Text Editors for Qlik Developers

As you will no doubt have seen, I've recently been making some updates to the various Qlik syntax highlighting tools, plugins and extensions I've produced. These updates are long overdue and have added support for some of the changes and additions to QlikView and Qlik Sense over the last couple of years. Support for Direct Query statements, Qlik Sense connection strings and a small number of missing keywords are most notable.

Whilst making the updates I noticed that the language definition for UltraEdit hasn't been download anywhere near as many times as the others. It was originally produced at the request of a customer who used UltraEdit and so I never really knew how popular it was these days. This got me wondering what text editors people were using to edit Qlik script files. So curiosity get the better of me and I tweeted a quick poll to find out what people's preferences were. After 24 hours the results were in and the tweets I received were read. A huge thanks to everyone who responded!

Qlik Sense WordPress Plugin

Whilst updating the Qlik for WordPress plugin recently, I noticed that it was no longer the only Qlik related WordPress plugin available. The newcomer, produced by Yianni Ververis of Qlik, allows you to easily embed Qlik Sense charts, tables and other objects into posts and pages on a WordPress powered website.

You can find full details and instructions on how to install and use this plugin here or alternatively, below is a quick video from Qlik:

I've been working with Yianni over the last week to offer some improvements to make the plugin even more simple to use. The new release 1.3.0 is available to download now!

Qlik Notepad++ Language Definition v2.5

A new version of the Qlik Notepad++ Language Definition has been released. Version 2.5 contains the following functionality improvements and bug fixes:

• Added Qlik Sense connection string support
• Added the missing keywords DERIVE and FLUSHLOG
• Added support for DIRECT QUERY statements
• Corrected issue with some keywords not highlighting when touching a semi-colon
• Added support for QlikView Components variables and sub routines
• Other minor improvements

This release contains the following known issues:

• The if() function is highlighted in bold. This is because Notepad++ can't differentiate between the if() function and the IF statement. No known solution is available for this issue.

It is recommended that this release be used with Notepad++ version 6.6.9 and later.

As always, head over to the Notepad++ Language Definition page (or Branch) for the download link and instructions.

A surprising data visualisation pioneer: Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale is famous across the world for being the founder of modern nursing. You may well be familiar with stories of "The Lady with the Lamp" and her contributions to treating the sick and injured during the Crimean War. But what you may not know is that Florence was also a pioneer in using Data Visualisation to tell a story.

Born on 12th May 1820 into a rich upper-class British family, Florence spent most of her early years growing up at their lavish family estate in the South of England. She was highly educated by her father, something that was unusual for a girl at that time. From an early age, she demonstrated a gift for mathematics which would become extremely significant in later life.

At that time, young women from affluent English families were expected to dedicate their lives to becoming wives and mothers. Florence, however, felt that her future lay in helping others and in 1844 she announced to her family that she wished to become a nurse. Despite the anger and protests of her mother, she set about training herself in the art and science of nursing.

Qlik for WordPress Plugin v1.2

Qlik for WordPress Plugin version 1.2 has been released and included the following updates:

• Minor bug fixes
• Update to the Highlight.js core

If you installed the plugin from the WordPress Plugins Directory then you will be prompted to install the update next time you log in to your site's WordPress Admin portal. Alternatively, downloads and full instructions for installation and use can be found on the QlikView for WordPress page, or alternatively on the WordPress.org website.

Qlik Web Syntax Highlighter v1.2

Qlik Web Syntax Highlighter version 1.2 has been released and included the following updates:

• Minor bug fixes
• Update to the Highlight.js core

As always, grab the download link and full instructions from the QlikView Web Syntax Highlighter page. If you find any issues or have any suggestions, please leave me a comment below.

A new version of the Qlik for WordPress Plugin based on the Web Syntax Highlighter is planned for release shortly.

QlikViewAddict.com gets a face lift

As you can see, QlikViewAddict.com has started to go through a redesign. It's been something I've been planning for a while now and it isn't yet complete. Over the next few days I'll be rolling out the rest of the redesign and I'll do my best to keep any disruption to the site to a minimum. If you do find the site is down at any time, please call back a little later.

It still astonishes me the volume of traffic this site gets and I feel guilty for not finding the time to blog more than I do. This redesign will hopefully be the start of a few changes to the site which I hope will reignite my enthusiasm.

- Matt