Yes, yes we can, and very easily I might add - Custom Visualizations

[Michael_Tarallo]

Do you think adding custom visualization is difficult? Well our competition does. In fact they like to use FUD to prey on the weak minded. We want to hear from you. Make your voice heard and join the discussion. In this video I show you how quickly and how easily I can add an already prepared custom visualization to Qlik Sense. (D3 visualization library available from Qlik Branch)

• About the Michelson–Morley experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Qlik Branch
• Data file, sample Qlik Sense app and extension also attached
• Learn more about Extensions and Qlik Branch
• Learn more about our Integration and our APIs and the Dev Hub
  • Integration and Mash-Ups and API (videos)
  • Qlik | Help  - click - Qlik Sense Developers
  • Qlik Sense - The Developer Hub (video)

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The definition also forgets to mention that it is a poor sales tactic used by competitors when they don't have any other strengths to lean on to put their product in the spotlight.

Kinds Regards,

Mike Tarallo

Qlik

[mgranillo]

Mike,

Implementing extensions in Qlik Sense is extremely easy and I love that Qlik has provided a simple method to customize our visuals using the latest JS libraries and web standards. 

However, i have some major impediments to implementing extensions and I'd like get your comments on the matter. 

First, I work in a BI department at a healthcare company.  Our Qlik Sense apps are used bother internally and externally to our business.  We need consistent functionality across our apps yet the PDF/Powerpoint exports don't work with extensions.  This has led our leadership to deciding to limit the use of extensions unless absolutely necessary. 

We have also encountered extensions that render differently across browsers, creating more inconsistency in our apps. Another reason why our leadership wants to limit the use of extensions. 

My managers also bought Qlik with the hope that 90% of our needs would be met with out of the box functionality. 

So as a developer, I would love to implement custom visuals using D3, angular and all the resources on Branch, but for all the reasons I've laid out, extensions have been a non-factor. 

I've heard Sense 3.0 is going to work with nprinting.  Does nprinting support extensions?  That might be a game changer for us if it does.

Mike

[Michael_Tarallo]

Hello Michael, thanks for your comments, feedback and questions. They are appreciated.

Firstly, I will make sure to provide / get updates on your questions and concerns. (Re: extensions and output to PDF, PPT, NPrinting).

Allow me to address a few points. The use of extensions is completely optional as we know. They bring about functionality and interactivity that may not exist in-the-box....yet, at the same time they also help us innovate faster as a company. Working with a developer community such as those available on Qlik Branch, brings about fresh ideas and turns-around newer functionality faster than any software vendor could build. Perhaps, one day "that extension" will find its way into the supported product....(hmmm foreshadowing).....in essence, Qlik Branch and its publicly available extensions, apps and solutions are technically categorized as Open Source software. Brian Munz covers more on this in his post What is Qlik Branch? So, not everything found on Qlik Branch is going to created the same. It depends on the developer creating the solution and the tolerance of the one wanting to use it.

BUT - that being said, this also brings about a few concerns when it comes to the usage, support, compatibility and consistency.... and we have recognized that.

Starting with the release of Qlik Sense we introduced a work-bench utility now called the Developer Hub, which provides a templat-ed approach to building extensions, creating mash-ups and working with our APIs. This is continuously improved upon with each release and is a great way to maintain consistency and support-ability when creating custom objects and Mash-ups for Qlik Sense.

No for the fun part....coming in Qlik Sense 3.0 - an extension previously known as qWidget, which originally was an extension that helped you develop custom objects even easier that writing code, has now been product-ized and will be part of the Development Hub. (There will be a video released on this shortly). What does this mean to you? We have recognized what you mentioned and have put a compatible framework in place to help standardize extension creation using libraries that have been created and supported by Qlik. Also, all you need is HTML and CSS. (no JavaScript needed) - BUT ...you also will have the options of using your own libraries and code as before, but of course need to be conscious of some of the compatibility issues with those libraries regarding browser support.

Widget Editor - Dev Hub

Another note, most companies that use extensions don't solely rely on another's extensions, they create their own from scratch or use another's as a baseline and it is created as their own software product and are responsible for the implementation and support of it. This is not any different than the company writing its own software package.

For some companies, all they use is our APIs and our Engine, others just use the out-of-the-box client, and others use both. This is a great benefit of having a complete platform as opposed to a tool, because it provides many implementation options for the company.

I hope I addressed some of your concerns, feel free to reach out as needed.

Please mark the appropriate replies as CORRECT / HELPFUL so our team and other members know that your question(s) has been answered to your satisfaction.

Regards,

Mike Tarallo

Qlik

[mgranillo]

Mike,

I've investigated qWidget and I'm excited about this addition to Qlik Sense as I commented here: qWidget - a smart approach to customizing Qlik Sense Apps (Datasheet)

As I said in my comments, we'll need a lot more visuals in the repository before this makes a great impact to our app development.  I know it's just getting launched so I don't expect hundreds of newly supported extensions, but hopefully it will get there in the not too distant future.

Thanks for your comments.

Mike

[mgranillo]

Mike,

I found today that extensions now export to Powerpoint and PDF with a small code change. 

Those interested can see documentation here: Enabling export of your visualization extension‌

I'm still having issues with some extensions but it's a start.

Mike

[Michael_Tarallo]

Awesome to hear, thanks for the update.

Now.....you may want to visit creating extensions with Widget - I could not share any resources on it as of the original writing of this post because 3.0 was not released yet, but check it out now. This is your supported alternative to creating custom visualization and user input components as Widget is part of Qlik Sense now.

Help link:http://help.qlik.com/en-US/sense-developer/3.0/Subsystems/Dev-Hub/Content/Widget/widget-editor-overv...

Qlik Sense 3.0 - Widget

Please mark the appropriate replies as CORRECT / HELPFUL so our team and other members know that your question(s) has been answered to your satisfaction.

Regards,

Mike Tarallo

Qlik

[mgranillo]

Mike,

I'm disappointed to fine that widgets do not export to PDF or image.  I'm trying to alter the JSON file properties but haven't had any luck.

Mike

[Michael_Tarallo]

I'll check with R&D for you.