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Adding data from an existing data source

You can add data to your app from connections that have already been defined by you or an administrator. These can be a database, a folder containing data files, or a connector to an external data source, such as Salesforce.com.

Warning note

Do not add a table in Data manager that has already been added as a scripted table with the same name and same columns in Data load editor.

You can delete connections from Add data by right-clicking the connection and selecting Delete.

Warning note

If you delete a connection, you must delete any tables from Data manager that used that connection before you load data.

  1. Open your app.
  2. Open the Data manager, and then click Add Add dataFiles and other sources. You can also click Add data in Navigation in the top bar.
  3. Under Existing connections, select an existing connection. You can view connections from spaces to which you have access using the space drop-down list.

    Some connections go directly to their data sources, where you select tables and fields to load. For example, connections to Salesforce.com or a database go directly to the source for data selection.

  4. Select the specific data source you want to add data from if the connection offers a selection.

    This differs depending on the type of data source.

  5. Select the tables and fields to load.

    For more information, see Selecting data fields.

  6. Optionally, select to apply a data filter if you want to select a subset of the data contained in the fields you have selected.

    If your data source is a file, select Filters. Beside the table to which you want to add a filter, click Add filter, select a field, select a condition, and then enter a value with which to filter. For information, see Filtering data from files.

    Information note

    Qlik Sense does not support filters on date fields from QVD files.

    Note the following:

    • You can apply multiple filters to the same field.
    • You can remove filters in the Associations view of Data manager or from Select data from source. For the changes to take effect, reload data by clicking the Load data button.

    For databases and connectors, when you select Filter data, a text box opens for the filter criteria. For information about criteria, see Filtering data from files.

    Note the following:

    • Filters are applied to field names from the database. If you rename a field in the Data manager, you have to apply the filter to the original field name from the database. For example, if a field is named EMP in your database, and you rename it to EMPLOYEE in the Data manager, you have to apply the filter EMP = ‘filter_value’ .
    • You can clear data filters in the Associations view of the Data manager. For the changes to take effect, reload data by clicking the Load data button. You have to split concatenated tables before clearing filters.
    • Filtering data is not currently available for all connectors, or for attached files.
  7. Click Add data to open the data in the Associations view of the data manager. This allows you to continue to add data sources, transform the data, and associate the tables in Data manager.

    Data profiling is enabled by default when you click Add data. Data profiling does the following:

    • Recommends data associations.
    • Auto-qualifies common fields between tables. This adds a unique prefix based on table name.
    • Maps date and time fields to autoCalendar.

    Tables are not associated on common field names automatically. You can associate tables in the Associations view.

    Tip noteIf you want to load the data directly into your app, click More and then disable data profiling. This will load the newly selected data from the external data source when you add data. Tables will be associated on common field names automatically. Date and time fields will not be created.

    For more information, see Managing data associations.

  8. Click Load data when you are done preparing the data. If serious problems are detected, you need to resolve the problems in Data manager before you can load data into the app.

    For more information, see Troubleshooting - Loading data.

Information note

If your data includes city or country geographic information, the following QVD files might automatically be added to the current space:

  • countryAliases.qvd

  • countryGeo.qvd

  • cityAliases.qvd

  • cityGeo.qvd

These files are used to provide additional geographic data for the locations included in your added data. Qlik Sense manages and updates these files as necessary. If they are deleted, they are automatically added back after the next reload.

To reload all the data that you have selected from the external source, use the reload button in the Data manager footer. This ensures you get all the current data from the source for the selections you have made. Reloading all the data can take longer than loading only the new data. If the data you loaded previously has not been changed in the data source, it is not necessary to reload all the data.

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