Qlik Reporting Service

In December 2021, Qlik launched the Reporting Service for the Qlik SaaS platform. The Reporting Service allows you to generate static reports. These reports can then be distributed to internal and external recipients using the Application Automation functionality. In this blog, we'll tell you how this works and give you some tips so you can get started with this new functionality yourself!

Creating a report

Before you can start sending reports, you'll first need to think about what should go into the report. The Reporting Service assembles the report based on sheets in an existing Qlik dashboard. Simply put, the Reporting Service does the same thing as when you export a sheet in your dashboard yourself via the “Export to PDF” button. So in principle you could use your existing dashboards by dropping them straight into the Reporting Service. However, if you want your report to look really polished, for example because you're also sending it to your clients, it's a good idea to design new sheets specifically for generating the report.

It's important to adjust the size of your sheet to match the size of your report. Choosing the right proportions from the start ensures the report comes out the way you intended. You adjust a sheet's proportions under “Sheet properties” by setting the “Sheet size” to “Custom”. For the Width and Height, we recommend 2480 by 3500 for an A4 in portrait mode.

Set the size of your sheet to 2480×3500 so your report fits nicely on the page

You'll notice that the chosen sheet proportions don't fit your screen by default. This can make it difficult to get an overview of your entire report. Unfortunately, Qlik doesn't have a built-in zoom in/out option, but in most modern browsers you can zoom out by pressing CTRL and – at the same time. You zoom in with CTRL and +, and to return to the original size press CTRL and 0.

Now that you've set everything up correctly, it's time to design your sheet. You can make use of the Master Items you already created for the dashboard itself. However, keep in mind that you may want to tweak the appearance of your objects slightly for the static report. We therefore recommend copying your Master Item. Use the Tags functionality to easily keep the different Master Items apart.

Give the Master Items you use in your reports a unique tag so you can easily find them again

If you want to see what your sheet will look like while you're designing it, you can generate a preview by choosing “Download sheet as PDF” from the menu. Make sure you select the correct paper size and orientation.

Use the “Download sheet as PDF” functionality to generate a preview of your report

Sending reports with Application Automation

Once you're happy with the end result, it's time to start sending your report. Of course, you can do this by manually exporting it using the previously mentioned “Download sheet as PDF” functionality, but it's naturally even better to automate this. You can do this by using the Application Automation feature in Qlik SaaS. We previously wrote this blog about Application Automation, where you can read how to build different flows. New is the option to use Templates to help you get started. Qlik has created five templates that cover different use cases for sending reports. In the example, we'll choose the template “Send a simple multi-page report by email”

Use the application automation templates to automate the distribution of your report

Once you've chosen a template, all you really need to do is select the right parameters for the blocks in the template. In the “Start” block, you specify when the task should start, for example weekly at 09:00. Next, in the “Variable – recipients” block, you specify which email addresses the report should be sent to. You can of course also add your own logic here, for example to retrieve the list of recipients from an external source. In the “Create Report” block, you select the right app and give your report a name. The “Sheets mode” option has 2 options. If set to “All”, all sheets in the app are included in the report; with “Custom”, you add sheets to the report yourself via an “Add Sheet To Report” block. Finally, you'll always need to include a “Generate Report” block to actually have the report generated. After this block, you can then set up the delivery. In our example that's an email, so we choose the “Send Mail” block. In this block you can specify the mail server and enter properties such as the subject and mail body. Finally, add the report itself under the “Attachments” parameter. Once you save the automation, it will become active and your report will automatically be sent at the chosen interval to the chosen recipients.

Build your own logic for sending a report

Reporting Service versus Qlik NPrinting

If you've been working with Qlik software for a while, the above story might remind you of Qlik NPrinting. NPrinting is a Qlik extension for on-premise Qlik installations that also lets you generate reports based on your Qlik dashboards. The logical question then is what the differences are compared to the Reporting Service. Below are the key differences:

• Reporting Service is included for free in Qlik SaaS, while NPrinting must be purchased separately.
• NPrinting is only available for on-premise installations and cannot generate reports on Qlik SaaS apps.
• NPrinting can generate reports in Microsoft Office formats such as Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, while the Reporting Service only generates reports in PDF format.
• The Reporting Service works entirely in the browser, whereas NPrinting requires the designer application to be installed separately on the client machine.
• Thanks to its combination with Application Automation, the Reporting Service has many more options for sending reports.

Want to know more?

Want to know more about Qlik Reporting or Qlik SaaS? Then get in touch with one of our account managers via the contact form below.

Written by Lennaert van den Brink
Senior Consultant