Qlik Sense Mashups

What are Qlik Sense Mashups?

In Qlik Sense a mashup is defined as a web page or web application displaying content from more than one source, to create a single new service displayed in a single graphical interface.

The process is effectively creating a WebSocket to the Qlik engine. Objects are connected through the socket and work the same as they would in the client.

API reference for MashUpsx

When we look at the API reference here:  https://help.qlik.com/en-US/sense-developer/August2021/Content/Sense_Helpsites/APIs-and-SDKs.htm

The API reference is a list of APIs available for use in Qlik Sense Integrations

These include JSON RPC, Web Components, URL Integration, and other Open Source Libraries.

Visualizations can be reused outside of the Qlik Sense installation, integrating active content allows your visualizations to be updated whenever the state changes. With a subscription, Objects can work as they would in the Qlik Sense client.

Capability APIs

11 of the listed APIs are additionally flagged as Capability APIs . These include the RootAPI, AppAPI, BookmarkAPI, including some Javascript Libraries, these Capability APIs enable integration with your Qlik Sense objects.

(*We should take note that the BackendAPI is NOT a Capability API and is also NOT available for MashUps.)

Steps to building API Mashups:

Qlik will walk you through the following stages:

Build, configure and deploy mashups

Build visualization extensions

Create connectors

Build Windows applications

Automate administrative jobs

Benefits of using Qlik Sense Mashups:

Managing and automating administrative jobs

Retrieving information about the product

Creating on-demand app

Importing users and groups

Health of Qlik Services

Problems with using Qlik Sense Mashups

Retrieving Qlik Sense Data in Mash-Ups

Authentication for mashups

Single Qlik Sense object integration

Character limitations due to browser limitations for embedded objects, a large number of selections increases URL length, which is limited to 2083 characters.

Embedded sheet and chart features are not available on devices with a small screen.

Considerations when choosing to implement Mashups

Mashups require web development skills, this may or may not be a single Qlik developer. But for Mashups, both skills are required. Your web development skillset needs to include the basics.. HTML, CSS, and Javascript, but also you need to understand and interact with API’s. This means that a level of programming and web app knowledge is a must.

Ideally, you would set up a Web Development team working closely with Qlik developers. A mature Web Development team would work with structured development tools, including a Standard Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and version control.

Tips for Web Development Implementation on Mashups

Avoid hardcoding in Javascript – It’s an easy trap to use Qlik Sense object names or field names in the actual code, it’s a simple implementation method . However things do change, so it’s far simpler, in the long run, to configure values into separate configuration files or use tags in the Qlik Sense apps.

CSS framework. Utilizing a CSS framework like Bootstrap allows much more flexibility in skins and styles and additionally on the flexibility and response of your interaction with Qlik objects.   

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