QlikView File - 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] 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] BI Report (Relational Source, Expression Parsing, Report Structure)
Component: QlikView version 11.2.0
OVERVIEW
This bridge imports Business Intelligence (BI) reporting metadata from a QlikView Working (QVW) document or QlikView Data (QVD) file.
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 bridge requires the QlikView software and its COM/OLE API to be installed on the machine that is executing this 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 bridge.
- QlikView execution Log available:
This bridge requires the Qlik document execution log, 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).
The execution log is expected to be located next to the QVW document (in the same directory).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What should I do if this 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 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 bridge as a full application rather than a service.
Q: How to create the execution log files used by this 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 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://www.metaintegration.com/Products/MIMB/Help/#!Documents/mimbknownlimitations.html
SUPPORT
Provide a troubleshooting package with debug log. Debug log can be set in the UI or in conf/conf.properties with MIR_LOG_LEVEL=6
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 | ||
| File | The QlikView Working (QVW) document or QlikView Data(QVD) file. In case of a QVW document, its execution log should be located next to it (in the same directory). |
FILE |
|
Mandatory | |||
| User ID | The User ID specified in Section Access to protect the QlikView document. If User ID is incorrect 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 the QlikView document. | PASSWORD | |||||
| Close after execution | Close the QlikView application after importing the document. 'False' The application is left open on the desktop after the bridge has run. 'True' The application is closed after the bridge has run. Note that the application is started on the same machine where this bridge is running. If running this bridge remotely on a remote server, this parameter should be set to 'True', otherwise the application will be left running on the server. |
BOOLEAN | True | ||||
| Miscellaneous | -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 File" Metamodel QlikView (QVW) |
Mapping Comments |
| Attribute | Source Column | |
| Comment | Comment | |
| Description | Definition | |
| DesignLevel | Design Level | |
| InitialValue | Initial Value | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Optional | Nullable | |
| PhysicalName | Physical Name | |
| Position | Position | |
| Class | Source Table | |
| Name | Name | |
| ConnectionPackage | Connection Schema | |
| Name | Name | |
| DesignPackage | Tables | |
| Name | Name | |
| Dimension | Table | |
| Description | Description | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| NativeType | Native Type | |
| DimensionAttribute | Column | |
| Comment | Comment | |
| Description | Definition | |
| DesignLevel | Design Level | |
| InitialValue | Initial Value | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Optional | Nullable | |
| PhysicalName | Physical Name | |
| Position | Position | |
| Filter | Condition | |
| Name | Name | |
| Measure | Measure | |
| Comment | Comment | |
| Description | Definition | |
| DesignLevel | Design Level | |
| InitialValue | Initial Value | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Optional | Nullable | |
| PhysicalName | Physical Name | |
| Position | Position | |
| Report | Document | |
| Name | Name | |
| ReportAttribute | Field, Group, System Variable, Variable, Expression, System Field | |
| Name | Name | |
| ReportAxis | Axis | |
| Description | Definition | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Position | Position | |
| ReportChart | Slider, Chart | |
| Description | Definition | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Position | Position | |
| ReportDataSet | Variables, Fields, Groups, System Variables, Expressions, System Fields | |
| Name | Name | |
| ReportField | Text Field, Button Field | |
| Description | Definition | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Position | Position | |
| ReportList | List Box | |
| Description | Definition | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Position | Position | |
| ReportMatrix | Pivot Table | |
| Description | Definition | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Position | Position | |
| ReportPage | Sheet | |
| Description | Definition | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Position | Position | |
| ReportTable | Straight Table, Statistics Box, Table Box, Search Object, Input Box, Multi Box | |
| Description | Definition | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Position | Position | |
| ReportText | Text Box, Button Text | |
| Description | Definition | |
| Name | Name | |
| NativeId | Native Id | |
| Position | Position | |
| Value | Value | |
| StoreConnection | Connection | |
| Name | Name | |
| StoreType | Store Type | |
| SystemMajorVersion | System Major Version | |
| SystemMinorVersion | System Minor Version | |
| SystemReleaseVersion | System Release Version | |
| SystemType | System Type | |
| StoreModel | QVW Model | |
| Name | Name | |
| StoreType | Store Type | |
| SystemMajorVersion | System Major Version | |
| SystemMinorVersion | System Minor Version | |
| SystemReleaseVersion | System Release Version | |
| SystemType | System Type |