Adding data from files and databases

You can add data to your app quickly, by clicking Add data in the Data manager or in the ¨ menu.

Adding data from an existing data source

You can select data from connections that have already been defined by you or an administrator. These can be a database, a folder containing data files, or a custom connector to an external data source, such as Salesforce. When you add data from a new data source with Connect my data, a connection to the data source is created in Connections , making it easier to add more data from the same data source.

Do the following:

1. Click Add data.
2. Click Connections.

3. Select which connection to use.

4. Select which specific data source you want to add data from. This differs depending on the type of data source.

   • File-based data sources: Select a file.
   • Databases: Set which database to use.
   • Web files: Enter the URL of the web file.
   • Other data sources: Specified by the connector.

5. Select the tables and fields to load.

   See: Selecting data fields from files and databases

6. Choose whether to continue to work on the data or to load the data into the app:

   • Click Prepare data to continue to add data sources, transform the data, or resolve potential problems in Data manager.
   • Click Load data and finish to load the added data into the app and go to the sheet. This will also reload all existing data from data sources.

   If serious problems are detected, you need to resolve the problems in Data manager before you can load data into the app.

Adding data from a new data source

You can select data from a data source that you have not used before. There are a number of types of data source available.

Do the following:

1. Click Add data.
2. Click Connect my data.

3. Select which type of data source to use.

4. Select which specific data source you want to add data from.

   • File based data sources: Select a file.
   • Databases: Set which database to use.
   • Web files: Enter the URL of the web file.
   • Other data sources: Specified by the connector to the database.

5. Select the tables and fields to load.

   See: Selecting data fields from files and databases

6. Choose whether to continue to work on the data or to load the data into the app:

   • Click Prepare data to continue to add data sources, transform the data, or resolve potential problems in Data manager.
   • Click Load data and finish to load the added data into the app and go to the sheet. This will also reload all existing data from data sources.

   If serious problems are detected, you need to resolve the problems in Data manager before you can load data into the app.

Attaching data files

If you are using Qlik Sense on a server and you want to use data files from your computer, you can upload the data files and attach them to an app. An attached file is only available in the app that it is attached to. There is no connection to your original data file, so if you updated the original file you need to refresh the attached file.

Attaching a new file

Do the following:

1. Click Add data.
2. Click Attach file.

3. Drop a data file, or click and select a file from your computer to load.

   If you try to attach a file with the same name as an already attached file, you get the option to replace the attached file with the new file.

   Information noteEach attached file needs to have an unique file name.

4. Select the tables and fields to load.

   See: Selecting data fields from files and databases

5. Choose whether to continue to work on the data or to load the data into the app:

   • Click Prepare data to continue to add data sources, transform the data, or resolve potential problems in Data manager.
   • Click Load data and finish to load the added data into the app and go to the sheet. This will also reload all existing data from data sources.

   If serious problems are detected, you need to resolve the problems in Data manager before you can load data into the app.

Deleting an attached file

Do the following:

1. Click Add data.
2. Click Attach file.

3. Click E next to the file you want to delete.

4. Click ‰ to exit Add data.

Refreshing an attached file

An attached file is only available in the app that it is attached to. There is no connection to your original data file, so if you updated the original file you need to refresh the attached file if you want the new data to be present in the app.

Do the following:

• Attach the file again, and confirm that you want to replace the attached file with the updated file. The updated file needs to have the same name as the attached file.

Synthetic keys

When two or more data tables have two or more fields in common, this suggests a composite key relationship. Qlik Sense handles this by creating synthetic keys automatically. These keys are anonymous fields that represent all occurring combinations of the composite key.

See: Synthetic keys

If adding a table results in any of the following cases, Prepare data is the only option available when you finish adding data.

• A synthetic key containing more than five fields is created.
• More than ten synthetic keys are created.
• Nested synthetic keys are created, that is, synthetic keys containing other synthetic keys.

These cases indicate that you need to adjust the data tables to resolve the issues.

Which data sources are available to me?

You can add data from the following types of data sources:

• Connections

  Add data from data connections that have been defined by you or an administrator, and folders that you previously have selected data from.

• Connect my data

  Add data from a new data source, such as ODBC or OLE DB databases, data files, web files or custom connectors.

  Tip noteYou can also drop a data file on the Qlik Sense Desktop window to add a data file.

• Qlik DataMarket

  Select from normalized data from public and commercial databases.

  See: Selecting data from Qlik DataMarket

• Attach file

  Upload a data file from your computer and attach it to your app.

What data source types are available to you depends on a number of factors:

• Access settings

  Administrator settings determine which types of data sources you can connect to.

• Installed custom connectors

  Qlik Sense contains built-in support for many data sources. To connect to additional data sources you may need a custom connector, supplied by Qlik or a third party. Custom connectors need to be installed before you can use them.

  Qlik Sense Custom Connectors help

• Local file availability

  Local files on your desktop computer are only available in Qlik Sense Desktop. They are not available for use with a server installation of Qlik Sense.

  Tip noteIf you have local files that you want to load on a server installation of Qlik Sense, you need to attach the files to the app, or transfer the files to a folder available to the Qlik Sense server, preferably a folder that is already defined as a folder data connection.