Overview

In this tutorial series, you are going to learn about data files, how to create them, update them, and delete them in bulk. You’ll also learn how they relate to other assets in Qlik Cloud, such as Analytics apps, data connections, data stores, data assets, and data sets.

What is a data file?

Qlik Cloud allows you to upload or create certain file types for storing data within spaces. These files will appear in the DataFiles data connection when using the data load editor or data manager, and will also appear in the Cloud Hub catalog. For more information on data files, please see add data to Qlik Cloud.

Data files can be loaded into Analytics apps within Qlik Cloud via the DataFiles data connection in a space.

What is a data connection?

Data connections are assets that you can create in spaces to provide connectivity to data sources. With respect to data files, each space is automatically provisioned with a data connection called DataFiles, which is the sole repository in that space for uploading data in file format. All other types of data source connectivity can be created when required - for more information, see Data sources in Qlik Cloud.

Data stores, data assets, data sets, and data files

Data files are flat files (with formats such as CSV, QVD, TXT, XLSX) that are uploaded or created within Qlik Cloud. When a data file is created or updated, several other pieces of metadata are created in other Qlik Cloud services to help catalog and make this data more accessible to users.

• Data stores - by default, a single data store is provisioned on a tenant, which contains all data files in all spaces, with the name DataFilesStore
  • Data assets - each space creates a corresponding data asset under the DataFilesStore data store. A data store can have multiple data assets.
    • Data sets - each data file uploaded or created on the tenant creates a corresponding data set. If the data file is a supported format, this data set will contain metadata about the fields and properties from the data file. A data asset can have multiple data sets.

To learn more about interacting with data in the Qlik Cloud Catalog, review the get started with catalog integration guide.

What happens when you upload a data file?

Uploading a new data file results in the creation of a new data file resource, either in a shared or managed space if a valid connection ID is provided, or in your personal space if not.

The system will also create a data set resource, linked to the corresponding data asset and data store. For compatible file sources, the catalog stores the field and object metadata in the data set, and this will be visible in the catalog in the Qlik Cloud Hub.

When you delete a data file, the corresponding data set is also removed. If you delete a data set, it does not delete the corresponding data file.

Supported data file formats

Most common flat file formats such as csv, xlsx, txt, and qvd are supported. For the full list of supported file formats, refer to Adding and managing your analytics data.

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