QlikView Access Point allows users to interact with apps in their browser. But what if those users are not on your domain or only require static data? How can we get information to them in a way that is robust and cost effective?
qv-np-drive

The Problem

The problem that our client faced was that they were producing QlikView apps for their sales team to support them when talking to clients and prospects. Due to geographical factors, a reliable internet connection could not always be guaranteed. What they needed to do was to get subsets of their QlikView documents out to their sales people wherever they were – so they could then open them in QlikView Desktop.

The QlikTech stack allows for this with Publisher, but for smaller sites this is a considerable investment. It can also be achieved with batch script and Windows Scheduler (and the initial implementation for this client did just that) but this solution is not particularly robust or maintainable by someone without scripting experience.

The Solution

An elegant solution to this problem can be created using NPrinting and cloud technology, such as Google Drive.

1. Schedule and format reports with NPrinting

Within NPrinting a Reduce Task can be configured. As with Publisher this creates a QVW file for each recipient with a filter applied. Using the Enterprise version of NPrinting this can then be scheduled to run at a beat. When the reduce task runs NPrinting will create a new folder for each QVW that it creates.

2. Distribute reports with Google Drive

The company runs on Google Apps and therefore there was little resistance to pushing data to Drive. If you have the desktop version of Google Drive installed, and you point your output to within the folder structure of Drive, new folders will be created on your Drive in the Cloud. Drive can then be configured to share these folders with the relevant recipients.

3. Happy sales team

Now each of the users can log into their Drive and download the latest version of their app. Or, if they also have Google Drive Desktop installed, the app will automatically be downloaded for them the next time they have a connection.

Choosing to do this using NPrinting means we also have the option to distribute PDF, Excel, Word or PowerPoint documents in the same way. In this way the sales team could get a daily updated version of their PowerPoint deck with bang up to date information in it – without having to do anything other than open the PPT file.

How to Integrate NPrinting with Google Drive

1. Set up Google Drive

  1. Go to https://drive.google.com
  2. Click the Download Google Drive for your PC button.
  3. Open googledrivesync.exe to automatically install and start Google Drive on your PC.
  4. Enter your Google Account username and password in the window that opens. This will be the account associated with Google Drive for your PC.
  5. Complete the installation package instructions.
  6. Launch Google Drive for your PC from the Start menu. Any files or folders you put into your Google Drive Folder will automatically be synced with your Drive in the cloud. This is where you will output your folders from NPrinting.

2. Set up Sharing

  1. Go to https://drive.google.com
  2. Check the box next to the file or folder you’d like to share.
  3. Click the Share icon.drive_2375110_share_icon_en
  4. Choose a visibility option. Select “Private” so that the folder is only shared with users you explicitly grant access to.drive-share
  5. Type the email addresses of the person you want to share with in the text box below “Add people.”
    You can add a single person, a mailing list, or choose from your contacts.
  6. Choose the access level from the drop-down menu next to each collaborator: “Can view” will allow your users to view all documents but not edit them.
    drive-add-people
  7. Click Share & save.

3. Output NPrinting Reports into your Drive Folder

  1. Create a new NPrinting document and set up your Connection
  2. From the menu create a new Reduce Task
    New Reduce Task
  3. Output to your Google Drive folder setting NPrinting to have recipient sub-folders.
    Recipient Subfolder
  4. Click the recipients button to add a number of new recipients for reduced QlikViews. Set the folder and subfolder names accordingly.
    Recipients
  5. For each of the recipients configure the filter based on fields within the connected QlikView document.
    Filters
  6. Select the task from under Reduce Tasks and click the Run button to send it out. The sub-set QVW files will be written to the appropriate folder.
    Reduce And Send
  7. To make this happen at regular intervals create a new Job and then a new Schedule to automate the process. Users will then receive fresh QlikView documents as often as you configure them to be sent.

See it in Action

As QlikTech say, “seeing is believing.” The video below shows the working solution in action:

This is just one example where combining QlikView with other technologies can allow you to produce even more inspired solutions. If you would like more information on NPrinting please see our NPrinting product page.

Quick Intelligence are NPrinting Partners