Qlik NPrinting® May 2021 Release notes - Service Release 2

[Ruggero_Piccoli]

Table of Contents

• Improvements
• Resolved Defects
• Known issues and limitations
• Upgrade notes
• Downloads

The following release notes cover the versions of Qlik NPrinting released in May 2021 SR2.

Improvements

Qlik NPrinting service releases (SR) are compatible with the latest Qlik Sense version that is available when the Qlik NPrinting service release is made public.

Qlik Sense February 2022 is supported

Qlik Sense February 2022 is supported starting from this version.

Qlik Sense November 2021 is supported

Qlik Sense November 2021 is supported starting from this version.

Qlik Sense August 2021 is supported

Qlik Sense August 2021 is supported starting from this version.

QlikView 12.60 SR1 is supported

QlikView 12.60 SR1 is supported starting from this version.

Qlik NPrinting Messaging (RabbitMQ) upgraded to 3.8.19

Qlik NPrinting Messaging service (RabbitMQ) is upgraded to 3.8.19, which solves some security vulnerabilities.

Erlang/OTP upgraded to 24.0

Erlang/OTP is upgraded to version 24.0, to solve a security issue.

Resolved Defects

Key	Release Notes Title	Release Notes Description
OP-9971	PeriodicCleanupService error in log files	Cleanup of reports published on the Qlik NPrinting NewsStand or requested via On-Demand resulted in a misleading error message: ”ERROR: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.↓↓ at Qlik.NPrinting.Repo.Service.PeriodicCleanupService”. This error was misleading because: • It would occur when there were no errors caused by PeriodicCleanupService. • The issue described in the message does not apply to PeriodicCleanupService.
OP-9973	QlikView On-Demand did not list reports from documents with Cyrillic letters	The Qlik NPrinting On-Demand Add-On for QlikView did not list reports that used objects from connections to QlikView documents with Cyrillic letters. This fix requires that the Qlik NPrinting connection is configured with a document path in lowercase letters.
OP-9923	Error during previewing and generation of Excel reports with merged cells	Previewing or generating Excel reports with merged cells raised the error: "The preview request failed with message: Object reference not set to an instance of an object".
OP-9975	Activating the “Merge and center cells with labels” option in a pivot table caused an error	Activating the “Merge and center cells with labels” option in a pivot table caused a preview error and the report was not generated.
OP-9979	Activating the "Display subtotals at the top" produced duplicated total rows in a pivot table	Selecting the "Display subtotals at the top" option in an Excel pivot table generated a report with two subtotals rows, on both top and bottom.
OP-9978	Session expiration timer was not refreshed after a valid request	The session timer expiration was not refreshed after a valid request. As a result, a custom expiration value, for example 30 minutes, caused the session expiration after 30 minutes from the login, instead of from the last valid request performed by the user.

Known issues and limitations

The following issues and limitations were identified at release time. The list is not comprehensive; it lists all known major issues and limitations. We expect to have these issues fixed in future versions.
Supported languages
The following languages are supported:
• English
• French
• German
• Spanish
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Japanese
• Italian
• Simplified Chinese
Other languages are not officially supported. There may be issues with other languages, particularly those with right-to-left script and non-Roman alphabets.
Qlik Sense custom size sheets
Qlik Sense custom size sheets are not supported. Custom size will not be maintained on export.
Alternate states
QlikView and Qlik Sense alternate states are not supported.
Qlik NPrinting must be installed only on C: drives
Qlik NPrinting Server, Engine, and Designer can only be installed on C: drives. Any attempt to install them on a different drive will result in task failures.
Image size settings are not respected when adding the same object twice
When you add the same object twice, using the Images node in Qlik NPrinting Designer, only the image size property of the first image is respected.
QlikView On-Demand reports cannot be connected to Qlik Sense
It is possible to select the “Enable” check box in On-Demand for reports using Qlik Sense app data. These reports are visible in the QlikView On-Demand menu of the QlikView On-Demand add-on. But if selected, they will not generate reports, and you will see an error message.
Qlik NPrinting Designer crashes sometimes with zoomed screen settings
If you experience random crashes when using Qlik NPrinting Designer, open your Windows Display Settings in the Control Panel and verify that Smaller – 100% (default) is selected. When settings of 125% or 150% are selected, Qlik NPrinting Designer may crash.
On-Demand works in Chrome and Firefox, but not in Internet Explorer (11 or older) or Edge
In some cases, when you use Qlik NPrinting On-Demand in Internet Explorer 11 or Edge, the “origin” HTTP header is not generated. This results in the error message “REVEL_CSRF: tokens mismatch”.
The workaround is to install Qlik NPrinting On-Demand on a Microsoft IIS server hosting QlikView Access point or use a different web browser.
Too many users and filters leads to Qlik NPrinting Designer errors
Qlik NPrinting Designer may be unable to open a report template if there are too many filters associated with a connection in the report's app. The following error message displays: “A task was canceled”.
This typically happens when more than 4000 filters are using fields from a connection. Sometimes, higher numbers can work. For example, 7000 filters have worked in some situations.
The workaround is:
1. Split the Qlik NPrinting app into separate apps.
2. Split the connections (possibly by using multiple connections to the same documents in different apps).
3. Split the filters across apps (so that the filter count per app is lower).
Task fails with the error 'Exceeded maximum number of retries'
Some Qlik NPrinting tasks fail with the error message: “Exceeded maximum number of retries”. This is due to a performance issue in QlikView that appears when it exports large unfiltered files to Excel.
Verify connection freezes during “Initializing…” status
In some rare circumstances, pressing the Verify connection button will cause the screen to freeze on the “Initializing…” status and the spinning wheel cursor. This happens when a Qlik NPrinting Engine goes offline and Verify connection is pressed before the Qlik NPrinting Scheduler is aware that it is offline. It can take up to 20 seconds before the Qlik NPrinting Scheduler determines the offline status of a Qlik NPrinting Engine.
User filters are excluded from matching and object filters
When you:
• Open Qlik NPrinting Designer
• Import a report
The filters associated with each user are not uploaded, or displayed, for performance reasons. Waiting for all filters for thousands of users to import would take a long time. In most cases, importing this information is unnecessary, because filters created for users often contain something like the user IDs. You can change this behavior and make all filters visible by uncommenting the line <!--<add key="include-user-filters" />--> in the webengine.config file.
To make a specific filter visible in the lists, remove its association to all users, or create a new filter with the same fields and values not linked to any user.
Cancelling an upgrade results in a corrupted environment
The rollback that follows a Qlik NPrinting Server or Engine upgrade cancellation may corrupt the related Qlik NPrinting installation. A rollback is triggered by errors or by clicking the cancel button during the upgrade execution. After a corruption caused by a rollback, services may be uninstalled or cannot be started. 
To restore a Qlik NPrinting Server to its original status:
• Retrieve a recent backup
• Uninstall Qlik NPrinting Server
• Perform a clean installation of the same Qlik NPrinting Server of the backup
• Restore the backup
You should always create a backup before starting an update. In any case, a backup is automatically created in the folder "%ProgramData%\NPrinting" at the beginning of the upgrade process. To restore a Qlik NPrinting Engine to original status:
• Uninstall Qlik NPrinting Engine
• Perform a clean installation of Qlik NPrinting Engine
Adding a title to a Sense object with Assistance on generates an error on preview or task
Add title functionality is not supported on Qlik Sense objects with Assistance mode enabled. The workaround to restore the Add title functionality is to disable Assistance mode for the chart in Qlik Sense. Then reload the metadata of the connection.
Cannot export tables, columns, and cells from Qlik Sense objects made using chart suggestions
Qlik Sense objects made in Assistance mode cannot be used as tables, columns, or cells in Qlik NPrinting. To restore them, disable Assistance mode on the chart in Qlik Sense; then reload the metadata of the connection. Furthermore, if a Qlik Sense object made with Assistance mode is exported as a table, column, or cell using Qlik NPrinting APIs, the request will fail. 
Open Type Fonts (*.otf) are not supported
Open Type Fonts (*.otf) are not supported in PixelPerfect templates. Generated reports will use a different font, and not look as expected.
Qlik Sense tables with conditionally shown columns have limited functionality
The following functionalities are not supported for Qlik Sense tables that have a "Show column if" condition set on one or more of their columns: levels, single column export, and keep source formats.
QlikView tables with more than 256 columns cannot be imported
QlikView tables with more than 256 columns cannot be imported into Qlik NPrinting report templates. All Qlik NPrinting versions are affected by this limitation, including QlikView NPrinting 16.
Qlik Sense On-Demand reports with selections on calculated dimensions fails
Qlik Sense On-Demand reports with selections applied on calculated dimensions will fail. However, you can apply selections on dimensions based on Qlik Sense fields. The workaround is to move the formula to the load script and use the calculated fields to apply selections to your On-Demand reports.
Qlik Sense histograms cannot be add into the Tables node
Due to the internal way of exporting Qlik Sense histograms, you cannot add them to the Qlik NPrinting Designer Tables node. If you add a Qlik Sense histogram to the Tables node, you will not receive any errors or warning messages, but the exported data will be wrong.
QlikEntities limitation with Qlik Sense entities
QlikEntity reports support Qlik Sense objects with the following limitations:
• Containers are not supported, but you can use all the objects that are inside containers.
• Qlik Sense sheets can be added to QlikEntity reports and exported as images. The "Extend Sheet" feature does not work.
• Export in PDF and TIFF is not supported.
Embedding Excel worksheets into PowerPoint templates is not supported
You cannot embed an Excel worksheet in a PowerPoint report template. This will cause a Qlik NPrinting Designer crash. The workarounds are to insert the Excel worksheet without using the Qlik NPrinting Designer:
• Create a .pptx file by using PowerPoint without involving the Qlik NPrinting Designer. Insert the Excel worksheet and save the .pptx. Then use the .pptx file as a report template.
• If you have already created the PowerPoint template, export it, open the .zip file generated by Qlik NPrinting and double-click the .pptx file inside. Insert the Excel worksheet, save the resulting PowerPoint and overwrite the exiting Qlik NPrinting template by uploading the updated .zip.
Qlik Sense dynamic views limitations
Dynamic views is a new Qlik Sense feature starting from June 2020.
If you connect Qlik NPrinting to a Qlik Sense app that contains a chart used to generate dynamic views, the chart and the containing sheet are excluded from the Qlik NPrinting connection cache and cannot be used in reports.
You can connect Qlik NPrinting to a Qlik Sense app containing dynamic views. However, after a dynamic view refresh, the connection will stop working.

Reports size limit

Jira issue ID: OP-9628
Starting from November 2020, RabbitMQ Server (deployed as Qlik NPrinting Messaging Service) has been updated to version 3.8.3. It has an internal limit, not configurable, about messages size of 512MB. Previous limit was 2GB. As consequence, is not possible to generate Qlik NPrinting reports bigger than 512MB.

Excel print area with more than one range
Excel worksheet print areas can contain more than one range if the generation of the report does not expand the print area. If it expands, you will see an error: “Invalid Cell Name”. For example, the default setting of the Expand Range option in a Qlik NPrinting table causes the print area to change during report production, and an error is received.
Searching in Cyrillic characters is case sensitive
Using Cyrillic characters in the Search form of the Qlik NPrinting user interface is case sensitive.

Upgrade notes

To upgrade to Qlik NPrinting May 2021 SR2, you must start from one of the following versions:
• May 2021 SR1 (21.14.4)
• May 2021 (21.14.3)
• May 2021 Technical Preview (21.14.1)
• February 2021 (21.0.0)
• February 2021 Technical Preview (20.50.1)
• November 2020 SR1 (20.39.4)
• November 2020 (20.39.3)
• November 2020 Technical Preview (20.39.1)
• September 2020 (20.31.2)
• September 2020 Technical Preview (20.31.1)
• June 2020 SR1 (20.19.5)
• June 2020 (20.19.3)
• June 2020 Technical Preview (20.19.0)
• April 2020 (20.10.2)
• April 2020 Technical Preview (20.10.0)
• February 2020 SR1 (20.0.3)
• February 2020 (20.0.2)
• February 2020 Technical Preview (20.0.0)
• November 2019 SR1 (19.40.4)
• November 2019 (19.40.3)
• November 2019 TP (19.40.0)
• September 2019 (19.29.3)
• September 2019 TP (19.29.0)
• June 2019 (19.19.4)
• June 2019 Technical Preview (19.19.0)
• April 2019 (19.9.5)
• April 2019 Technical Preview (19.9.0)
• February 2019 SR1 (19.0.4)
• February 2019 (19.0.3)
• February 2019 Technical Preview (19.0.0)
• November 2018 (18.39.6.0)
• November 2018 Technical Preview (18.39.0.0)
• September 2018 SR2 (18.29.9.0)
• September 2018 SR1 (18.29.8.0)
• September 2018 (18.29.7.0)
• June 2018 (18.19.6)
• June 2018 Technical Preview (18.19.0)
• April 2018 (18.9.5)
• April 2018 Technical Preview
• February 2018 SR1 (18.0.4)
• February 2018 (18.0.3)
• February 2018 Technical Preview (18.0.0)
• November 2017 (17.6.0)
• November 2017 Technical Preview (17.5.0001.0)
• September 2017 (17.5.0)
• September 2017 Technical Preview (17.4.0001.0)
• June 2017 (17.4.0)
• 17.3.1
• 17.3.0

If you have installed an older version of Qlik NPrinting, you must upgrade to Qlik NPrinting 17.3 before you can upgrade to Qlik NPrinting May 2021 SR2.

You must back up your data before you proceed. Data can become damaged if a problem occurs during the upgrade. If data is damaged, a backup is required to restore the repository. See: Backup and restore of a repository.
After backup, you must follow the instructions for upgrading on the help site page Qlik NPrinting upgrade.

If you are upgrading from a version older than February 2018, all metadata caches (QlikView and Qlik Sense) will be marked as "not generated". This is due to a breaking change in the format of the metadata cache. All connection caches must be regenerated before you can edit a template or create a new connection.
Upgrade to November 2018 or newer
If you are upgrading to May 2021 SR2 from September 2018 SR2 or older you must:
• Open port 4997 outbound on Qlik NPrinting Server and inbound on all Qlik NPrinting Engines.
• Reinstall all your Qlik NPrinting Engines and provide a password for certificate exchange.
• Open the Engine manager in the Web Console.
• Open the detail page for each Engine and send the certificate after inserting the same password you used during the engine’s reinstallation.
Qlik NPrinting Engines stay offline until the certificate exchange is performed. Older Engine versions cannot connect to a Qlik NPrinting May 2021 SR2 Server.

Downloads

Login to the support portal at https://www.qlik.com/us/services

About Qlik

Qlik is on a mission to create a data-literate world, where everyone can use data to solve their most challenging problems. Only Qlik’s end-to-end data management and analytics platform brings together all of an organization’s data from any source, enabling people at any skill level to use their curiosity to uncover new insights. Companies use Qlik to see more deeply into customer behavior, reinvent business processes, discover new revenue streams, and balance risk and reward. Qlik does business in more than 100 countries and serves over 48,000 customers around the world.

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