In the previous chapters, we looked at how to go about creating Qlik Sense apps.
In this chapter, we look at sharing those apps with colleagues and friends in the cloud. We will cover the following topics:
- Why using the cloud makes sense
- Sharing Qlik Sense Desktop apps in the cloud
- Creating Qlik Sense apps directly in the cloud
- Maintaining Qlik Sense Cloud apps
- Adding context through external data from Qlik DataMarket
Deploying software in the cloud removes infrastructure challenges and provides access to data and computing power, software, and services from virtually anywhere. For Qlik Sense Enterprise customers, this might mean a large organization choosing to deploy Qlik Sense apps on a private (internal) cloud, using a platform such as AWS, for example. This could enable them to scale up their applications in a cost-effective and flexible manner. Deploying using a private cloud model is out of the scope of this chapter; however, it instead covers how Qlik Sense Desktop users can also get the benefits of the public cloud in two ways—through sharing apps and adding data content.
The key value of cloud enablement for Qlik Sense is bringing together data and people by deploying apps in the cloud. This fosters collaboration through the sharing of insights and allows more people to create and discover through Qlik Sense.
Qlik Sense Cloud allows developers to share dashboards and storyboards for free via the Web for up to five users. Qlik Sense Cloud also offers the ability to create apps in the cloud, removing the need to use the desktop, and meaning that apps can be developed without the need to download a Windows executable, on any device running an HTML5-enabled web browser.
Qlik Sense developers can use the cloud as a source of data to broaden the scope of their Qlik Sense apps via Qlik DataMarket.
Qlik DataMarket provides and integrates third-party data with the Qlik Sense visual analytics platform, much of it for free. With data-as-a-service, app developers can use a comprehensive library of external data directly within Qlik Sense, allowing them to augment and cross-reference their internal data to gain context and so drive new insights.
Qlik DataMarket comes preconfigured with many ready-to-use data sources via a subscription model. Data sources include business demographics, currencies, population, economic indicators, development indicators, and weather, all offered at various levels of granularity, some down to postal code.
So, you've built a Qlik Sense Desktop app and you want to share it with others, either colleagues or friends, so you can find insights together. The cloud is the best way to do that, and doing so is built directly into Qlik Sense.
Qlik Sense isn't just for work, playing with data can be fun too. In this chapter, I will share a Qlik Sense app exploring UK music singles chart data going back to 1952.
To upload an app, you first need to log on to Qlik Sense Cloud on the Web. From the Qlik Sense hub, there are two ways to open Qlik Sense Cloud: either by clicking on the cloud image in the top-right corner of the window or by right-clicking on the app itself. Both the actions will take you to the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub in a browser. At this point, if you haven't done so already, you'll have to register.
The following screenshot shows the option for in-built cloud uploading:
Options to upload to Qlik Sense Cloud from the desktop hub
As you'll see when you log in, Qlik Sense Cloud is intentionally simple, presenting just a few options. The actions you can take are:
- Uploading Qlik Sense apps
- Uploading personal data files and creating apps directly in the cloud
- Sharing apps with up to five people
- Managing your Qlik Cloud profile
The following screenshot shows the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub:
Qlik Sense Cloud Hub options
Uploading an app you have built on the desktop is simple. Click on New app, navigate to the file in the directory, and import. The uploaded QVF file brings the data model, sheets, and stories with it to the cloud for sharing. Note that the source data that was loaded into the app is not uploaded to Qlik Sense Cloud. This has implications for maintaining the app—more on this in a later section.
In the following screenshot, you can see the music chart app after upload. You'll notice that when uploaded, the app appears with the default thumbnail picture (rather than the custom image). Qlik Sense Cloud Hub does not currently support custom thumbnail images.
While not visible in the cloud hub, within the cloud app's information pane, you can show the custom image by selecting it from the media library. The media library is imported on upload, and includes thumbnails and any graphic files you've added to stories in the desktop app:
After the upload, you can use the app in exactly the same way as if it was running on a desktop. There's no difference; it's just Qlik Sense running on a server hosted by Qlik in the cloud. Modifications to the app can still be made using the Edit button, but only when the app is in the My personal cloud stream (more on this later).
Note that, unless you selected the publish option at upload, only you can see it—it's not been shared with anyone else yet.
Qlik Sense apps can also be created directly in Qlik Sense Cloud. The only difference in doing so is that data must first be loaded into the My personal data files folder on the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub in order to be available for loading.
Qlik Sense Cloud is designed to enable people to share apps. To do this, a cloud app needs to be published, moving it from the My personal cloud stream to the My shared cloud stream. To do so, right-click on the app icon in the cloud hub and select Publish to shared cloud, as shown in the following screenshot:
Once published, you can invite up to five people to access Qlik Sense apps in your shared cloud stream. Note that anyone you share it with will be able to see all the apps you have published. To do so, click on share and enter their e-mail address as shown in the following screenshot. When people accept the invitation to share and register on Qlik Sense Cloud, they appear as followers at the bottom of the My shared cloud stream:
By selecting the Notification center (in-tray icon), you can see who's viewed apps and other alerts about Qlik Sense Cloud, as shown in the following screenshot:
People that you share apps with can use those apps, making selections, and so on, but they cannot share them with others or modify them. You can see in the following screenshot (from my follower Sarah's Mac) that there is no edit pen icon on the shared app:
Some thought needs to go into maintaining apps in Qlik Sense Cloud:
- Just as with Qlik Sense Server, in Qlik Sense Cloud, when an app has been published to a shared stream, it can no longer be modified. To make changes, it must be unpublished. When this happens, your followers will no longer be able to see the app, until you decide to publish it again.
- For uploaded apps, rather than those created in the cloud, it's important to note that any modifications made to the cloud version of an app (for example, adding new sheets, and so on) will not be reflected in the original Desktop version. The simplest way to deal with this is to download the Cloud version to the Desktop, by right-clicking on the app in the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub. Ideally, you should decide which version (Cloud or Desktop) is to be the master on uploading in order to avoid version management issues.
If there are changes to the source data that need reflecting in a Qlik Sense Cloud app, there are differences depending on how the cloud app was created.
- If the app was built directly in Qlik Sense Cloud using uploaded data sources, then the easiest approach is to take down the data, using the Remove from cloud right-click option, and then upload the new dataset before reloading. If the data file has the same name and structure, the reload will work with no problems.
- If the app was uploaded directly from the desktop, then it is a little more complex, as the source data will not be in the cloud. In this case, there are two options:
- Remove the app from the cloud, reload the changed data on the desktop, and re-upload the app.
- Upload the changed data to the My personal data files space on Qlik Sense Cloud and then modify the load script. The file path in the load script will need to be amended so that each section points to the uploaded data files, which reads
lib://<user>/<file>.
Uploading an app from the desktop
To upload an app, you first need to log on to Qlik Sense Cloud on the Web. From the Qlik Sense hub, there are two ways to open Qlik Sense Cloud: either by clicking on the cloud image in the top-right corner of the window or by right-clicking on the app itself. Both the actions will take you to the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub in a browser. At this point, if you haven't done so already, you'll have to register.
The following screenshot shows the option for in-built cloud uploading:
Options to upload to Qlik Sense Cloud from the desktop hub
As you'll see when you log in, Qlik Sense Cloud is intentionally simple, presenting just a few options. The actions you can take are:
- Uploading Qlik Sense apps
- Uploading personal data files and creating apps directly in the cloud
- Sharing apps with up to five people
- Managing your Qlik Cloud profile
The following screenshot shows the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub:
Qlik Sense Cloud Hub options
Uploading an app you have built on the desktop is simple. Click on New app, navigate to the file in the directory, and import. The uploaded QVF file brings the data model, sheets, and stories with it to the cloud for sharing. Note that the source data that was loaded into the app is not uploaded to Qlik Sense Cloud. This has implications for maintaining the app—more on this in a later section.
In the following screenshot, you can see the music chart app after upload. You'll notice that when uploaded, the app appears with the default thumbnail picture (rather than the custom image). Qlik Sense Cloud Hub does not currently support custom thumbnail images.
While not visible in the cloud hub, within the cloud app's information pane, you can show the custom image by selecting it from the media library. The media library is imported on upload, and includes thumbnails and any graphic files you've added to stories in the desktop app:
After the upload, you can use the app in exactly the same way as if it was running on a desktop. There's no difference; it's just Qlik Sense running on a server hosted by Qlik in the cloud. Modifications to the app can still be made using the Edit button, but only when the app is in the My personal cloud stream (more on this later).
Note that, unless you selected the publish option at upload, only you can see it—it's not been shared with anyone else yet.
Qlik Sense apps can also be created directly in Qlik Sense Cloud. The only difference in doing so is that data must first be loaded into the My personal data files folder on the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub in order to be available for loading.
Qlik Sense Cloud is designed to enable people to share apps. To do this, a cloud app needs to be published, moving it from the My personal cloud stream to the My shared cloud stream. To do so, right-click on the app icon in the cloud hub and select Publish to shared cloud, as shown in the following screenshot:
Once published, you can invite up to five people to access Qlik Sense apps in your shared cloud stream. Note that anyone you share it with will be able to see all the apps you have published. To do so, click on share and enter their e-mail address as shown in the following screenshot. When people accept the invitation to share and register on Qlik Sense Cloud, they appear as followers at the bottom of the My shared cloud stream:
By selecting the Notification center (in-tray icon), you can see who's viewed apps and other alerts about Qlik Sense Cloud, as shown in the following screenshot:
People that you share apps with can use those apps, making selections, and so on, but they cannot share them with others or modify them. You can see in the following screenshot (from my follower Sarah's Mac) that there is no edit pen icon on the shared app:
Some thought needs to go into maintaining apps in Qlik Sense Cloud:
- Just as with Qlik Sense Server, in Qlik Sense Cloud, when an app has been published to a shared stream, it can no longer be modified. To make changes, it must be unpublished. When this happens, your followers will no longer be able to see the app, until you decide to publish it again.
- For uploaded apps, rather than those created in the cloud, it's important to note that any modifications made to the cloud version of an app (for example, adding new sheets, and so on) will not be reflected in the original Desktop version. The simplest way to deal with this is to download the Cloud version to the Desktop, by right-clicking on the app in the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub. Ideally, you should decide which version (Cloud or Desktop) is to be the master on uploading in order to avoid version management issues.
If there are changes to the source data that need reflecting in a Qlik Sense Cloud app, there are differences depending on how the cloud app was created.
- If the app was built directly in Qlik Sense Cloud using uploaded data sources, then the easiest approach is to take down the data, using the Remove from cloud right-click option, and then upload the new dataset before reloading. If the data file has the same name and structure, the reload will work with no problems.
- If the app was uploaded directly from the desktop, then it is a little more complex, as the source data will not be in the cloud. In this case, there are two options:
- Remove the app from the cloud, reload the changed data on the desktop, and re-upload the app.
- Upload the changed data to the My personal data files space on Qlik Sense Cloud and then modify the load script. The file path in the load script will need to be amended so that each section points to the uploaded data files, which reads
lib://<user>/<file>.
Creating an app in Qlik Sense® Cloud
Qlik Sense apps can also be created directly in Qlik Sense Cloud. The only difference in doing so is that data must first be loaded into the My personal data files folder on the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub in order to be available for loading.
Qlik Sense Cloud is designed to enable people to share apps. To do this, a cloud app needs to be published, moving it from the My personal cloud stream to the My shared cloud stream. To do so, right-click on the app icon in the cloud hub and select Publish to shared cloud, as shown in the following screenshot:
Once published, you can invite up to five people to access Qlik Sense apps in your shared cloud stream. Note that anyone you share it with will be able to see all the apps you have published. To do so, click on share and enter their e-mail address as shown in the following screenshot. When people accept the invitation to share and register on Qlik Sense Cloud, they appear as followers at the bottom of the My shared cloud stream:
By selecting the Notification center (in-tray icon), you can see who's viewed apps and other alerts about Qlik Sense Cloud, as shown in the following screenshot:
People that you share apps with can use those apps, making selections, and so on, but they cannot share them with others or modify them. You can see in the following screenshot (from my follower Sarah's Mac) that there is no edit pen icon on the shared app:
Some thought needs to go into maintaining apps in Qlik Sense Cloud:
- Just as with Qlik Sense Server, in Qlik Sense Cloud, when an app has been published to a shared stream, it can no longer be modified. To make changes, it must be unpublished. When this happens, your followers will no longer be able to see the app, until you decide to publish it again.
- For uploaded apps, rather than those created in the cloud, it's important to note that any modifications made to the cloud version of an app (for example, adding new sheets, and so on) will not be reflected in the original Desktop version. The simplest way to deal with this is to download the Cloud version to the Desktop, by right-clicking on the app in the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub. Ideally, you should decide which version (Cloud or Desktop) is to be the master on uploading in order to avoid version management issues.
If there are changes to the source data that need reflecting in a Qlik Sense Cloud app, there are differences depending on how the cloud app was created.
- If the app was built directly in Qlik Sense Cloud using uploaded data sources, then the easiest approach is to take down the data, using the Remove from cloud right-click option, and then upload the new dataset before reloading. If the data file has the same name and structure, the reload will work with no problems.
- If the app was uploaded directly from the desktop, then it is a little more complex, as the source data will not be in the cloud. In this case, there are two options:
- Remove the app from the cloud, reload the changed data on the desktop, and re-upload the app.
- Upload the changed data to the My personal data files space on Qlik Sense Cloud and then modify the load script. The file path in the load script will need to be amended so that each section points to the uploaded data files, which reads
lib://<user>/<file>.
Sharing an app in Qlik Sense® Cloud
Qlik Sense Cloud is designed to enable people to share apps. To do this, a cloud app needs to be published, moving it from the My personal cloud stream to the My shared cloud stream. To do so, right-click on the app icon in the cloud hub and select Publish to shared cloud, as shown in the following screenshot:
Once published, you can invite up to five people to access Qlik Sense apps in your shared cloud stream. Note that anyone you share it with will be able to see all the apps you have published. To do so, click on share and enter their e-mail address as shown in the following screenshot. When people accept the invitation to share and register on Qlik Sense Cloud, they appear as followers at the bottom of the My shared cloud stream:
By selecting the Notification center (in-tray icon), you can see who's viewed apps and other alerts about Qlik Sense Cloud, as shown in the following screenshot:
People that you share apps with can use those apps, making selections, and so on, but they cannot share them with others or modify them. You can see in the following screenshot (from my follower Sarah's Mac) that there is no edit pen icon on the shared app:
Some thought needs to go into maintaining apps in Qlik Sense Cloud:
- Just as with Qlik Sense Server, in Qlik Sense Cloud, when an app has been published to a shared stream, it can no longer be modified. To make changes, it must be unpublished. When this happens, your followers will no longer be able to see the app, until you decide to publish it again.
- For uploaded apps, rather than those created in the cloud, it's important to note that any modifications made to the cloud version of an app (for example, adding new sheets, and so on) will not be reflected in the original Desktop version. The simplest way to deal with this is to download the Cloud version to the Desktop, by right-clicking on the app in the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub. Ideally, you should decide which version (Cloud or Desktop) is to be the master on uploading in order to avoid version management issues.
If there are changes to the source data that need reflecting in a Qlik Sense Cloud app, there are differences depending on how the cloud app was created.
- If the app was built directly in Qlik Sense Cloud using uploaded data sources, then the easiest approach is to take down the data, using the Remove from cloud right-click option, and then upload the new dataset before reloading. If the data file has the same name and structure, the reload will work with no problems.
- If the app was uploaded directly from the desktop, then it is a little more complex, as the source data will not be in the cloud. In this case, there are two options:
- Remove the app from the cloud, reload the changed data on the desktop, and re-upload the app.
- Upload the changed data to the My personal data files space on Qlik Sense Cloud and then modify the load script. The file path in the load script will need to be amended so that each section points to the uploaded data files, which reads
lib://<user>/<file>.
Maintaining Qlik Sense® Cloud apps
Some thought needs to go into maintaining apps in Qlik Sense Cloud:
- Just as with Qlik Sense Server, in Qlik Sense Cloud, when an app has been published to a shared stream, it can no longer be modified. To make changes, it must be unpublished. When this happens, your followers will no longer be able to see the app, until you decide to publish it again.
- For uploaded apps, rather than those created in the cloud, it's important to note that any modifications made to the cloud version of an app (for example, adding new sheets, and so on) will not be reflected in the original Desktop version. The simplest way to deal with this is to download the Cloud version to the Desktop, by right-clicking on the app in the Qlik Sense Cloud Hub. Ideally, you should decide which version (Cloud or Desktop) is to be the master on uploading in order to avoid version management issues.
If there are changes to the source data that need reflecting in a Qlik Sense Cloud app, there are differences depending on how the cloud app was created.
- If the app was built directly in Qlik Sense Cloud using uploaded data sources, then the easiest approach is to take down the data, using the Remove from cloud right-click option, and then upload the new dataset before reloading. If the data file has the same name and structure, the reload will work with no problems.
- If the app was uploaded directly from the desktop, then it is a little more complex, as the source data will not be in the cloud. In this case, there are two options:
- Remove the app from the cloud, reload the changed data on the desktop, and re-upload the app.
- Upload the changed data to the My personal data files space on Qlik Sense Cloud and then modify the load script. The file path in the load script will need to be amended so that each section points to the uploaded data files, which reads
lib://<user>/<file>.
Adding externally sourced data to any business intelligence app can yield new insights. For example, looking at how the weather affects the sales of certain products could be hugely beneficial to retailers. Much data is freely available on the Web, but it is rarely in an easily consumable form. This is exactly the problem Qlik DataMarket solves, by providing curated, normalized datasets that can be easily loaded into Qlik Sense available in the cloud.
Note that Qlik DataMarket works as a source for Qlik Sense irrespective of whether you are running in the cloud or not.
The UK music chart app contains a field showing the country, the musician, or the group it originated from. Perhaps it would be interesting to know which countries have had more hits per head of population. It is easy to do this in Qlik Sense, and can be done directly with cloud deployed apps too.
First, within the app, open the Data Manager and click on Add data and select Qlik DataMarket. This shows you a menu with the categories of data available. In this case, select Demographics as shown in the following screenshot:
Qlik DataMarket data categories
At this point, the available datasets containing demographic information are shown, including those that are premium (that is, paid for) and those that are free. In this case, the free dataset World population by country is what is needed:
At this point, the data from the set is selected before loading:
In the app, there is already a field called Country, which Qlik Sense uses as a key in order to allow you to work with the data, as the Data Model Viewer shows:
A few clicks and the app is enriched with content that provides context for analysis and insight, enabling users to ask more questions based on a broader scope and increased context.