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Explainum Feeds beta-testing issues

This discussion is for any questions related to beta-testing of Explainum Feeds -- an extension for creating context-dependent comments in QV apps. If you never heard of Explainum Feeds before -- here is where you can get it: http://feeds.explainum.com/

Below is demo QV app with set up and working extension attached to demo token. Extension must be installed before using this application.

Feel free to play with it. Take a look into extension object properties to get an idea what parameters should be filled in there.

Disclaimers:

1) Adding new comments in this demo app will make your computer name (OSUser) publicly visible as the author of comments. If you want to make comments anonymously -- remove textobject ID from extension object properties and press F5 to refresh it.

2) Currently, the only stable QV release for this extension is QV10 SR2. Internet Explorer 8 recommended.

Message was edited by: dgudkov -- added URL for downloading

4 Replies
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Author

I'm glad to see more and more people joining out beta-testing program -- hope we all will make good discussion.

As I'm getting questions about what to do during beta-testing, so I decided to make it a bit more clear what kind of advice I would appreciate to hear from you most of all.

My main concern is about the way of linking comments to context (selections). We use standard relational database for storing comments together with context. Because of SQL-based relational nature of this database it is not well compatible with the logic of QlikView's associative in-memory data engine. This incompatibility causes some limitations that technically are not easy to overcome -- so we had to limit number of possible selected values in a field (currently 31) and number of fields in annotation context (currently 7).

Therefore, my biggest concern is whether the extension can be useful despite these limitations? I understand that there are cases when it wouldn't work well. But are there real-life applications when it would work good? We made some tricks (like "semi-attached" fields) to make the limitations less significant, but the question is still open. Your opinion and advice about the way selections work is very appreciated -- does selection logic work well? are current limitations bearable? would extension logic be clear for users?


For sure, there is also room for improvement in terms of usability. We have some plans how to make it better: add paging for easier navigation across long lists of comments, introduce capabilities for moderation, ensure better security, integrate with 3rd party apps and social networks, add other bells & whistles. We're ready to develop the extension into solid functional product. However the core question still needs answer -- does current approach for linking comments to selections make sense or not.

Your thoughts?

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Author

If you see this error when switching to WebView in QlikView 10 SR2 it is because most probably you have Internet Explorer 9 and SR2 doesn't support IE9. To roll back to IE8 go to history of Windows updates, find update to IE9 and cancel it. You will always be able to apply this update again.

QV webview error.png

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Author

One more question was: How to make comments appear only when distinct selection is made.

We tried to emulate QlikView associative selection -- i.e. show all comments when no selection is made and then filter comments according to selections. However, if you need to see comments only when selection is made -- indicate all fields in extension properties as "semi-attached" -- put tilda ('~') before every ID.

Example: ~LB01, ~LB02, ~LB03.

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Author

Updated version released:

  • clicking a comment selects its context (like bookmark)
  • from MyHome now it is possible to view and delete comments
  • automatic update of extension script (no need to install manually future updates)
  • check for changes in extension properties

Known issues:

  • Reverting selection back after clicking a comment might require pressing button Back more than 1 time (more preciesly, number of times is equal to number of fields selected as selections peformed by 1 field at time)

Updated version can be downloaded by link from the welcome email.

Attached is another one demo application with set up and working extension.

Edit: attached demo application