WIP for Qlik Sense development process

Owned by Jean-Philippe Golay
Last updated: Aug 28, 2023 by John Paul Kirton
4 min read

WIP, like many source control applications, will store applications without data, not to cause reckless growth of the database.

But you will say how can I work on my applications without data? The solution : WIP Smart reload explained below but first let’s go to the whole Qlik Sense development process

Let’s explain the WIP development process

  1. Import the App in WIP

  2. Check-Out the App to My Work

  3. Check-in the App from My Work

  4. Publish the App to the next environment DEV → UAT → PRD

1. Import the App in WIP

Note : imported applications will have no data in WIP

Select the destination folder then open Qlik Sense Explorer. Select a server and a stream

Right Check-in will import whole stream and create a folder with stream name under WIP destination folder. Note: you will be able to select the apps to import in the stream.

Left Check-in will check-in selected apps under WIP destination folder.

2. Check-Out the App

Select one or multiple Applications in WIP and press check-out

Check-Out form

Exists in local : true If your file exists in local (My Work)

Is Checked Out : true if the file is already checked-out by another user

Action :

  • Checkout Overwrite (Default) : if app exists in local, WIP will overwrite it by WIP one. If app does not exists it will be created and smart reloaded

  • Checkout keep, only if app exists in local will keep existing My Work app and mark version as checkout. This can be used if you want to get an app that was not checked-out previously. Existing app data is kept

  • Contribute (Multiple Developers) : if checked-out by another user, it will add you as a contributor and you will be able to work 2 people on the same application.

    • Qlik does not provide conflict resolution so users should coordinate where they work on the file to not work on the same back/front end i.e. 1st user edits script, 2nd user edits visualizations.

    • Original User check-out the file

    • Contribute User check-out the same file

    • Both performs the work on a single instance in Qlik

    • Either user ends their session: One user Check-In the file

      • WIP creates a version of all changes in the Qlik session for that version

    • 2nd/3rd User Check-In

      • Last user ends the session: WIP creates a version of all changes in the session - final changed version

    • All users can compare the versions for verification of changes (comparison view)

WIP Smart reload

WIP Smart reload will do his best to load data from your previous application. The data transfer time is about 1 second for small applications to about 30 seconds for big ones, much faster than a data reload.

Explanation:

On 1st checkout WIP will take the data in this order:

  1. The existing app in your Qlik Sense My Work if any (check-out overwrite and app exists)

  2. The application in WIP_Trash

  3. A published application with the same name in the server streams

Note : The only case where an app can’t be “Smart Reloaded” is when you check-out an app coming from another server (UAT, PRD) that is not present and reloaded in the check-out server. In that case you need to reload the app

Trick : you can transfer the app manually from the source server and publish it in any stream of the development server before doing the check-out, smart reload will use this app data.

3. Check-in the App

The WIP_Trash Stream

When you check-in an application, the “Delete after check-in” option will remove the app from your Qlik Sense work and publish it under a stream named “WIP_Trash” under name WIP--<App Name>--Version

Latest 3 versions will be kept there with data.

Trick : Sort it by publish date to get the latest version sorted first

 

Check-in Form

You need to enter a check-in comment

  • Check-in but keep locked : will create a intermediate version but leave you app in your My Work (note you need to uncheck Delete After Check-in to get access.

  • Delete After Check-In : will remove the app from My Work and publish it to the WIP_Trash stream

  • Empty Qlik Data : uncheck-it for small apps you want to keep data only possible in app < 200ko

4. Publish the App

In order to publish you can select the destination for a whole folder (or a file)

  • For whole folder destination select a folder and unselect all files. If you want a specific stream for a file select the file.

  • Press Destinations

  • Select the stream where to publish in all environments

Select the applications and press publish

WIP Smart reload : if the application already exists in selected destination it’s data will be kept using smart reload.

If the data model has changed the visualizations that use the new fields will be invalid until the next reload. You can force this reload by checking the box “Reload automatically Once Published” in that case WIP will create and trigger a once only reload task on the destination server.