Build an extension

Building a visualization extension with the Extension API involves several stages, from defining the extension structure to adding interactivity and finishing touches.

Steps overview

  1. Define the visualization structure - every extension is made up of a backend generic object that holds the properties, and a frontend paint() method that renders the visual output. Start with Visualization and Generic object in visualization extensions.

  2. Configure data - use initialProperties to specify the data your extension needs. A HyperCube is the most common structure, mapping dimensions and measures to rows and columns. qListObjectDef is available for list-based extensions. See Configuring data and Consuming data.

  3. Work with data - access the data returned in the layout and render it. You can also get additional data by paging through large data sets.

  4. Handle selections - allow users to interact with your visualization by selecting data. Review the available selection models to choose the right approach.

  5. Make the extension dynamic - expose properties so users can configure the extension from the properties panel. See Make your visualization extension dynamic.

  6. Load external resources - reference stylesheets, images, and other assets using the resource loading approach.

  7. Apply styling and theming - use CSS styling and integrate with the active Qlik Cloud theme so your extension respects the app’s appearance.

  8. Add finishing touches - improve the authoring experience by adding a preview image. On Qlik Sense client-managed you can also enable export to image, PDF, and PowerPoint. In Qlik Cloud, extensions support data export to XLSX if the chart includes a hypercube, but export to image, PDF, and PowerPoint is not supported.
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