halyard.js is one of the latest open source libraries released by Qlik and is a library to support the loading of data into Qlik Sense apps, without the need for API developers to learn how to script within Qlik Sense. If you're a Qlik Sense or QlikView developer, you can consider halyard.js as a technical library that replaces the load script editor.
The library is split into two pieces to make it more flexible and extendable: one part that generates script and connection artifacts, and a second that takes those artifacts and feeds them to the QIX-engine through enigma.js.
One of the most powerful features in halyard.js is the capability to inline load data without using a connector. This empowers the user to import their raw data into a halyard.js table before the actual reload of the Qlik Sense app occurs. This gives the users the choice of any tool to access their data, without having to depend on various custom connectors. One example could be protected web data resources that currently aren’t accessible with the webfile-connector.
In addition to that, halyard.js includes additional features, such as the following:
- Field transformations, such as renaming fields or creating new fields based on existing ones
- Data/time formatting
- Calendar templates
As this open source library is very new, there are not many sample use cases yet available to illustrate its utility. However, one fundamental example is to load a sample dataset using halyard.js and its addTable method and create a session (temporary) app using enigma.js (createAppUsingHalyard method):
require(['halyard','enigma'], function(halyard, enigma) {
function loadData(data){
var halyard = new Halyard();
var table = new Halyard.Table('c:\data\Sales.csv');
halyard.addTable(data, { name: 'Sales' });
Enigma.getService('qix', enigmaConfig).then((qix) => {
var appName = 'Sales-App';
qix.global.createAppUsingHalyard(appName, halyard).then((result) => {
console.log('App '+appName+' created with data loaded from source`);
});
});
})