This article is intended to get started with the Microsoft Outlook 365 connector in Qlik Application Automation.

Authentication and Authorization

To authenticate with Microsoft Outlook 365 you create a new connection. The connector makes use of OAuth2 for authentication and authorization purposes. You will be prompted with a popup screen to consent a list of permissions for Qlik Application Automation to use. The Oauth scopes that are requested are:

• Mail.Send
• User.Read
• Offline_access

Sending Email with the Microsoft Outlook 365 connector

The scope of this connector has been limited to only sending emails. Currently, we do not enable sending email attachments and are looking to provide this functionality in the future. The suggested approach is to upload files to a different platform, e.g. Onedrive or Dropbox and create a sharing link that can be included in the email body.

The following parameters are available on the Send Email block:

• To: A comma separated list of recipients;
• CC: A comma separated list of recipients to which the email should be copied;
• BCC: A comma separated list of recipients to which the email should be blind copied;
• Subject: A title for your email;
• Type: Choose between plain text email or HTML;
• Body: The content of your email. You can use HTML for your email if chosen as the type.

Generating a report and sending an email with the report

As we do not currently support email attachments, we need to first generate a sharing link in Onedrive or an alternative file sharing service. The following automation shows how to generate a report from a Qlik Sense app, upload the report to Microsoft Onedrive, create a sharing link and send out an email with the sharing link in the body. This automation is also attached as JSON in the attachment to this post.

Environment:

Qlik Automate 

This article provides an overview of how to send straight table data to email as an HTML table using Qlik Automate.

The template is available on the template picker. You can find it by navigating to Add new -> New automation -> Search templates and searching for 'Send straight table data to email as table' in the search bar, and clicking the Use template option.

You will find a version of this automation attached to this article: "Send-straight-table-data-to-email -as-HTML-table.json".

Content:

• Full Automation
• Automation structure
• Related Content

Full Automation

Automation structure

The following steps describe how to build the demo automation: 

1. Add a variable called 'EmailBody' to build the email body, and append the body opening tag and opening text of the email as value to this variable.
   
   
2. Add another variable called 'EmailStraightTable' and append the table opening tag together with the table header opening tag as a value to this variable.
   
   
3. Use the 'Get Straight Table Data' block from the Qlik Cloud Services connector to get data from the straight table for a specific app to be sent as an email. Specify app ID, Sheet ID, and Object ID input parameters. You can use the do-lookup functionality to find value for all these parameters. There is a limit of 100,000 records that can be retrieved through the 'Get Straight Table Data' block. This block will not work with other table types.
   
   
4. Add a 'Loop' block to loop over the keys from the 'Get Straight Table Data' block response which act as the headers of the HTML table. Use the '{getkeys: {$.GetStraightTableData}}' formula in the 'Loop' block.
   
   
5. Add the key/column name as the header of the HTML table in the 'EmailStraightTable' variable block. Outside the loop, add the 'EmailStraightTable' variable block, and append the table header closing tag, and table body opening tag as values to this variable.
   
   
6. Add a 'Loop' block to loop over all the values from the 'Get Straight Table Data' block response. Within the 'Loop' block add the following blocks:
   
   
   1. Use the 'EmailStraightTable' variable block and append the table row opening tag as a value to this variable.
   2. Use another 'Loop' block to loop over all values from the straight table for the current key/ column of the straight table.
   3. Next, use the 'EmailStraightTable' variable block and append the table data opening tag along with the column value for the corresponding key from the straight table which ultimately gives a single row with values for all the keys in each iteration and the table data closing tag as value to this variable.
   4. Use the 'EmailStraightTable' variable block and append the table row closing tag as a value to this variable.
      
      
7. Add the 'EmailStraightTable' variable block and append the table body closing tag with table footer tags as a value to this variable.
   
   
8. Add the 'EmailBody' variable block and append the 'EmailStraightTable' variable, which contains the final HTML table with straight table data, together with the email footer, and body closing tag as a value to this variable.
   
   
9. Add a 'Send Mail' block from the Mail connector to send an email with the above constructed HTML table that contains straight table data. Specify values for all the mandatory input parameters. Please connect to the SMTP server by adding a connection to the Mail connector.

An example output of the email sent:

The information in this article is provided as-is and will be used at your discretion. Depending on the tool(s) used, customization(s)andor other factors, ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.

Related Content

How to export more than 100k cells using Get Straight Table Data Block 

Environment

• Qlik Cloud Analytics
• Qlik Automate

Watch this space for when the feature has been successfully rolled out in your region.

This capability is being rolled out across regions over time:

1. May 5th: India, Japan, Middle East, Sweden (completed)
2. June 4th: Asia Pacific, Germany, United Kingdom, Singapore (completed)
3. June 9th: United States (completed)
4. June 12th: Europe (completed)
5. TBD: Qlik Cloud Government

With the introduction of shared automations, it will be possible to create, run, and manage automations in shared spaces. 

Content

• Allow other users to run an automation
• Collaborate on existing automations
• Collaborate through duplication
• Extended context menus
• Context menu for owners:
• Context menu for non-owners:
• Monitoring
• Administration Center
• Activity Center
• Run history details
• Metrics

Allow other users to run an automation

Limit the execution of an automation to specific users.

Every automation has an owner. When an automation runs, it will always run using the automation connections configured by the owner. Any Qlik connectors that are used will use the owner's Qlik account. This guarantees that the execution happens as the owner intended it to happen.

The user who created the run, along with the automation's owner at run time, are both logged in the automation run history.

These are five options on how to run an automation:

1. Run an automation from the Hub and Catalog
   
   
   
   
2. Run an automation from the Automations activity center
   
   

    

3. Run an automation through a button in an app
   
   You can now allow other users to run an automation through the Button object in an app without needing the automation to be configured in Triggered run mode. This allows you to limit the users who can execute the automation to members of the automation's space.
   
   More information about using the Button object in an app to trigger automation can be found in How to run an automation with custom parameters through the Qlik Sense button.
   
   
4. Programmatic executions of an automation
   
   
   1. Automations API: Members of a shared space will be able to run the automations over the /runs endpoint if they have sufficient permissions.
   2. Run Automation and Call Automation blocks
      
      
5. Note for triggered automations: the user who creates the run is not logged as no user specific information is used to start the run. The authentication to run a triggered automation depends on the Execution Token only.

Collaborate on existing automations

Collaborate on an automation through duplication.

Automations are used to orchestrate various tasks; from Qlik use cases like reload task chaining, app versioning, or tenant management, to action-oriented use cases like updating opportunities in your CRM, managing supply chain operations, or managing warehouse inventories.

Collaborate through duplication

To prevent users from editing these live automations, we're putting forward a collaborate through duplication approach. This makes it impossible for non-owners to change an automation that can negatively impact operations.

When a user duplicates an existing automation, they will become the owner of the duplicate. This means the new owner's Qlik account will be used for any Qlik connectors, so they must have sufficient permissions to access the resources used by the automation. They will also need permissions to use the automation connections required in any third-party blocks. 

Automations can be duplicated through the context menu:

As it is not possible to display a preview of the automation blocks before duplication, please use the automation's description to provide a clear summary of the purpose of the automation:

Extended context menus

• Start a run from the context menu in the hub
• Duplicate automation
• Move automation to shared space
• Edit details (owners only)
• Open in new tab (owners only)

Context menu for owners:

 

Context menu for non-owners:

 

 

Monitoring

The Automations Activity Centers have been expanded with information about the space in which an automation lives. The Run page now also tracks which user created a run.

Note: Triggered automation runs will be displayed as if the owner created them.

Administration Center

The Automations view in Administration Center now includes the Space field and filter.

The Runs view in Administration Center now includes the Executed by and Space at runtime fields and filters.

Activity Center

The Automations view in Automations Activity Center now includes Space field and filter.

Note: Users can configure which columns are displayed here.

The Runs view in the Automations Activity Center now includes the Space at runtime, Executed by, and Owner fields and filters.

In this view, you can see all runs from automations you own as well as runs executed by other users. You can also see runs of other users's automations where you are the executor.

Run history details

To see the full details of an automation run, go to Run History through the automation's context menu. This is also accessible to non-owners with sufficient permissions in the space.

The run history view will show the automation's runs across users, and the user who created the run is indicated by the Executed by field.

Metrics

The metrics tab in the automations activity center has been deprecated in favor of the automations usage app which gives a more detailed view of automation consumption.

Pressing a button that executes an Automation fails with:

Bad request

An additional error may be shown:

You are not authorized to run this automation

These errors are typically seen after changing the Automation's owner. 

Resolution

Bad request

When the owner of an Automation is changed, the system automatically disables that Automation. In this context, this error indicates that the automation is disabled or that its run mode is incorrectly configured.

To resolve this:

• Ensure the Automation has its status set to Enabled (A)
  
  If it is set to Disabled, click the Actions (...) menu (B) to enable it.
  
  
  
  
• Verify the Automation's Run mode is set to Triggered. If the Automation is set to a different mode (such as Manual or Scheduled), the button will not be able to initiate it.
  
  
  1. Open your Automation and select the Start node
  2. In Inputs, verify Run Mode to be set to Triggered
     
     
     
     
     

You are not authorized to run this automation

This error can occur after re-enabling an automation and the execution token having changed.

Follow these steps to re-establish the connection:

1. Navigate to the sheet where the button containing the automation execution action is located.
2. Edit the sheet and locate the Actions and navigation pane.
3. Find the specific action configured to trigger the automation.
4. In the Automation section, remove the currently selected automation name.
   
   
   
   
5. Click Edit sheet to save this change. This signals the system that the automation link has been cleared.
6. Click Edit sheet and navigate back to the same Automation action.
7. Use the dropdown arrow in the Automation field to select the desired automation you want to be triggered.
8. Click Edit sheet to save the re-selected automation.
9. Verify that the button now successfully executes the automation without errors.

Environment

• Qlik Cloud Analytics
• Qlik Automate

This article explains how the Qlik Reporting connector in Qlik Application Automation can be used to generate a bursted report that delivers recipient-specific data.

For more information on the Qlik Reporting connector, see this Reporting tutorial.

This article offers two examples where the recipient list and field for reduction are captured in an XLS file or a straight table in an app. Qlik Application Automation allows you to connect to a variety of data sources, including databases, cloud storage locations, and more. This allows you to store your recipient lists in the appropriate location and apply the concepts found in the examples below to create your reporting automation. By configuring the Start block's run mode, the reporting automations can be scheduled or driven from other business processes.

Contents

• Using a straight table as a distribution list
• Using an Excel File as a distribution list

Using a straight table as a distribution list

In this example, the email addresses of the recipients are stored in a straight table. Add a private sheet to your app and add a straight table to it. This table should contain the recipients' email address, name, and a value to reduce the app on. We won't go over the step-by-step creation of this automation since it's available as a template in the template picker under the name "Send a burst report to email recipients from a straight table".

Instead, a few key blocks of this template are discussed below.

1. List Values Of Field. This block will return a list of all values of the specified field. The selected field should directly map to the recipient scope of data to be delivered. For each value, a report will be generated and distributed to the recipients who have that value assigned in the distribution list. We'll call this value the scope of the report, an example field could be Region to build a report for each different region and delivery to regional employees.
   
   
2. The Create Report block and attached blocks will then be executed for each unique value of the field. Tip: you can dynamically name your reports by mapping the current field's value to the Report name parameter of the Create Report block:
   
   
   
   
3. Add any sheets to the report by using the Add Sheet to Report block. Use the block Add Selection To Sheet to add selections. Add at least a selection for the current scope of the report. Also, apply a selection to the app using the Select Field Value block. This will reduce the straight table that contains the distribution list to the current scope.
   
   
4. Now, use the block Get Straight Table Data and configure it to retrieve the distribution list. The important step here is to append each email address from the distribution list to a string variable. Also, add a semicolon ';' to the field to separate the email addresses. 
   
   
   
   
5. The scope from the distribution list should be used to add a sheet to the report and apply a selection for the current recipient. For example, if the recipients are sales reps, this could be used to provide an overview of each recipient's individual sales.
   
   
   
   
6. Use the Generate Report block to finalize the report. Map this block's output to the attachment parameter of the Send Mail block. Map the string of email addresses to the To input field of the Send Mail block.
   
   
   
   
7. Then make sure to execute the block Unlock Selections to allow the selections to be overwritten for the next report scope. Also, empty the email addresses from the string variable to make sure they aren't persisted for the next scope.
   
   

Helpful tips

1. The Output block can be used to keep track of the automation's progress by showing the current scope.
2. When building the report automation, you can test the email output by sending the report to yourself before using the distribution variable for operational execution.
3. It's also possible to use the Copy File block from the Cloud Storage connector to store a copy of the report on any file storage system like Dropbox or SFTP. 

Using an Excel File as a distribution list

In this example, the email addresses of the recipients are stored in an Excel file. This can be a simple file that contains one worksheet with headers on the first row (name, email & a value for reduction) and one record on each subsequent row. 

1. The first step is to gather the Excel file's item id. This can be retrieved from the URL when the file is open in a browser window or by executing the List Items In Root Folder Of Drive block. Execute this block in a test run to fetch these records.
   
   
   
   
2. The results from the test run can now be used in other blocks, click the Item Id input field of the List Rows WIth Headers block and select the id key from the right item in the output returned by the List Items In Root Folder Of Drive block. 
   
   
   
   
3.  Further configure the  List Rows With Header block by specifying the worksheet name and the dimensions of the data (header row included). Below is an example of the excel file shown at the beginning of this section.
   
   
   
   
4. The other steps of the automation are similar to the first part of this article so they won't be repeated here. Optionally, values from the Excel file can be used for reducing the report with the block Add Selection To Report. 
   
   

The information in this article is provided as-is and to be used at own discretion. Depending on tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.

Can Qlik Cloud Analytics Community Sheets be unpublished using a Qlik Automate block or the Qlik REST API?

There is no unpublish sheet block in Qlik Automate, and a simple unpublish option cannot be done with the Qlik REST API.

To note:

• Duplciating a published sheet will create a private copy for the user who has unpublished it. It will only be visible to them.
• The sheet will need to be unpublished first, and ownership then needs to be transferred back to the original user. (Example: Set owner on an app object. The user must be the owner of the object)
• The published sheet behaviour in Qlik Sense is such that when published, it cannot be modified. You first need to unpublish the sheet before deleting.
• If the status or ownership of the sheet has not changed as expected: a new session will be created when the existing session is closed, either through inactivity or by the browser tab being explicitly closed (after around 120 seconds).

Environment

• Qlik Cloud Analytics

With Qlik Application Automation, you can get data out of Qlik Cloud and distributing it to different users in formatted Excel. The workflow can be automated by leveraging the connectors for Office 365, specifically Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Excel. 

Here I share two example Qlik Application Automation workspaces that you can use and modify to suit your requirements. 

Content:

• Considerations
• Example 1: Scheduled Reports
• Example 2: On-Demand Reports
• Environment

Video:

Considerations

• This example is built on distributing a SharePoint link. It is also possible to use attachments with the Mail block (see Creating a Qlik Reporting Service report).
• Qlik Application Automation has a limit of 100,000 rows when getting data out of a Qlik Sense straight table object.
• The On-Demand example uses an extension in QSE SaaS to send data to the Automation. An update to the Qlik Sense Button object is expected soon, which will provide a native way to pass selections to an Automation.

Example 1: Scheduled Reports

1. Download the 'Scheduled Report.json' file attached to this document.
2. Create a new Automation in QSE SaaS, give it a name, and then upload the workspace you just downloaded by right clicking in the editor canvas, and selecting 'Upload workspace'.
3. Select the 'Create Binary File (Personal One Drive)' block, select 'Connection' in the block configurator to the right, and then create your connection to Microsoft SharePoint.
4. Select the 'Get Straight Table Data' block. Under 'Inputs' in the block configurator, lookup your the App Id, Sheet Id, and Object Id for the relevant QSE SaaS table you wish to output.
5. Select the 'Create Excel Table With Headers' block, select 'Connection' in the block configurator, and then create your connection to Microsoft Excel.
6. Select the 'Send Mail' block. Under 'Inputs' in the block configurator update the 'To' to reflect the addresses you wish to deliver to.
7. With the 'Send Mail' block still selected, select 'Connection' in the block configurator and add your Sender details.
8. To test, Save and then Run the Automation
9. If you receive any warnings or errors, navigate to the relevant blocks and ensure your Connection is selected in the block configurator. 
10. Select the 'Start' block. Under 'Inputs' in the block configurator, change Run Mode to Scheduled and define your required schedule. 

Example 2: On-Demand Reports

Note - These instructions assume you have already created connections as required in Example 1.

1. Download the 'On-Demand Report v3.json' file attached to this document.
2. Download and install the 'qlik-blends' extension. See: 
   https://github.com/rileymd88/qlik-blends/files/6378232/qlik-blends.zip
3. Create a new Automation in QSE SaaS, give it a name, and then upload the workspace you just downloaded by right-clicking in the editor canvas, and selecting 'Upload workspace'.
4. Ensure your Connections are selected in the block configurator for each of the following blocks, 'Create Binary File (Personal One Drive)', 'Create Excel Table With Headers', 'Add Rows To Excel Worksheet Table (Batch)', 'Create Sharing Link', and 'Send Mail'.  Save the Automation.
5. Select the 'Start' block and ensure Run Mode is set to Triggered. Make note of the of URL and Execution Token shown in the POST example. 
6. Open your chosen QSE SaaS application, and Edit the Sheet where you wish to add a Button to trigger an On-Demand report. 
7. Under 'Custom Objects' look for 'qlik-blends' from the Extensions menu and drag this into your Sheet.
8. Under the 'Blend' properties to the right, add-in your POST webhook URL and Token as noted in Step 5.
9. We will now add three measures to the 'qlik-blends' object. It is important you add them in the order described.  Add the first measure, using the following function in the expression editor: GetCurrentSelections()
10. Add the second measure, using the following function DocumentName()
11. The final measure will be the Object ID of the table you wish to use. To find the Object ID, select 'Done Editing'.  Then right click on the table, select 'Share', select 'Embed', then look for the Object ID under the preview. Copy this value, go back into Editing mode and paste this as your third measure value. 
12. With the 'qlik-blends' object selected, under Form select 'Add items'. For 'Item type' select Text. Under default value you can choose to add a default email address. For 'Label' and 'Reference'  type 'Email'. It is critical that Reference is updated to 'Email'.  Turn 'Required input' on. 
13. You can change the Appearance properties to suit your preferences, such as updating the Button label and message, enabling Dialog, and changing the Color under Theme.
14. Back in the Automation, under the Start Block. Set  'Run asynchronously' = yes to allow multiple requests to run at the same time (This will also increase the max run time from 1min to 60min)
15. Once happy, test the On-Demand report by entering an email and clicking the button.

This On-Demand Report Automation can be used across multiple apps and tables.  Simply copy the extension object between apps & sheets, and update the Object ID (Measure 3) for each instance. 

Environment

• Qlik Automate 
• Qlik Cloud 
• Microsoft Office 365

The information in this article is provided as-is and to be used at own discretion. Depending on tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.

Qlik Cloud Catalog is a native connector that lets you automate tasks related to the Data Products Catalog and Data Quality workflows. With this connector, you can enable the scheduling of quality computations for datasets, streamlining data validation processes across your organization. Aligning Data Quality execution with ELT or ETL processes helps you assess the trustworthiness of your data, especially as it may be consumed downstream by analytics, AI models, or other consumers.

Contents

• Authentication
• Use cases
• 1: Schedule the quality compute for the dataset
• 2: Get notified upon quality compute status

Authentication

This connector does not require additional configuration to authenticate, it will automatically connect to the automation owner's Qlik account. Whenever blocks of this connector are executed, they will use that account. Additional blocks (like retrieving data products or getting quality indicators) will be released over time. You can request new ones through ideation.

Use cases

For the initial release, the connector introduces two main capabilities:

• Schedule quality computation for selected datasets

• Send notifications based on the computation result

1: Schedule the quality compute for the dataset

Once your datasets are registered in Qlik Cloud Catalog, you can use Qlik Automate to schedule their quality computation with custom parameters. This ensures data quality stays aligned with your freshness and operational needs.

You can configure the computation mode:

• Pushdown (for Snowflake and Databricks datasets): computation runs on the cloud data warehouse side (note: it consumes data warehouse credits).

• Pullup (Qlik Cloud): computation runs in Qlik Cloud.

Both modes allow you to define a sample size. Pullup uses a head sample; pushdown uses a random sample.

To set this up:

• Use the trigger data quality computation block.

• Specify the dataset id (found in the dataset's details panel in Qlik Cloud Catalog).

• Configure mode (pushdown or pull-up) and sampling options.

• Add the trigger mode to the start block of your automation, this is where you can schedule it.

2: Get notified upon quality compute status

In order to know whenever your automation ran successfully or when you might need to perform actions in case of failure, you can add blocks to your automation in order to push an alert to the system of your choice. In the template we propose you to send a notification to a Slack channel.

To monitor your automation results:

• Use the wait for quality compute block, which loops and monitors computation progress.

You can then trigger alerts based on outcomes:

• Send a Slack notification if the computation fails
• Or notify every successful computation if preferred.

Future updates will allow threshold-based alerts, letting you trigger actions based on data quality indicator results.

Beginning on the 30th of January, Qlik introduced the concept of 3rd party runs in Qlik Automate. This is the first step towards a shift in our packaging that will focus on third-party runs only, while standard runs become free of charge.

This shift will happen over the course of a couple of months, giving you sufficient time to analyze your usage and make adjustments if necessary. Please reach out to your account manager if you have any questions.

Contents

• Timeline
• Standard run vs third-party run
• Standard runs
• Third-party runs
• Possible third-party runs
• Transition of existing entitlements
• Introduction of third-party runs (Jan 30th)
• Switch to new packaging (April 2nd)
• Enforcement of overages (May 6th)
• Packaging details
• FAQ

Timeline

The timeline below illustrates how the various stages of this packaging update will happen. In between each stage should be sufficient time to analyze your usage and prepare for the enforcement.

• January 30th: Introduction of third-party runs
• April 2nd: New third-party packaging is available for purchase 
• May 6th: Enforcement
  • Third-party limits for seat-based licenses
  • Third-party overages for capacity licenses

Standard run vs third-party run

Standard runs

An automation run is considered a standard run if it only executes blocks from the following categories:

• All Qlik connectors (Qlik Cloud Services, Qlik Reporting, Qlik AutoML, Qlik …)
• Base blocks (excluding Call URL & Cloud Storage)
• Mail & Microsoft Outlook

Example:

Third-party runs

An automation run is considered a third-party run if it executes any blocks that are not in the standard connector categories.

As a rule of thumb, a standard run will execute one or more blocks from third-party connectors. Among others, third-party connectors are connectors like Slack, Amazon S3, Microsoft Excel, Call URL. A full overview of all automation connectors if available here.

Example:

Every run of this automation will execute the Send Message (Slack) block.
This will make every run a third-party run as the Slack connector is a third-party connector.
The “Contains third-party blocks” label indicates that the automation contains an active third-party block.

Possible third-party runs

For a run to be considered a third-party run, we only evaluate executed blocks. If the third-party blocks in the automation were not executed, the run will not count as a third-party run. A block not being executed could be caused by many factors like Condition blocks, Filter List blocks, deactivated third-party blocks, ...

This illustrates that an automation with a “Contains third-party blocks” label will not necessarily generate third-party runs on every run.

Example:

This automation will only execute the Send Message (Slack) block if the reload fails (from the Do Reload block). This means it will only generate third-party runs depending on the state of the Condition block.

Transition of existing entitlements

Introduction of third-party runs (Jan 30th)

1. Customers who are entitled to included runs will get these as third-party runs
2. Purchased runs will be converted to third-party runs
3. Renewals before the end of March will maintain the same included third-party runs until next renewal.

Switch to new packaging (April 2nd)

1. Every new purchase will be using the new packaging
2. Renewals will revert third-party runs to the edition included quantity of the new packaging + any purchase of third-party runs using the new packaging

Enforcement of overages (May 6th)

1. When your monthly third-party runs are exhausted, overages will be enforced.
   1. For Capacity licenses with included third-party runs only, automations with active third-party blocks will no longer start and an overage status will be displayed. 
   2. For Capacity licenses with purchased third-party runs, overages will be charged according to your contract and configuration.
   3. For User based licenses with included or purchased third-party runs, automations with active third-party blocks will no longer start and an overage status will be displayed. 
2. Automations without active third-party blocks will continue to run (since they cannot generate third-party runs).

Packaging details 

The below table provides an overview of the new packaging for automations that will come in effect on April 2, 2025. Please reach out to your account manager for quotes and pricing related questions. 

FAQ

1. Will max concurrency be shared across run types?
Yes, both run types will count towards the same max concurrency.

2. Will usage of Qlik APIs through the Call URL block or other generic connectors count towards third-party runs?
Yes, when these blocks and connectors are used to make API requests to Qlik APIs, they will still count towards third-party runs. If you are missing blocks or functionality in a Qlik connector, please create an improvement request on our Ideation portal or support an existing request.

3. Will the new packaging have an included amount of third-party runs?
Yes, the new packaging will continue to provide some third-party runs for most editions of Qlik Cloud. Details are available in the above section "Packaging details".

4. Why are some automations with third-party blocks missing the label "Contains third-party blocks"?
An automation will only receive the label when someone performs a manual run or saves it in the editor. We are planning a new update that will apply this label to all automations with active third-party blocks regardless of someone saving them or not.
Please note that regardless of this label being on an automation or not, automation runs will still be evaluated and receive a correct billable yes/no label.

This article is meant to get users starting on the Oauth connector in Qlik Application Automation.
This connector is meant for advanced users to platforms where we did not (yet) build a dedicated connector for.
The connector makes use of the authorization code flow of Oauth2. The authorization code flow is well explained on the following link: https://oauth.net/2/grant-types/authorization-code/

Limitations

• This connector will work for most OAuth2 flows. In cases where there's additional fields to be sent such as additional query parameters in the authorize request, this connector will not work.
• For the list endpoints other than those listed below The solution is to implement paging at the automation level. This is well explained in the following article.: https://community.qlik.com/t5/Knowledge/How-to-implement-pagination-using-Call-Url-block-in-an/ta-p/1879458
  • raw API list request - offset based paging
  • raw API list request - page number based paging.
  • raw API list request - cursor token based paging
• If the cursor token is returned in the response header instead of the response body, the cursor token endpoints do not work.
• The list blocks won't work if the business data in the API response is not enclosed in a JSON key.

How to connect

First start by looking for the connector "OAuth2". When you click on connect it requests the following input parameters:

• Base URL - This should be the base of the URL you will be making REST calls to. We recommend providing this as much as possible as it will prevent making calls to other URL's.
• Authorize URL - Can usually be obtained from the documentation of the platform you're attempting to connect to.
• Access Token URL - Can usually be obtained from the documentation of the platform you're attempting to connect to.
• Refresh Token URL - Can usually be obtained from the documentation of the platform you're attempting to connect to. Most of the time this is the exact same as the Access Token URL.
• OAuth Client ID - Will have to be created in the platform you're connecting to.
• OAuth Client Secret - Will have to be created in the platform you're connecting to.
• OAuth Scopes - Obtain from documentation.

When all of this is provided and you click the Save button, it will open a popup taking you to the login screen where you will be prompted to provide consent. Your connection is now ready to be used.

How to use in an automation

When selecting the connector in an automation you will notice Raw API Request block. This block has the following input variables:

• Path - This needs to be relative to the Base URL you provided when connecting.
• Method - Enum choice between GET, POST, DELETE, PATCH or PUT.
• Query Parameters - Here you can provide a JSON object and the key/values will be added to the path as query parameters.
• Request Body - A JSON object can be provided for POST, PATCH or PUT operations that will be sent as request body.
• Headers - JSON object and these key/values will be added as headers to the request.

Apart from the above input variables, RAW API LIST blocks have the following input variables

• Page Size Field Name - Name of the page size query parameter.
• Page Size - The desired page size. The maximum value allowed is 200.
• Offset Field Name - Name of the offset query parameter.
• Page Start - The initial value of the Offset Field Name or Page Number Field Name query parameter. It should be either 0 or 1.
  • For offset based pagination: Depending on the page size and the page start the value of the offset parameter for the second page will be calculated. 
  • For Page number based pagination: The page number is either a 1-based or zero-based value. The value will be incremented by 1 to fetch the next page's data.
• Json Path For Output Records - The JSON key's name in the response will be used to parse a portion of the overall JSON returned by the API endpoint. This only returns a parsed VALUE.
• Json Path For Cursor - The JSON key in the API response whose cursor/token value can be used to request the next page of resources. 
• Output Name For Cursor Token - Name of the cursor token query parameter.
• Page Number Field Name - Name of the page number query parameter. 

An example

The following example will obtain tasks from the Microsoft Todo application. We do not yet have a connector to do this and Oauth is used to obtain the value for the Authorization header.
We first start by obtaining the Authorize URL, Access Ttoken URL and Refresh Token URL. From the Microsoft documentation we can find these at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/auth-v2-user. We use the following values:

• Authorize URL: https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/authorize
• Access Token URL: https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/token
• Refresh Token URL: https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/token

The documentation of the Microsoft Graph API  can be found at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/use-the-api?context=graph%2Fapi%2F1.0&view=graph-rest-1.0.
We obtain the Base URL: https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0.

We will have to obtain a client ID and client secret. We can do the registration for an app at https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_AAD_RegisteredApps/ApplicationsListBlade. We register a new application, give it the name "Todo App" and set it to only allow accounts from this organizational directory only. For the redirect url the following value needs to be provided: https://connector.qlikcloud.com/callback. Set the platform to Web.

On the next screen you can obtain your Client ID. Copy this value. Click on Add a certificate or Secret and it will take you to a page where you can create a new client secret.
Create one and copy the value that is now visible.

In the left sidebar click on the button API Permissions. Click on Add a Permission and provide the scope Tasks.ReadWrite.

Back to your connector configuration - Provide the client ID and client secret that were obtained and for the scopes provide the following: User.Read Tasks.ReadWrite offline_access openid
Now click on Save and you should be presented with a screen to login.

Using it in an automation

1) Raw API Request block:

Create a new automation and drag the Raw API Request block on to the canvas. Set the path to /me and the method to GET. When you now execute it, you should receive a JSON result containing the keys response, headers and status. Most relevant information should be part of the response.

Next let's obtain a list of tasks. Drag another Raw API request block and put it below the earlier one. Set the path to /users/{$.rawApiRequest.response.id}/todo/lists and method should remain at GET. Now when you execute this, it will return you the lists you keep in Todo.

2) List Blocks: Depending on the type of pagination, we have 4 different List blocks. Therefore, depending on the type of pagination in API, any one of the List blocks should be used for a certain API.

We tested the blocks using four distinct APIs, each with a different pagination implementation.

• raw API list request - page number based paging: Zoho
• raw API list request - offset based paging: JIRA
• raw API list request - cursor token based paging : Google People

1. raw API list request - page number based paging: 
   Create new automation and drag the raw API list request - page number based paging block onto the canvas.
   Create a new connection. We used the Zoho API. Please visit the API documentation link for your API to obtain Oauth information and the pagination documentation to obtain pagination information.
   
   
   Below are the input parameter
   
   1. path: If the baseUrl in the connection parameter ends with '/', do not prefix the same character at the beginning of the path in the endpoint input parameter. We are using "Leads" to list the lead in Zoho.
   2. Query Parameters: We haven't used them in the example. Similarly, we can try a variety of other query parameters listed in the API documentation.
   3. Headers: We don't use it because we don't require any further header information.
   4. Page Size Field Name: per_page is the query parameter name used to reduce the amount of data returned in a single API call.
   5. Page Size: The query parameter per_page's value. We made use of 8. If the entered value exceeds 200. We'll set it to 200 in the backend.
   6. Page Number Field Name: Because this is page-based pagination, the page query parameter is 'page'.
   7. Page Start: This is the number that indicates where the page begins. The value should be either 0 or 1. This value will only be used in the first API request; in subsequent calls, it will be increased by one in the backend and used in the above page query parameter name. We have used 1.
   8. Json Path For Output Records: Parse a portion of the JSON returned by the API endpoint. This only returns a parsed VALUE. We have used 'data' in our example.
      
      
2. raw API list request - offset based paging : 
   Create new automation and drag the raw API list request - offset based paging block onto the canvas.
   Create a new connection. We used the JIRA API. Please visit the API documentation link for your API to obtain Oauth information and the pagination documentation to obtain pagination information.
   
   
   Below are the input parameter
   
   1. path: If the baseUrl in the connection parameter ends with '/', do not prefix the same character at the beginning of the path in the endpoint input parameter. We are using "Search" to search the issues
   2. Query Parameters: We utilized the fields query parameter to limit the data returned by JSON Object. Similarly, we can experiment with many additional query parameters listed in the API documentation.
   3. Headers: We don't use it because we don't require any further header information.
   4. Page Size Field Name: maxResults is the query parameter name used to reduce the amount of data returned in a single API call.
   5. Page Size: The query parameter maxResults's value. We made use of 50. If the entered value exceeds 200. We'll set it to 200 in the backend.
   6. Offset Field Name: Because this is offset pagination, the offset query parameter is startAt.
   7. Page Start: This is the offset's starting number. The value should be either 0 or 1 
   8. Json Path For Output Records: Parse a portion of the JSON returned by the API endpoint. This only returns a parsed VALUE. According to the JIRA API docs, we're getting a list of issues from the "issues" key.
      
      
3. raw API list request - cursor token based paging:
   Create new automation and drag the raw API list request - token based paging block onto the canvas.
   Create a new connection. We used the Google People API. Please visit the API documentation link for your API to obtain Oauth information and the pagination documentation to obtain pagination information.
   
   
   Below are the input parameter
   
   1. path: If the baseUrl in the connection parameter ends with '/', do not prefix the same character at the beginning of the path in the endpoint input parameter. We are trying to list the contactGroups in Google People.
   2. Query parameters: We haven't used them in the example. Similarly, we can try a variety of other query parameters listed in the API documentation.
   3. Headers: We don't use it because we don't require any further header information.
   4. Page Size Field Name: pageSize is the query parameter name used to reduce the amount of data returned in a single API call.
   5. Page Size: The query parameter maxResults's value. We made use of 20. If the entered value exceeds 200. We'll set it to 200 in the backend.
   6. Json Path For Cursor: The JSON key in the API response, the cursor value will be used to request the next page of resources. Use '.' to denote objects within an array. This endpoint block will not work if the cursor URL is returned in the header.
   7. Output Name For Cursor Token: The name of the cursor Query parameter, which will be used to fetch resources for the following page. We used pageToken in this case.
   8. Json Path For Output Records: Parse a portion of the JSON returned by the API endpoint. This only returns a parsed VALUE.
      

The information in this article is provided as-is and to be used at own discretion. Depending on tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.

NPrinting has a library of APIs that can be used to customize many native NPrinting functions outside the NPrinting Web Console.

Environment:

Qlik NPrinting 

An example of two of the more common capabilities available via NPrinting APIs are as follows

• Connection reloads
• Publish Task executions

These and many other public NPrinting APIs can be found here: Qlik NPrinting API

In the Qlik Sense data load editor of your Qlik Sense app, two REST connections are required (These two REST Connectors must also be configured in the QlikView Desktop application>load where the API's are used. See Nprinting Rest API Connection through QlikView desktop)

• GET
• POST

Requirements of REST user account:

• Windows Authentication is required in both these connectors. The required user account is the NPrinting service account (which is also ROOTADMIN on the Qlik Sense server)
• This user account must also be a member of the NPrinting 'Administrators' Security Role on the NPrinting Server.

Creating REST "GET" connections

Note: Replace QlikServer3.domain.local with the name and port of your NPrinting Server

NOTE: replace domain\administrator with the domain and user name of your NPrinting service user account

Creating REST "POST" connections

Note: Replace QlikServer3.domain.local with the name and port of your NPrinting Server

NOTE: replace domain\administrator with the domain and user name of your NPrinting service user account

Ensure to enter the 'Name' Origin and 'Value' of the Qlik Sense (or QlikView) server address in your POST REST connection only.

Replace https://qlikserver1.domain.local with your Qlik sense (or QlikView) server address.

Ensure that the 'Origin' Qlik Sense or QlikView server is added as a 'Trusted Origin' on the NPrinting Server computer

Related Content

• Distribute NPrinting reports after reloading a Qlik App
• Extending Qlik NPrinting
• Run a Qlik NPrinting API POST command via QlikView reload script
• Troubleshooting Common NPrinting API Errors

NOTE: The information in this article is provided as-is and to be used at own discretion. NPrinting API usage requires developer expertise and usage therein is significant customization outside the turnkey NPrinting Web Console functionality. Depending on tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors ongoing, support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.

This article provides an overview of the available blocks in the Apache Kafka connector in Qlik Application Automation.

Apache Kafka is an open-source distributed event streaming platform used by thousands of companies for high-performance data pipelines, streaming analytics, data integration, and mission-critical applications.

Authentication

Authentication to Apache Kafka happens through Basic Authentication. To use this connector, you need to provide the username and password to your Rest Proxy Server. When you connect to Apache Kafka in Qlik Application Automation you will be presented with the following screen:

Available blocks

The blocks that are available in the Apache Kafka connector focus on Producing events to topics in the Apache Kafka cluster.

• Get Broker
• List Brokers
• Delete Broker
• Get Cluster
• List Clusters
• Create Topic
• Get Topic
• List Topics
• Delete Topic
• Produce Event

Working with the Apache Kafka blocks

Apache Kafka blocks make use of the Confluent Rest Proxy APIs to produce and consume messages from an Apache Kafka cluster.

1. Follow this step-by-step guide to set up your Confluent Rest Proxy API. Make sure you have an active cluster before proceeding.
2. Use the Get Cluster and List Cluster blocks to get basic information about your cluster.
3. Create a topic in your cluster using the Create Topic block from which you will produce and consume the messages.
4. You can make use of the Produce Event block to produce messages/data to the Topic.

Apache Kafka Use Case: Enabling Users To Perform Reverse ETL

Some companies may already use Apache Kafka for application integration challenges. Applications push and pull data from specific topics to communicate with one another. This solves the issues where each application has to talk to every other application. It is identical to what a service bus would do.

• We can publish messages to a Kafka topic that can be picked up by a customer's operational systems.
• It can be multiple systems at once, for example, their CRMs and ERP applications.
• It can be a single application (might be an on-premises system and we might not have a connector).
• Operational systems would be consumers on topics we publish to.
  
  

The information in this article is provided as-is and is to be used at your own discretion. Depending on the tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.

In Qlik Application Automation when trying to connect a connector of the Office 365 suite, some users will experience the following message during the authentication flow:

This error can show up for the Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Onedrive, Microsoft Sharepoint and Microsoft Excel connectors and depends on your Office 365 tenant. This article explains different methods on how to allow users to make a connector from Qlik Application Automation.

When an Azure admin navigates to the Consent and Permissions page inside Enterprise Applications, the following will be visible:

Admin Consent Request Workflow

If the option Do not allow user consent is selected, the only way to get the Microsoft connectors in Qlik Application Automation working is by enabling the Admin Consent Request workflow. To do this, the admin needs to navigate to Admin consent settings and enable the request box and assign reviewers for each request justification:

When a user now creates a connection, they will be asked to provide a justification. This request will be sent to the Azure Administrators of the tenant:

When this request is submitted, the reviewers of the request should now see the request:

The reviewer can review the request which takes the reviewer to the consent screen with the option to allow access for the organization. This will install an enterprise application in the Azure tenant of the user.

Classifying low impact permissions

An alternative option is if the Azure tenant selected the option Allow User Consent from verified publishers for selected permissions. 

When this option is chosen, an Azure administrator of the tenant can head to the Permission Classifications page:

The following scopes will have to be classified as low impact for the different connectors:

Microsoft Teams/Sharepoint ( with admin consent )

This connector will always require admin consent and these scopes cannot be classified as being low impact.

Creating a tenant in a specific region using either Automation or the available API fails. 

The API call returns:

"Forbidden" error (status 403)

The Automation block for Application Automation - Platform operations → Create Tenant is restricted to a different region.

Resolution

Create a region-level OAuth client for the specific region. For instructions, see Create a region level M2M OAuth2 client.

Cause

It is necessary to have a dedicated OAuth client for each region.

Environment

• Qlik Cloud Analytics
• Qlik Application Automation

Qlik Answers is Qlik's personalized AI assistant that generates on-point answers from your own trusted business content. See this article to learn how to get started with Qlik Answers

This connector unlocks new powerful use cases like indexing new data ad-hoc and taking your action oriented automations to the next level by including unstructured insights. This article explains how the Qlik Answers connector in Qlik Automate can be used.

Article contents

• Authentication
• Use cases
• 1. Re-indexing a knowledge base
• 2. Ask questions
• Notes
• Related Content

Authentication

This connector does not require additional configuration to authenticate, it will automatically connect to the automation owner's Qlik account. Whenever blocks of this connector are executed, they will use that account.

Use cases

For this connector's first release, we will introduce blocks that can re-index knowledge bases and ask questions to an assistant. We will deliver more blocks in future releases, do not hesitate to request new blocks through Ideation.

1. Re-indexing a knowledge base

This use case focuses on ad-hoc updates to the knowledge base. The creation and initial configuration of a knowledge base should happen through the Qlik Answers UI as described here:

Once your knowledge base is configured and you've set up a data connection to a cloud storage location, you can then use Qlik Automate to add specific files to the Cloud Storage location and trigger a re-indexing. This could be useful in scenarios when you only want to index specific records that might depend on a context.

For this use case, you can use the blocks Add Data Source To A Knowledge Base and Sync Knowledge Base Data Source. The below example will fetch incidents from ServiceNow, store them in a Dropbox folder and then add the Dropbox folder as a data source to a Knowledge Base in Qlik Answers. After this, the data source will be synced to the knowledge base index.

2. Ask questions

By using the blocks Create Thread and Execute Synchronous Prompt, you can ask questions from an assistant to enrich other messages that are sent through automations with unstructured insights. In the below example, these blocks are added to the existing "Notify your team on Microsoft Teams based on a measure" template that can be found in the template picker:

Notes

Don't ask a question immediately after indexing. Asking a question should be done after the knowledge base has completed indexing successfully.

Related Content

• Introducing Qlik Answers
• Qlik.com product page for Qlik Answers

Environment

• Qlik Cloud Analytics
• Qlik Automate
• Qlik Answers

The information in this article is provided as-is and will be used at your discretion. Depending on the tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors, ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.

The new Create Task block in the Salesforce connector in Qlik Automate can be used to create tasks and assign them to opportunities, users, and accounts. This allows you to provide critical insights to your sales team and compel them to take action. This article explains how this block can be used to create tasks for open renewal opportunities from within a Qlik app.

Content

• Prerequisites
• Setup
• App
• Automation

Prerequisites

For this example, we'll use a Qlik Analytics app containing upcoming renewal opportunities from Salesforce, which has already been configured with a button triggering an automation. More information on configuring an app with a button is available in Configuring the button with custom parameters.

More information on the Salesforce connector in automations is available in Getting started with the Salesforce connector.

Setup

App

The example app uses variable input charts to collect the subject, description, and assignee for the task. The button is configured to send these variables together with the selected opportunity id to the automation.

Automation

1. Start with a blank automation and copy the Inputs block from the app button's configuration
   
   
   
   
2. Paste the Inputs block into the automation editor and connect it to the Start block.
    
   
   
   
3. Add a Create Task block from the Salesforce connector and configure it with the values from the Inputs block.
   
   
   
   
4. Select an opportunity in the app, provide values for the variables, and then click the button to run the automation.
   
   
   
   
5. This will trigger the automation and create the task in Salesforce:
   
   
   

    

Related Content 

• Configuring the button with custom parameters
• Getting started with the Salesforce connector

The information in this article is provided as-is and will be used at your discretion. Depending on the tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors, ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.