Updated March 28, 2023
Introduction to QlikView Architecture
QlikView is one of the first data Analytical tool that consists of an associative architecture with the processing of data in memory. The relationship between the data is managed at the level of internal mechanism rather than the application level. In easy words, the selected tables and their associations are stored in memory, every field is connected to all other values available in the database. When a user selects a value of any field the rest of the fields get adjusted dynamically, unlike the traditional BI tools where it will take some time to load. We shall look further into the QlikView architecture in this article.
What is QlikView?
QlikView is a windows-based self-service Business Intelligence tool. It is an interactive BI Tool that works dynamically which helps in data discovery. It is used to convert raw data into visualizations that convey insights to business users. It is called as a self-service tool because it is very user-friendly. Once the QlikView application is developed, it can be easily deployed, and the users can access it and gain insights from it by just click of buttons.
The main components of QlikView as listed below which are the QlikView Desktop, QlikView Server and QlikView Publisher, QlikView Management Console, QlikView User Access. We shall look at them in detail later in this article.
Components of QlikView
Below are the essential components of QlikView:
1. QlikView Desktop
The QlikView Desktop is a Windows-based platform to develop QlikView applications and graphical user interface layout for the applications to be used at the front-end. The data is first prepared in the desktop environment where all kinds of transformations, filters, and analysis are applied. The user can choose between the various charts and tables that are available to represent the data. Styles, color schemes can also be customized based on user preference.
2. QlikView Server
The QlikView server is used to host the QlikView documents where the users can view and access them. The role of the QlikView Server is to maintain communication between the end-users and the server. This is a server-side application and its main functions include but do not limit to data managing and distribution, providing security and data access.
3. QlikView Publisher
The QlikView Publisher is used to fetch data from various data sources such as standard files, SAP Net Weaver, Informatica, etc. and load the data directly into QlikView files. QlikView Publisher is used for creating ‘tasks’ to schedule the reload of the QlikView application. The reload could be triggered based on schedules, based on the success of other tasks or any other external events, etc.
4. QlikView Management Console
The QlikView management console is a web-based interface management platform which manages all the components of QlikView. It is a server-side application controlled mostly by the IT Team. The main functions of the Management Console include server deployments and file distribution.
5. QlikView User Access
QlikView User Access lies in the front end. The access points are generally in the form of web browsers that could be opened on desktops, laptops, tabs or mobile phones. When a user requests to view data, the data file is fetched from the QlikView server from the backend and is viewed in the browsers through intranet or internet URLs.
QlikView Architecture
In the above section, we saw the main components of QlikView and some key benefits of using QlikView. In this section, we will see the framework of QlikView. Let us segregate its working into three parts as below:
1. Data Source End
This layer could be compared with the Extract layer in the ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) process. There could be various data sources from where QlikView server and publisher get its data input such as Oracle, Excel sheets, CSV files, Social Media, SAP, etc. Data Source End is that layer where all the data fetching takes place. Hence, this is one of the fundamental layers of the QlikView infrastructure and acts as the data access point.
2. Back End
The Back End consists of the QlikView Publisher and QlikView desktop. The QlikView backend is the place where all the QlikView documents reside. The .QVW format documents are those having GUI support and these are visible in the front end whereas.QVD (data only files) format documents do not have GUI support. The QlikView server is used to pass all these documents to the front-end using QVP via the QlikView server. The role of the QlikView Publisher (QVP) is to distribute the.QVW files after loading data from various sources. It also facilitates the distribution of data through scheduling and administering tasks. QVP also helps in reducing needless data loading which reduces traffic and makes the distribution to the QlikView servers efficient.
3. Front End
The QlikView front-end is used to view the already created QlikView documents. It is a browser-based access point that provides an interface for the user to view and interact with the data (in the form of dashboards). The front-end layer consists of the QlikView Server which helps to access the BI Reports through an intranet or internet URL. The QlikView documents are stored in the format of .qvw. They can also be stored as standalone documents in Windows.
Benefits of QlikView Architecture
- QlikView is a tool that uses associative architecture which processes data in memory. Unlike other BI Tools, QlikView works dynamically. When a user selects a value of any field the rest of the fields get automatically adjusted.
- QlikView allows users to perform Extract Transform and Load through scripts.
- It is built with the capacity to process huge data sets instantly and with high accuracy.
- QlikView has a very user-friendly interface which helps users to start using it with a little amount of training.
- It is flexible, scalable and easy to implement.
Conclusion
By the end of this article, you must have an idea on what is QlikView and how is it different from the traditional BI Tools. We have also seen the working of QlikView Architecture and studied about the roles of the various components in QlikView.
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