Prerequisites
- QVSource (you can request a download here).
NOTE - If you are running .NET 4.0 you will currently also need .NET 3.5. As stated by
Microsoft these are designed to run side by side:
- QVSource should currently work with any version of QlikView.
- Note that for most of the connectors available so far, QVSource needs to connect to the internet in order to download data from whichever API you are interested in - therefore if you have a personal or corporate firewall preventing this it will not work - we do have some features which might help you configure this.
Installing & Running QVSource
NOTE: These instructions are for running QVSource in 'desktop' mode which is the recommended mode when you start using the product for the first time. If you would like to see the instructions on running QVSource in the background on a server (so that it is always up and available) see
here.
QVSource is delivered as a zipped folder.
To allow for easy upgrading, we suggest taking the following approach.
- In a root drive, create a folder called 'QVSource'
- Unzip the QVSource folder that your downloaded
- Copy the contents of the unzipped folder to your new QVSource folder
You should now have a folder structure that looks something like this:
- You can now run the QVSource.exe file.
If you experience any issues running QVSource we would recommend ensuring that you are running it as an administrator - this is done on Windows 7 and other Windows versions by right clicking on the executable and selecting the option highlighted below.
The main QVSource window lists the connectors currently available.
PLEASE NOTE : This exe should be run from your local hard drive - if you run the program from a shared network drive or mapped folder you might experience issues.
QVSource runs as a small webserver, by default on port 5555. If you minimise the window shown above you will see this indicated by the balloon tip and icon in the status bar.
This port
can be edited in the Settings.xml file in the application's folder. In most cases this should not be necessary, if you do alter this be sure to restart QVSource.
Installing Licence File
You should have received either a trial or commercial licence file. You should go to the 'Licence' tab in QVSource and click the 'Install Licence' button then browse to your licence (.lic) file:
QVSource will prompt you for the name you used when registering or purchasing QVSource:
Checking Your Licence
You should check the details of your licence after installation, in particular:
- The top red highlighted section below shows that QVSource is enabled to run in server mode - This is the part that says "Server Edition: True". If you have only purchased QVSource desktop edition this will not be present.
- The additional part "Remote Access Enabled" means that QVSource does not need to be installed on the same machine as QlikView Server. This is a special feature not yet commercially supported. This may not be present in your licence.
- The bottom highlighted area shows which connectors are licensed.
You should also check the expiry date.
How the Licensing Works
Currently, any connectors which are still in beta (i.e. have a version number less than 1) are free to use. For connectors with a version number greater than 1 you will either need a commercial licence file which unlocks the connector or a trial licence file (which typically unlocks all of the connectors for a limited time period.
Note that without a licence file you should still be able to run the QVSource desktop application and interact with the connectors however you will be unable to load data into your QlikView applications.
Checking you have the latest version
To check you are running the latest version of QVSource, go to the 'About' tab and click the following button:
Using a specific connector
Selecting a Connector
Select a connector you wish to use and either double click the entry or click the 'Configure' button to bring up its configuration form. In this example we use the Google spreadsheets connector.
Note that each connector should have a link to an associated help page at the bottom right:
Connector Specific Configuration
Each connector will have a section of UI specific to that connector which captures any authentication or other information needed to connect to the API.
Common Connector Configuration
As well as a section of UI common to all connectors.
Change Log
Each connector should also have a change log where you can see changes made over each version. We would recommend you read this each time you upgrade QVSource.
Using the connector
Most connectors will require you to enter at least some information, for example in this connector we enter our username and password, then click the 'Connect' button and select one of the spreadsheets we have access to.
Once you have entered any required details into the 'Connector Specific Settings' tab, move to the 'Connector Data' tab. You should see a list of available tables for this API or data source. Selecting a table should download the data and show it in a datagrid.
Note that downloading large amounts of data from web APIs can be slow - this is usually a physical limitation of network speed rather than a QVSource issue. Some connectors make use of
caching so subsequent requests are much faster but this varies from API to API and Connector to Connector.
Copying and Pasting the QlikView Load Script¶
To load this table into QlikView, move to the 'QlikView Load Script' tab. Here you can edit the column prefix used and whether to use column headers for field names. Connectors should be designed so that in most cases the defaults are fine.
You can click the link 'Click here' above the script to copy the script to your clipboard before pasting it directly into your QlikView load script.
You should now be able to load the data directly into your QlikView application (
don't forget to leave QVSource running).
Note that in this example the connector is using the credentials configured in QVSource. This means that if the QlikView application is run on another machine the same credentials (or a set which has access to the same spreadsheet) will also need to be set up otherwise the reload will fail. You also have the option of embedding the credentials in the load script as outlined
here. This has the additional advantage that a single load script can connect to multiple different accounts. This feature is present in most connectors which require authentication.
Monitoring Updates and Changes¶
We update the wiki regularly and every connector page has a detailed change log (see one example
here) and there is also a
change log for the QVSource 'core'.
We would recommend using the wiki as a tool to stay up to date and receive automatic notifications of these changes as explained
here.
We also post regular updates on
Twitter and on also on our
Facebook and
Google+ pages.
Upgrading
Upgrading QVSource is easy, but by following some simple steps you'll be able to continue using the data that you've already you pulled down through the connectors, which is cached.
- Stop running QVSource.
- Take a back up of your QVSource folder, which you created (see here) by zipping it up and keeping it somewhere safe.
- On downloading the latest version of QVSource, you will have received a zip file - unzip this file somewhere.
- Copy and paste its contents into the QVSource folder.
- When prompted overwrite all files and folders.
- Your cached data in the \QVSource\Data folder should still be there (note: unless you have [Clearing-Cached-Data#Changing_the_Cache_Directory_3 changed the cache location). If it's not, go to your backed up zip file and copy it's Data folder's contents into your 'live' Data folder.
- Start QVSource again.
Advanced Usage
QVSource has some
enterprise features which help users further secure their QVSource installation.
Advanced users may also wish to check through some of the wiki
pages classified as advanced for more tips and advice on getting the most out of QVSource.
Support
If you have any trouble using QVSource please first ensure you have carefully read the above page and also followed the advice
here.
If you are still experiencing issues we recommend submitting a support request either directly from the connector giving the issue, using the link highlighted below which is available on every connector (in the example below we use the Google Analytics connector).
Or if it is a general usage issue, from the main form:
If you are not able to even launch QVSource then you can navigate to the support system
here.