Last Thursday I did a presentation at the Qlik Dev Group NL about QlikView macro’s. While the title Macro’s are bad! suggests that I have a very firm view on macro’s, of course the actual presentation is much more nuanced. I wouldn’t be talking about macro’s if I didn’t think they have their uses 😉
In my presentation, I identify some potential use cases for macro’s and discuss if these are a good idea. Next, I share some tips on developing and debugging your macro’s. There are a lot of myths around macro’s, so I have taken a look at which ones are actually true. The presentation concludes with an overview of some of the cool macro’s that are already out there.
You can find my slide deck below:
The examples that I used in my presentation can be downloaded using the link below:
Download the macro examples
I hope you will enjoy these slides. If you have any questions or, also interesting, a different opinion, then feel free to post to the comments section below.
I came across this post on the MicroStrategy Community tonight. It mentions a few of the Qlik and Tableau visualizations of famous paintings that floated around a few years ago. The images that were used back then, an example shown on the right, were black and white. Robert, the author of the MicroStrategy article, concludes that black and white is boring, and that it would be much better if the pictures were in color.
MicroStrategy to the rescue! Robert writes that as of version 10, you are able to do colored visualizations in MicroStrategy. He then goes on to demonstrate a few visualizations in color! Take that QlikView and Tableau!
Overwhelmed by this spectacle of colors, I was already considering dropping my career in QlikView and moving into MicroStrategy when a thought popped into my head. Could it be that the author was mistaking the limitations of the data set (which only contained black & white values) for limitations of the tools? Perhaps QlikView (and Tableau) could also visualize pictures in color?
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As you may have read here before, besides blogging at QlikFix I also participate in the Q-On Training Center. Q-On offers focused, online instructor-led trainings that dive deep into specific QlikView and Qlik Sense subjects. These courses are delivered by well-known experts such as Rob Wunderlich, Karl Pover and Ralf Becher.
You can imagine that with attendees and trainers located all around the world, scheduling these courses so that it works out for everyone is sometimes not an easy feat. Besides that we are also developing additional courses.
Great, but you said something about a free QlikView course?
Yes, in order to better tune our courses to meet your schedules and interests, I have prepared a very short survey to ask you about your preferences. This will only take a minute of your time and in return you will be entered into a prize draw for a free Q-On training of your choice. The winner will be announced on July 1st 2015.
Looking forward to your input: take the survey.
RightQlik is a small utility written by QlikView 11 for Developers co-author Miguel GarcÃa. As I love how this utility makes my developer life just a little easier I posted a link today on LinkedIn and Twitter. I was surprised by how many people had never heard of RightQlik. It’s been out for quite a while. In the hope of having a few more people discover this little gem I am putting this post on my blog.
So what does RightQlik do?
RightQlik is a custom context menu (pictured right) that is shown when right-clicking on a QVW file. It allows quick access to common functions that you will often perform on a QlikView document:
- Open in a new QV instance: open the QlikView document in a new QlikView instance (i.e. “having the program open multiple times”). This lets you easily switch between several QlikView files, or display them side by side (this is what I often use).
- Open without data: opens the document without also loading its data. Very useful when you quickly need something from a big document, or if the data has become corrupted (fortunately a very rare event).
- Reload document: reload the QlikView script and close the document after completion. With this option, you can run simultaneous, local reloads of several QlikView documents with a simple click by first selecting all of them.
- Reload and keep open: reload the QlikView script and keep the document open after completion.
This custom context menu is only shown when dealing with QVW files, so it will stay out of your way when dealing with any other file type.
You can download RightQlik for free from the QlikMarket.
PS. If you find this utility useful, then please consider writing a short review on the QlikMarket.
Edit April 2nd 2015: Yes, of course this is an April Fools joke, hope I made you smile. The
Masters Summit is no joke though, and neither is the $300 early bird discount that you will receive until April 15th 2015. Want to really take your skills to the next level?
Join us in San Francisco on May 4 – 6, or New York City or Copenhagen later this year.
Today I am going to let you in on a big secret.
People often ask me how I always get great performance and fast response times out of my QlikView applications. I usually put on a very serious face and reply that this is the result of years of experience. Experience gained by doing hundreds of implementations, practice, experiment, study and continually refining my skills and knowledge.
You won’t believe how hard it is to not burst out laughing when I tell this to people. The fact of the matter is that it is all a gimmick!
There is only one simple trick that you need to know to instantly boost your QlikView performance. This is the secret that Qlik and the Qlik Illuminati don’t want you to know, but today I will reveal it all!
Are you ready for the truth? Here it comes!
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As you might have guessed from some of my earlier posts, I am a sucker for popular culture from the 80’s and 90’s. On this (apparently) most-depressing day of the year, let me offer you some light hearted, positive reading and share with you five of the motivational lessons that I learned from the 1984 classic The Karate Kid. Specifically, I will tell you how these lessons can be applied to learning Qlik, increasing your skills and expanding your knowledge. Or at least make you smile.
A quick summary of the plot for those not familiar with the movie (shame on you! 😉 ):
Daniel has just moved from New Jersey to California with his mom. He quickly discovers that it isn’t as great as he thought it would be. Daniel doesn’t fit in and a gang of bullies, who are all adept at karate, are making his life miserable. He then meets Mr. Myagi, a handyman who also happens to be a karate master. Mr. Myagi takes Daniel under his wing and teaches him karate, showing him along the way that karate (and life) are not always about power and strenght. Can Daniel overcome his bullies in the All-Valley Karate Championship? (spoiler: yes he can!)
And now, on to the lessons!
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As you may know, we offer online QlikView and Qlik Sense trainings through the QlikOn Training Center. These trainings are short (4 hours max), instructor-led and focus on a single subject which will be covered in-depth. With small groups there is enough opportunity to ask as many questions as you like. A perfect way to increase your skills and knowledge.
For January 2015, we are offer the following trainings:
Introduction to QlikView Extensions
Date: Thursday January 15th
Duration: 2.5 hours (2 sessions)
Trainer: Ralf Becher
QlikView Components Scripting Library
Date: Thursday January 29th
Duration: 3.5 hours (1 session)
Trainer: Rob Wunderlich
QlikView Data Visualization (new)
Date: Friday January 30th
Duration: 4 hours (1 session)
Trainer: Karl Pover
Set Analysis
Date: Thursday January 22nd
Duration: 4 hours (2 sessions)
Trainer: Barry Harmsen
For more information check out the QlikOn website. Are you in need of a specific training, or do you have an interesting QlikView / Qlik Sense training that you would like to deliver? Feel free to contact me to discuss.
December 18, 2014 – 02:10
Christmas time is near again, so it’s time for another visual effect in QlikView: the QlikFix 2014 Christmas Card. Using the trusty animated scatter plot once more, I’ve built a little spinning Christmas tree (and, in the spirit of Christmas, added some awful music 😉 ). Check the video below:
The complete QVW can be downloaded below:
Download the 2014 QlikFix Christmas Card
Wishing you all happy holidays and all the best for 2015!
More visual FX in QlikView:
Different people have different preferences for acquiring new skills and knowledge. Some like to follow a classroom training while others prefer to start with a concrete problem, research the subject themselves and learn by doing. Some people like to read blog posts and watch videos, while others prefer to read a book. Today I have something for that last group; a reading list for QlikView and Qlik Sense professionals.
The reading list is available through this link, or via the top menu bar. It does not only contain books about QlikView or Qlik Sense, but also a range of peripheral methods, skills and technologies that I believe will make you a more well-rounded Qlik professional. I will be periodically updating this list with new and relevant books.
I hope you will enjoy this list. If there are any must-read books that you are missing, feel free to contact me through the contact form, or leave me a comment below.
A short post today, but one that will fix a very common developer annoyance in QlikView 11 and 11.2; the scroll tabs in the chart properties dialog window. When you want to change properties on tabs that are on opposing sides of the tab row (for example, Dimensions and then Layout) you first have to click the scroll arrows before you can select the tab. Extremely annoying, if you ask me.
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