NPrinting : Modifying a model used by a report - Impact ?

[jleraille]

Hi

I use NPrinting Feb 2019
I read page 34 of http://go.qlik.com/rs/qliktech/images/NP_CertificationCourse_Presentation_QLIK.pdf
"With template based reports: if you change a template used by multiple reports, all reports will be affected"
So I create a PPT file with a slide mask (Mytemplate.ppt)
I create a new report (MyReport.ppt) by attaching my template file (see attachment)

I edit the report template, add objects and preview it
I save it and close it
I edit and save the Mytemplate.ppt file
I edit the MyReport.ppt report but model changes are not taken into account

Is my interpretation of the doc is bad and it is not possible to modify a template to impact existing reports or is it my approach?

Thanks

Jacques

[Lech_Miszkiewicz]

Hi,

you are using version NPrinting Feb 2019 and you are referencing document referencing NPrinting 14 which is not supported for many many years. From top of my head this was a software released in 2013...

The actual NPrinting Feb 19 is completly different tool so you cannot use this documentation as current NPrinting uses completly different approach regarding templates association with reports!

[jleraille]

Hi

So ? 

Does it means that there is a regression in the features ? (which would be very disappointing) or that it is done differently ?

I hope that there is a new performant approach regarding templates association with reports, but I don't find about that

Jacques

[Lech_Miszkiewicz · Accepted solution]

No - it is not regression in features.

It is different product!  NPrinting 14 and NPrinting Feb 2019 (17+) are diffeerent products running on different platforms.

Have you ever used QlikView and Qlik Sense? If you did use them as analogy to NPrinting 14 (you mentioned) and NPrinting Feb19 (17+). They are different products hence manual from one cannot be used with another one!

Now down to templates...

When you create report in NPrinting Feb 2019 you are associating unique template in nPrinting repository. This template is attached only to this particular report so any change in it will only affect that one single report - not others. This is different to NPrinitng 16 (and older 16,14...) where templates were just ppt,xls, ppx,html,doc  etc.. files which you would reference in your report, hence you could easily damage or change unintentionally the look of any other report which used a file as a template!

use https://help.qlik.com as a sole source of your knowledge to start of with.

https://help.qlik.com/en-US/nprinting/June2019/Content/NPrinting/Introduction/Introduction.htm#ancho...

[jleraille]

Hi Lech

Thank you for this explanation - for the evolutions of versions I know a little.
So the answer is that it is no longer possible to apply the same model to several reports
For me it's a regression. It is up to the designer to decide to have several templates or not and to assume the use of them

Regards

Jacques

[jleraille]

Hi

One more question about this subject

In my initial post my question was :
I edit and save the Mytemplate.ppt file, I edit the MyReport.ppt report but model changes are not taken into account

So are you sure that  this sentence  "This template is attached only to this particular report so any change in it will only affect that one single report - not others"    is correct ?

Jacques

[Lech_Miszkiewicz]

i am just writing broad explanation to this... will post in the second

[Lech_Miszkiewicz]

We could argue on this one. I am not sure what do you understand by "model". 

• in both versions (old & new) you can have template for your reports (template is only starting point!!) Lets call it "file template"
  • this is just empty file (for example XLS) with maybe logo, default font  which you can use as a starting point
• in both versions (old & new) once you start developping report based on the "file template" you are creating "report template"
  • "report template" contains information where on your report you have chart or table or free text. In NPrinting you put <Tags>.

Now if you change anything in your "file template", those changes will not flow through to report templates as effectively they are different files!

So based on that i do not see any difference between NPrinting 14(old) and Feb 2019.

Now what you could do easier in the old NPrinting version was to take ready "report template" with <Tags> and use it to build exactly the same report which you could then call differently. That report in old version could point to the same "report template" (hence it was exactly the same report!!!). Any change in that report template affected both reports. 

So i do not see any real use case where the same report template would be used in 2 different reports, as affectively those reports will be the same anyway!

You can use your "model" only as a starting point, but in neither version model change will affect report templates!

hope this is clear now

[Lech_Miszkiewicz]

Documentation provides the exact answers to your question:

https://help.qlik.com/en-US/nprinting/June2019/Content/NPrinting/ReportsDevelopment/Load-file-as-tem...

[jleraille]

Hi Lech 

I thought my initial post was pretty clear about my understanding of Model.
I distinguished the initial model (Mytemplate.ppt) and the report model (MyReport.ppt) and put an attachment ...

So thanks for this last answer -
I anderstand: I can use my "model" only as a starting point -
(So in case of design change, it is necessary to work in Nprinting in the report model which is not always easy for a communication service for example)

Jacques