It's update time and we have sure been busy over the summer! We're excited to bring a number of new connectors, general improvements and updated demo apps - almost too much to fit in one post!
Many of these features were released in some recent 'nightly builds', however even if you are an active QVSource user we still would recommend carefully reading the details below as it might affect your current usage or open up new opportunities for you.
QVSource has also been in a few great press releases recently, which you can read about below.
One more thing - if you like QVSource and support our mission to make QlikView the best connected business discovery app on the planet - please help by rating us on the new QlikMarket and help us stay at the top!
New Demo Applications
Twitter: We have created a completely new and revised Twitter demo application, focusing on the load script and data model and a way to easily build new front GUIs for these applications. You can see detailed info on this application as well as grab the download here.
Facebook: Similarly, we have also completely updated our template Facebook application to load more efficiently and would recommend users upgrading to this new version 1.8. You can also see a live version of this application here which reloads daily!
Google Analytics: Finally we have a brand new demo application for Google Analytics which you can get here.
These three apps also now have a 'change log' tab in the QlikView application itself where changes are recorded.
New Connectors!
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We're excited to announce a new General Web Connector for XML and JSON APIs. This has been requested by a number of users and opens up a large number of APIs to QVSource users.
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We have also added a new Mashape Connector. Mashape is a service which currently hosts nearly 600 APIs and these are now accessible to QlikView users via QVSource!
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You can now also download data from your Google Docs and Google Calendar accounts.
Connector Updates
There have also been a number of updates to existing connectors. As usual we recommend reading the detailed change log - here are some of the highlights:
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We have added new options to the to the Sentiment Analysis & Text Analytics Connector allowing access to OpenAmplify and Saplo.
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New SearchV2 and IsSearchRateLimited tables have been added to the Twitter connector - the new search table pulls in additional data and has been rewritten from the ground up. We also have a brand new and highly optimised load script and data model which makes use of this (see above).
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The ChatterBox connection of the Sentiment Analysis & Text Analytics Connector has been updated to reflect the changes on Mashape.
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A LinkHistory table has been added to the bitly Connector.
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An Accounts table has been added to the Google Analytics Connector.
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A Facebook API bug introduced in June caused endless paging of empty results to be returned - we have added a workaround for this into QVSource until the issue is resolved by Facebook. If you have been trying to use the Facebook Insights Connector it is likely this will have affected you.
New QVX Format
We are pleased to announce that QVX can now be selected as the output format for the data! As this is the first release of this feature it is still considered beta - however we would recommend you start using and testing this and report back any issues or suggestions as it is likely this will be the default and recommended format in future versions.
URL Encoded Columns
To send text to the QVSource sentiment analysis connector the text must first be url encoded (e.g. replace # with %23 etc.). In the past we have always done this with a function in QlikView script which meant more clutter and complexity in the scripts. We have now added a url encoded version of any text values to each of the connectors meaning this is no longer necessary. So for example, in the Twitter search result table as well as returning a text field we now also return a text_urlEncoded field which can be passed to the sentiment connector without further processing. Simple - We wish we had thought of this before!
Last .NET 3.5 Version
This will (probably) be the last version of QVSource built against .NET 3.5 - we would like to move to .NET 4 for all future builds. We don't anticipate this will be an issue for any of our users and should open up new capabilities and performance opportunities for the product - however if you do believe this will cause issues for you please get in touch soon to let us know why.
Staying Up To Date
Don''t forget, we have altered our wiki so that new accounts are automatically activated via email and we have activated all users who have previously attempted to create an account. We recommend you use the wiki (instructions here) to receive automatic alerts when connectors, features and demo apps you are interested in are updated.
General Updates
As usual there have been a number of core performance improvements which should benefit all users and all connectors.
In the News
QVSource has been in the news recently with two great press releases on how Eurotunnel is using QlikView and QVSource to provide a better service to their customers even though they aren't big Twitter users. You can read more about them here:
Need an Extension?
If your QVSource trial licence has expired but you would like to give it another go, just email us a copy of your licence file and we will get you set back up again!
