topic Bundle info load PDF files in QlikView

Bundle info load PDF files

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:00:11 GMT

I can't figure out how to embed PDF files using bundle info load, to create a self-contained .qvw that can be distributed as a single file. Here is a sample that resembles my load script:

T1:

bundle info load * inline [

name, pdffile

test, test.pdf

];

After saving and reloading this, I have a listbox object which shows the "i" info icon in the caption. Ideally, I want to reference the embedded test.pdf using a link expression in a straight table, so that I can click on the link for any name and open the corresponding pdffile, something like this in a table expression:

=name & '<url>qmem://name/' & name

But, even in the listbox, the pdf file will not open. Instead, when I click on the info icon, I get a dialog box with this:

qmem://<6>/<0><C@PI!>P'F-Y;KDMBU,OVM(>

In the straight table expression, first I get a Yes/No dialog box with this:

Approve application for launch? - qmem://name/test

then when I click Yes, I get an OK dialog with this:

Failed to Launch qmem://name/test

The QlikView Reference Manual doesn't offer any help (pp 495-496). Does anyone know how to get this to work?

Bundle info load PDF files

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:04:58 GMT

Take a look at the Presidents.qvw file that comes with a full install. Excelent example of how to do a bundle load.

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:13:42 GMT

Thanks for the reply. I looked at the Presidents.qvw example.

My code, above, does the same thing, except that I'm trying to load a PDF file, while Presidents.qvw loads .bmp files.

I actually can successfully load an image file using the syntax, above, but I can't make it work with anything else but an image file.

Also, I'd like to refer to the embedded document using the qmem: syntax described in the reference manual, but I can't get that to work, even with an image file.

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:09:12 GMT

Try doing a search on blobs in the help file:

Blobs

The Blobs page makes it possible to bundle so-called Blobs, Binary Large Objects, in a QlikView application. It is usually a picture, a text file or similar, stored as a single entity in a database management system. The i icon indicates that the field contains a blob. The blobs in the database are listed together with size, in KB, and type in the Blob Viewer. The Blob is previewed next to the list if it is an image. QlikView supports jpg, png, bmp, pdf and rtf blobs.

The Bundle... button opens the Bundle dialog where the Key Field for the Blob data is selected and the blob can be resized to fit in the table cell if it is an image. Mark Shrink Images and apply pixel width and height to resize the images to fit. The setting does not handle aspect ratio.

Note: It is only possible to bundle Blobs using ODBC.

Once you have made your selections of table and fields you may click OK to insert the select statement(s) generated at the cursor position in the QlikView script. Pressing Cancel will abandon changes.

Note! The ODBC driver can usually interpret far more complicated select statements than the ones which can be produced by this dialog. An alternative way to generate a more complex select statement is to use a query tool, e.g. Microsoft Query, and graphically make your select statement there. When this is done, copy (CTRL+C) the select statement and paste it (CTRL+V) into the QlikView script. (In MS Query, click the SQL button.)

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

ivan_will — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:29:45 GMT

Very interesting question!

For BLOBS it is said that : " It is only possible to bundle Blobs using ODBC! "

Any Ideas of how to load pdfs from a custom directory including pdfs in it?

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:34:03 GMT

Very interesting, indeed.

Unfortunately, we can't move these PDFs into a blob column in a database without also building an interface for our end users. That would be a lot of work. Currently, they simply drop new PDFs into a shared, network folder and these should be bundle info loaded into the .qvw.

My follow up question is same as @ivan_will: can we do the load from a directory on a filesystem, rather than from ODBC?

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

ivan_will — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:04:06 GMT

Other ideas ?

Thanks!

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:23:04 GMT

I'm about ready to give up and put the documents in a folder accessible by the client and offer to open the document with a file:/// url, instead.

I did read something about putting the documents into SharePoint and accessing SharePoint via OLEDB, but I can't get the OLEDB access via QV load script to work.

Also, it seems like a lot of trouble to involve SharePoint when all I want to do is embed a file in a .qvw.

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

klausskalts — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:02:14 GMT

If your users have access to the folders containing the PDF's use infoload without the bundle-prefix.

Then launch the documents via a Link in a Straight Table, via an Action in a button or via the information-i in a List-box.

Will this work for you?

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:17:01 GMT

Klaus -- Thank you for your suggestion. This similar to what we ended up doing; we used a file URL in a link field, instead, but achieved a similar result. We would have preferred to embed the PDFs into the .qvw, because we need to distribute the .qvw to remote users. Now we must distribute not only the .qvw, but all the PDFs in an accompanying folder. This is more complex and prone to error.

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:57:33 GMT

Is this what you want

T1:

load * inline [
name, val
test, test.pdf
];

INFO LOAD
name, val
RESIDENT T1;

greetsz

Chrisz

Re: Bundle info load PDF files

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:32:25 GMT

chrisz wrote:
Hi
Is this what you want

T1:
load * inline [
name, val
test, test.pdf
];

INFO LOAD
name, val
RESIDENT T1;
greetsz
Chrisz

Thanks, but not quite. The problem is that I want to embed the PDFs in the QVW and have QlikView open the embedded PDFs in a viewer. But it won't do that.