QlikView - Import
Bridge Requirements
This bridge:is only supported on Microsoft Windows.
requires the tool to be installed to access its SDK.
Bridge Specifications
| Vendor | QlikTech |
| Tool Name | QlikView |
| Tool Version | 11.2 to 12.x |
| Tool Web Site | http://www.qlik.com/us/products/qlikview |
| Supported Methodology | [Business Intelligence] Multi-Model, BI Report (Relational Source, Expression Parsing, Report Structure) via COM API on QVW or QVD File |
| Data Profiling |  |
| Incremental Harvesting | |
| Multi-Model Harvesting |  |
| Remote Repository Browsing for Model Selection | |
SPECIFICATIONS
Tool: QlikTech / QlikView version 11.2 to 12.x via COM API on QVW or QVD File
See http://www.qlik.com/us/products/qlikview
Metadata: [Business Intelligence] Multi-Model, BI Report (Relational Source, Expression Parsing, Report Structure)
Component: QlikViewFiles version 11.2.0
OVERVIEW
This import bridge imports Business Intelligence (BI) reporting metadata from a directory (and subdirectories) of QlikView files including:
- QlikView Working (QVW) documents
- QlikView Data (QVD) files
- QlikView execution log files associated to each QVW documents
- QlikView external script files referenced by QVW documents
REQUIREMENTS
WARNING: This bridge uses the COM API of a Windows based tool client and/or SDK which must be (a) properly installed, (b) licensed on behalf of a Windows user capable of running this tool, and (c) capable of accessing the tool server content. In addition:
(1) As recommended by the tool vendor, the tool server must NOT be installed/coexist on the same machine where the tool client (and the bridge) is installed/running because of potential conflicts of resources, including with respect to COM API.
(2) Windows COM API based tools are notoriously unstable after repeated failures or lack of system resources, which requires a Windows reboot to make that tool COM API work properly again.
(3) If this bridge is running as an application, then it must be logged with the same above Windows user.
If the bridge is running as a Windows service, then go to the services manager of Windows, right-click on the MIMB Application Server service, and go to the "Log On" tab to define an account by name under which the service will run.
- QlikView software installed:
This import bridge requires the QlikView software and its COM/OLE API to be installed on the machine that is executing this import bridge.
- QlikView software not running:
As connectivity to the API is through COM based automation, please be sure to close all QlikView instances and check the Task Manager to confirm there are no QlikView processes running, as these may interfere with the startup of this import bridge.
- QlikView execution log available:
This import bridge requires the QlikView document execution log, because some (or all) metadata details cannot be extracted from the source script due to their dynamic aspect (e.g. use of loops, subroutines, variable definitions).
Note that the Miscellaneous parameter offers an option -log.notavailable (although not recommended).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What do I do if this import bridge appears to stop processing for a long time with no log messages after 'Connected to QlikView version xx.xx.xxxxx.x'?
A: Pop-up dialog issue: As connectivity to the API is through COM based automation, the import may be blocked because a dialog message may have been issued by QlikView and it is awaiting a response. In order to address this issue, you must look for windows in the background that would be the dialog requiring user attention. In some cases, e.g., if this import bridge is executed as a service rather than directly as an application, in order to ensure that you see this message, you will need to re-run this import bridge as a full application rather than a service.
Q: How to create the execution log files used by this import bridge?
A: The execution log files are generated by QlikView when a QVW document script is executed. Enable generation of the log files in QlikView menu Settings / Document Properties / General / Generate Logfile. Then, execute the QVW document script.
Q: When do I need to generate execution log files?
A: The execution log files contain information that help this import bridge understand the script expressions. Whenever the script contains variables, loops, or dynamic script statements, execution log files may be useful.
Q: Why does my import produce incorrect lineage if the tables have the same names under different projects?
A: For example, the document loads data from X and Y table to Z table. Then store data from Z table to abc123.qvd. Then drop Z table.
Then loads data from Y and W table to Z table and stores qwe123.qvd. Then drop Z table.
Then loads data from T and X table to Z table and stores asd123.qvd.
This document is reusing the same table name Z for 3 different SQL SELECT statements. (SELECT > STORE > DROP)
In order to maintain the lineage we have to create all three of the aforementioned tables, but we cannot create 3 tables with the same name. Thus, the bridge detects dropped tables as temporary tables and makes them unique names. The format for this name is: name_Md5(application id)_removedTableNumber.
LIMITATIONS
Refer to the current general known limitations at https://metaintegration.com/Products/MIMB/Help/#!Documents/mimbknownlimitations.html
SUPPORT
Provide a troubleshooting package with:
- the debug log (can be set in the UI or in conf/conf.properties with MIR_LOG_LEVEL=6)
- the metadata backup if available (can be set in the Miscellaneous parameter with -backup option, although this common option is not implemented on all bridges for technical reasons).
Q: How do I provide information to help the support team reproduce an issue?
A: Provide an archive of the files involved (QVW, QVD, execution logs, external scripts). If you wish to remove confidential data from these files, please request a script to do so.
Bridge Parameters
| Parameter Name | Description | Type | Values | Default | Scope |
| Directory | The directory (including subdirectories) of QlikView documents, log files and external script files involved in the QlikView project. Ideally, the parameter should point to the production location of the project. When it is not possible to access the production location directly, you can copy the production directory to a different location and point the parameter to it. In this case, when the project uses QlikView DIRECTORY statements you need to redirect the statements to the new location. Consult the Miscellaneous parameter documentation for additional information. |
DIRECTORY | Mandatory | ||
| User ID | The User ID specified in Section Access to protect any QlikView documents. This User ID has to have access to all documents in the directory. Otherwise this import bridge will hang because of Qlikview pop-up window which will wait for correct User ID. | STRING | |||
| Password | The password for the User ID in Section Access to protect any QlikView documents. | PASSWORD | |||
| Include filter | The pattern uses extended UNIX glob case-sensitive expression syntax. Multiple patterns can be specified using comma. Here are some common examples: *.* - include any file at the root level *.qvw - include only QVW files at the root level **.qvw -include only QVW files at any level *.{qvw,qvd} include only QVW or QVD files at the root level dir\*.qvw - include only QVW files in the 'dir' folder dir\**.qvw - include only QVW files under 'dir' folder at any level dir\**.* - include any file under 'dir' folder at any level f.qvw - include only f.qvw under root level **\f.qvw - include only f.qvw at any level **dir\** - include all files under any 'dir' folder at any level **dir1\dir2\** - include all files under any 'dir2' folder under any 'dir1' folder at any level |
STRING | |||
| Exclude filter | The pattern uses the same syntax as the Include filter. See it for the syntax details and examples. Files that match the exclude filter are skipped. Multiple patterns can be specified using comma. When both include and exclude filters are empty all folders and files under the Root directory are included. When the include filter is empty and the exclude one is not folders and files under the Root directory are included except ones matching the exclude filter. |
STRING | |||
| Miscellaneous | INTRODUCTION Specify miscellaneous options starting with a dash and optionally followed by parameters, e.g. -connection.cast MyDatabase1="MICROSOFT SQL SERVER" Some options can be used multiple times if applicable, e.g. -connection.rename NewConnection1=OldConnection1 -connection.rename NewConnection2=OldConnection2; As the list of options can become a long string, it is possible to load it from a file which must be located in ${MODEL_BRIDGE_HOME}\data\MIMB\parameters and have the extension .txt. In such case, all options must be defined within that file as the only value of this parameter, e.g. ETL/Miscellaneous.txt JAVA ENVIRONMENT OPTIONS -java.memory <Java Memory's maximum size> (previously -m) 1G by default on 64bits JRE or as set in conf/conf.properties, e.g. -java.memory 8G -java.memory 8000M -java.parameters <Java Runtime Environment command line options> (previously -j) This option must be the last one in the Miscellaneous parameter as all the text after -java.parameters is passed "as is" to the JRE, e.g. -java.parameters -Dname=value -Xms1G The following option must be set when a proxy is used to access internet (this is critical to access https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/ and exceptionally a few other tool sites) in order to download the necessary third-party software libraries. Note: The majority of proxies are concerned with encrypting (HTTPS) the outside (of the company) traffic and trust the inside traffic that can access proxy over HTTP. In this case, an HTTPS request reaches the proxy over HTTP where the proxy HTTPS-encrypts it. -java.parameters -java.parameters -Dhttp.proxyHost=127.0.0.1 -Dhttp.proxyPort=3128 -Dhttp.proxyUser=user -Dhttp.proxyPassword=pass MODEL IMPORT OPTIONS -model.name <model name> Override the model name, e.g. -model.name "My Model Name" -prescript <script name> This option allows running a script before the bridge execution. The script must be located in the bin directory (or as specified with M_SCRIPT_PATH in conf/conf.properties), and have .bat or .sh extension. The script path must not include any parent directory symbol (..). The script should return exit code 0 to indicate success, or another value to indicate failure. For example: -prescript "script.bat arg1 arg2" -postscript <script name> This option allows running a script after successful execution of the bridge. The script must be located in the bin directory (or as specified with M_SCRIPT_PATH in conf/conf.properties), and have .bat or .sh extension. The script path must not include any parent directory symbol (..). The script should return exit code 0 to indicate success, or another value to indicate failure. For example: -postscript "script.bat arg1 arg2" -cache.clear Clears the cache before the import, and therefore will run a full import without incremental harvesting. If the model was not changed and the -cache.clear parameter is not used (incremental harvesting), then a new version will not be created. If the model was not changed and the -cache.clear parameter is set (full source import instead of incremental), then a new version will be created. -backup <directory> Allows to save the input metadata for further troubleshooting. The provided <directory> must be empty. -restore <directory> Specify the backup <directory> to be restored. DATA CONNECTION OPTIONS Data Connections are produced by the import bridges typically from ETL/DI and BI tools to refer to the source and target data stores they use. These data connections are then used by metadata management tools to connect them (metadata stitching) to their actual data stores (e.g. databases, file system, etc.) in order to produce the full end to end data flow lineage and impact analysis. The name of each data connection is unique by import model. The data connection names used within DI/BI design tools are used when possible, otherwise connection names are generated to be short but meaningful such as the database / schema name, the file system path, or Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). The following option allows to manipulate connections. These options replaces the legacy options -c, -cd, and -cs. -connection.cast ConnectionName=ConnectionType Casts a generic database connection (e.g. ODBC/JDBC) to a precise database type (e.g. ORACLE) for SQL Parsing, e.g. -connection.cast "My Database"="MICROSOFT SQL SERVER". The list of supported data store connection types includes: ACCESS APACHE CASSANDRA DB2/UDB DENODO GOOGLE BIGQUERY HIVE MYSQL NETEZZA ORACLE POSTGRESQL PRESTO REDSHIFT SALESFORCE SAP HANA SNOWFLAKE MICROSOFT SQL AZURE MICROSOFT SQL SERVER SYBASE SQL SERVER SYBASE AS ENTERPRISE TERADATA VECTORWISE HP VERTICA -connection.rename OldConnection=NewConnection Renames an existing connection to a new name, e.g. -connection.rename OldConnectionName=NewConnectionName Multiple existing database connections can be renamed and merged into one new database connection, e.g. -connection.rename MySchema1=MyDatabase -connection.rename MySchema2=MyDatabase -connection.split oldConnection.Schema1=newConnection Splits a database connection into one or multiple database connections. A single database connection can be split into one connection per schema, e.g. -connection.split MyDatabase All database connections can be split into one connection per schema, e.g. -connection.split * A database connection can be explicitly split creating a new database connection by appending a schema name to a database, e.g. -connection.split MyDatabase.schema1=MySchema1 -connection.map SourcePath=DestinationPath Maps a source path to destination path. This is useful for file system connections when different paths points to the same object (directory or file). On Hadoop, a process can write into a CSV file specified with the HDFS full path, but another process reads from a Hive table implemented (external) by the same file specified using a relative path with default file name and extension, e.g. -connection.map /user1/folder=hdfs://host:8020/users/user1/folder/file.csv On Linux, a given directory (or file) like /data can be referred to by multiple symbolic links like /users/john and /users/paul, e.g. -connection.map /data=/users/John -connection.map /data=/users/paul On Windows, a given directory like C:\data can be referred to by multiple network drives like M: and N:, e.g. -connection.map C:\data=M:\ -connection.map C:\data=N:\ -connection.casesensitive ConnectionName... Overrides the default case insensitive matching rules for the object identifiers inside the specified connection, provided the detected type of the data store by itself supports this configuration (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, MySql etc.), e.g. -connection.casesensitive "My Database" -connection.caseinsensitive ConnectionName... Overrides the default case sensitive matching rules for the object identifiers inside the specified connection, provided the detected type of the data store by itself supports this configuration (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, MySql etc.), e.g. -connection.caseinsensitive "My Database" -connection.level AggregationLevel Specifies the aggregation level for the external connections, e.g.-connection.level catalog The list of the supported values: server catalog schema (default) -database.type <list of connection database types> If databases are accessed via generic ODBC connections, then it is critical to know the exact database type in order to properly parse that database specific SQL syntax for lineage. The list of connection database types must be specified as a comma separated value pair: <Connection name>=<Database type> The supported database types for SQL parsing are: ACCESS CASSANDRA DB2 DENODO HIVE MYSQL NETEZZA ORACLE POSTGRESQL PRESTO REDSHIFT SALESFORCE SAP HANA SNOWFLAKE SQL SERVER SYBASE TERADATA VECTORWISE VERTICA Specify the default database connection without any connection name, e.g. -database.type ORACLE If multiple database connections are used, then specify each database type using the associated connection name, e.g. -database.type MyConnectionName=ORACLE It is possible to mix the default database type with multiple connection database types, e.g. -database.type ORACLE, MyConnectionName1=TERADATA , MyConnectionName1=DB2 QLIK OPTIONS -directory <statement> A Qlik document DIRECTORY statement is used to set the directory path for subsequent LOAD statements. If this directory is inaccessible, then use a DIRECTORY statement to redirect it to another directory. To do so, copy the DIRECTORY statement from a Qlik document execution log, add '=' and specify the path to another directory. In the following case, folder 'c:\folder' is redirected to 'd:\folder2' folder., e.g. -directory [c:\folder1]=[d:\folder2] When the path after the DIRECTORY statement is empty, all DIRECTORY statements are redirected to the specified directory, e.g. -directory []=[d:\folder2] -file.path <file directory> A Qlik document may have statements such as Include, Store, Load statements which operate with file path. If the original file path is not accessible by this import bridge, then it logs the following errors: - "Unable to open Include file: '\\inaccessible\scripts\include.txt" - "Could not process the dependency because the source document '\\inaccessible\QVDs\file.qvd' is not accessible" You can resolve the errors by copying inaccessible files to accessible paths. If the necessary files are located in "\\inaccessible\folder", then copy them to C:\accessible\folder and instruct the import bridge to read them from the new location, e.g. -file.path [\\inaccessible]=[c:\accessible] The file.path option allows you to replace a portion of the original file path with a new one by specifying multiple file.path options, e.g. -file.path [\\inaccessible]=[c:\accessible], [\\inaccessible2]=[c:\accessible2] The import bridge applies multiple -file.path options in order provided. -file.path [\\a]=[c:\a], [\\aa]=[c:\aa] - The wrong way -file.path [\\aa]=[c:\aa], [\\a]=[c:\a] - The right way Make sure not to specify the file.path to be outside of the directory path where you have the QlikView documents you would like to import. -log.notavailable The Qlik document execution log is required because some critical metadata (e.g. exact source data store tables for lineage) cannot be directly extracted from the Qlik scripts due to their dynamic aspect (e.g. use of loops, subroutines, variable definitions). This option allows to import even if the execution log is not available, in such case some critical metadata for lineage may be missing. -qvd.as.file If this parameter is specified, the bridge imports QVD files from LOAD, STORE statements as regular files (like CSV or TXT). QVD files may be inaccessible, as such there is no need to override inaccessible QVD file paths using -file.path. If this parameter is not specified, the bridge imports QVD files as OLAP models. QVD files have to be accessible by this import bridge (see -file.path for more detail). |
STRING |
Bridge Mapping
| Meta Integration Repository (MIR) Metamodel (based on the OMG CWM standard) |
"QlikView" Metamodel QlikView (Application) |
Mapping Comments |
| DirectoryStructureModel | Application | |
| CreationTime | Creation Time | |
| Description | Description | |
| ImportDate | Import Date | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| NativeType | Native Type | |
| Folder | Folder | |
| Author | Author | |
| CreationTime | Creation Time | |
| Description | Description | |
| LastModificationTime | Last Modification Time | |
| Modifier | Modifier | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| NativeType | Native Type | |
| StoreContent | QVW, Connection, QVD | |
| Author | Author | |
| CreationTime | Creation Time | |
| Description | Description | |
| LastModificationTime | Last Modification Time | |
| Modifier | Modifier | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| NativeType | Native Type |