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Option to zip or not zip reports created with cycling feature

Ruggero_Piccoli
Support
Support

Option to zip or not zip reports created with cycling feature

When distributing reports through e-mail using a cycle Field, NPrinting always zip the output, no matter if it´s one PDF.

 

For outputs like Excel, Word, Powerpoint and PDF, it´s desirable to have an option enable or not zip the output or maybe a threshold of number of individual outputs, if it´s higher, than the output is zipped, if it´s below then it´s attached as individual files. For Example: If number of individual pdf files generated by cycle for a recipient exceed 10 files, then he will receive it in a zip file.

 

I'm aware of mailbox limits, so zipping the content is better, but even with zip as attachment, the mailbox limit can be exceeded.

 

This feature can help us to migrate a legacy reporting system that actually send reports as individual pdf files and customer want to keep receiving reports by e-mails in same way after NPrinting implementation. Customer can open the reports directly on his mobile. With zip attachment, it´s only possible to open it in the desktop.

#NP16gap

This idea comes from old ideation board. I just copy and paste it here.



Best Regards,
Ruggero
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25 Comments
Lech_Miszkiewicz
Partner Ambassador/MVP
Partner Ambassador/MVP

This is one of the biggest deal breakers to many of our customers. Many of them like to preview their reports straight on their mobile devices and when they get zipped file its not a matter of a "single click" anymore to preview report.

This is very much needed feature!

ollikeDL
Partner - Contributor II
Partner - Contributor II

Most users want to receive the reports unzipped.

This automatic zipping is especially problematic when delivering reports through the hub. If the report happens to be cycled, the user has to download a zip file and extract it locally in order to look at the reports. Nobody wants to do this extra work. It would be so much more convenient if the reports could be delivered to the hub as PDF like any non-cycled reports are.

This is actually so inconvenient experience for our customers that I'm considering doing a separate report for each of the elements in the cycled dimension, just to prevent them from being zipped.

NPrinting control panel should have a simple option "Compress cycled reports into zip file". If that is unchecked, the reports will be delivered unzipped as separate files.

jeroenbeunckens
Partner - Contributor II
Partner - Contributor II

The idea why this was done was probably to save some file size due to most SMTP servers having a limitation on attached file size in mails.
Although this is logical, some cycles only contain one report for each recipient or contain small report(s). For this reason, zipping is not necessarily always needed.

Please provide a toggle as this would greatly improve the user experience.

Andrew_Kruger
Employee
Employee
 
Status changed to: Open - Not Planned
Lech_Miszkiewicz
Partner Ambassador/MVP
Partner Ambassador/MVP

This is one of the most requested features - just another thread on this:

https://community.qlik.com/t5/Qlik-NPrinting-Discussions/How-to-get-NPrinting-Cycling-reports-outsid...

ollikeDL
Partner - Contributor II
Partner - Contributor II

"Status changed to: Open - Not Planned"

Does this mean this won't be fixed? Why?

Forcing the zip is just unnecessary in many cases.

We really need option to zip or not to zip.

Ruggero_Piccoli
Support
Support

Idea statuses are explained at https://community.qlik.com/t5/Qlik-Product-Insight-Blog/Idea-Statuses/ba-p/1684072

Thanks to everybody for you valuable feedbacks.

Lech_Miszkiewicz
Partner Ambassador/MVP
Partner Ambassador/MVP

I may need to ask all people who requested this feature to vote on this to provide little bit more “weight” to it. I was really hoping it could be delivered In near future but as of now looks like it is “sitting duck” which likely won’t be touched..

anyway. Lets see how it pans out. Cheers

pablolabbe
Luminary Alumni
Luminary Alumni

One day a customer asked me why he can´t just deliver the files individually as attachments so the users could open the reports in pdf on their mobile phones. The users usually received several reports from the legacy reporting tool on the same e-mail message.

The solution was creating more task and delivering the reports on separate e-mail.  Nprinting now send lots of email messages for the same user and each one have only one report in pdf format. ☹️

 

Lech_Miszkiewicz
Partner Ambassador/MVP
Partner Ambassador/MVP

tell me about it @pablolabbe . I wonder how many times I looked like out of this planet when I said to clients that we can only deliver zip files when cycle is used....and then you get the most difficult question from clients: "WHY?, it was available in v16...."  

I wonder how red my face is when I am trying answer this question in a polite and informative way.