sales.qvd and Subfolder2/Sales.qvd, a single Sales.qvd will appear in the filter. However, when you select it, there will be a to drill down to the correct path.
- By default, the table displays the first 20 columns, but you can choose which 20 will be shown.
- The Field values sheet displays distinct values along with statistics, which is useful for identifying existing or missing associations. Remember that text values in Qlik filters are (by default) left-justified, and numeric values are right-justified.
- You can utilize the standard Smart Search feature to scan the entire QVD content!
- If you wish, you can modify the script to scan all the spaces in your tenant in a loop.
- You can alter the script to use APIs for loading information on all datasets in the tenant.