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Environment
- Qlik Gold Client
Transcript
Hello again! This is Steve George and I'm glad you are here. In this video I will be sharing new content about another method within Gold Client that is used for initiating data exports.
The agenda will focus on these areas: an introduction to the function named Export Control; differences of using it to export data versus using Data Snap; new terminology relevant to Export Control; how to use this function to initiate data exports; and finally, I will conclude with some useful content, and where to find additional resources.
Export Control is an important part of the Gold Client component known as Data Echo. It is one of two functions that can be used to initiate data exports; the other being Data Snap which has been covered in a separate video. Export Control relies on data Scenarios to determine what data to export and so they must exist beforehand, and it is not possible to create them using Export Control. Instead, Scenarios must first be created using the Data Snap, Intelligent Slice, or Scenario Segment functions. Its targeted user group is that of "data experts" -- those users who typically have a functional or developmental job role and have a strong understanding of data relevant to their areas of expertise.
Although Export Control and Data Snap are both used to initiate exports, there are several notable differences between them.
Export Control is designed for periodic or repeatable data exports while Data Snap is designed for ad hoc or 1-time data exports.
Export Control has no limit on data volumes whereas Data Snap has a parameter which limits the amount of data that can be exported.
Export Control provides users the ability to select one or more data types while Data Snap limits the user to selecting just one data type.
Export Control cannot be used to create data Scenarios, but it can be used to edit them; Data Snap can be used to create data Scenarios, but it cannot be used to edit them.
Because of these differences, most notably the one regarding data volumes, Export Control may be considered the more risky of the two functions and so many organizations choose to limit Export Control access to only their Basis a/o Admin users while allowing everyone access to Data Snap.
Before sharing how-to content, there are two terms that warrant some attention: Export ID and Container. An Export ID can be thought of as a folder or binder; basically, an object that allows users to organize their data Scenarios. There is no right or wrong way to manage Export IDs and it's up to the user to choose the model that works best for them. A Container is a line-item on the Export ID; this is where the user inputs their Data Type and Scenario number.
Here is a quick overview of the Export Control steps:
The function must be selected from the main Gold Client screen
On the next screen, click the respective Export ID
On the next screen, select one or more Containers
Execute the process using either the foreground or background processing option
Here is a useful tip: The larger the data set being exported, the more it's recommended to use background processing, so it avoids timing out
Please note that the Export ID and Containers must already exist and that if they do not, the user must create them prior to starting the export; let me now walk through these steps using the Gold Client user interface.
To reach the Gold Client solution, use t-code ZGOLD (Z-G-O-L-D).
From the Gold Client screen, select the Export Control function.
Click the 'Create' button to create a new Export ID. I could edit the default description to make it more meaningful but I'm going to leave it as is for now.
Click on the Export ID number to navigate to the details screen.
Click on the 'Add Container' button.
Input the Data Type name; the best way to do this is by using the search function.
Input the Scenario number by typing it or by using the search function.
I will now repeat these steps to add Scenarios for a few more Data Types; here is the end result.
Tick the 'Select' box next to whichever Containers must be included in the export.
Select either the 'Execute in Foreground' or 'Schedule Jobs' processing option; I'll select the 'Schedule Job' option. Input a job name; I'm leaving the other settings as defaulted and clicking the Accept button.
The export job can be monitored via t-code SM37. Clicking the Job Monitor button opens SM37 but does so in a new SAPGUI session. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the export process to complete. Once done, the data set will be available for import into the respective target client.
Let's return to the presentation so I can share some additional content.
The Container view of the Export Control screen provides the user some potentially meaningful details. The 'Scenario Number' column allows the user to navigate to the data selection screen where the user's criteria can be displayed or even changed. The ‘Record Count’ column shows the number of qualifying records based on the Scenario’s data criteria; the user may determine that the number of records is too high or too low for their use case and so may need to update their selection criteria accordingly. The ‘Transform’ and ‘Subset’ columns contain indicators showing whether the Scenario’s assigned Data Type is configured to use data transformation and/or Subset Sync functionality; if the light is on then the corresponding configuration has been defined and will be applied during the export process. The Parallel Processing option is available in Export Control which allows the user to initiate their export using multiple background jobs versus only one job; of course, this setting is useful for accelerating the completion of the export, especially for larger data sets. Please be aware that Gold Client has configuration that will dictate the maximum number of jobs that can be initiated.
For additional information and how-to content, please reference the Data Echo User Guide located on the Qlik Help website.
I hope this information was helpful and that you will be able to start using Export Control right away. With a bit of practice, you should be able to start creating Export ID's, assigning Containers, and initiating data exports with ease.