How To View QVD File Change Over Time

Qlik Data (QVD) files contain a XML header with meta data describing the binary data stored in the file. The XML header can be extracted into QlikView or Qlik Sense by loading the QVD file as a XML formatted source. 

Two separate loads are required to get the basic details of a QVD file. These extract the meta data on table level and on field level.

The below example shows how to extract meta data from a QVD file, and storing it incrementally to a QVD file for analysis over time.
Notice, the QVD file paths need to come form a library reference in Qlik Sense


SET vPathToSourceQvdFile = 'Transactions.qvd';     // QLIKVIEW PATH. QVD file to read meta data from
SET vPathToMetaDataQvdFile = 'QvdMetaData.qvd';    // QLIKVIEW PATH. QVD file for storing meta data

SET vPathToSourceQvdFile = 'lib://ApplicationFolder/Transactions.qvd';     // QLIK SENSE PATH. QVD file to read meta data from
SET vPathToMetaDataQvdFile = 'lib://ApplicationFolder/QvdMetaData.qvd';    // QLIK SENSE PATH. QVD file for storing meta data

QvdMetaData:
LOAD 
    QvBuildNo,      // QlikView version used by the QVD creator
    CreatorDoc,     // Path to QVW that genrated the QVD
    CreateUtcTime,  // UTC time of QVD file creation
    TableName,      // Source table stored into the QVD
    NoOfRecords     // Number of records in the QVD file
FROM [$(vPathToQvdFile)] (XmlSimple, Table is [QvdTableHeader]);

JOIN   
LOAD 
    FileName() AS FileName, // Name of the QVD file
    FieldName,              // Field name in the stored table
    NoOfSymbols             // Number of symbols
FROM [$(vPathToQvdFile)] (XmlSimple, Table is [QvdTableHeader/Fields/QvdFieldHeader]);

// Load previous meta data
SET ErrorMode = 0;                             // Disable error message. Required to avoid error on first reload when source QVD does not exist
LOAD * FROM QvdMetaData.qvd (QVD);             // Load previous meta data, to create incremental data
SET ErrorMode = 1;                             // Enable error message 

STORE QvdMetaData INTO QvdMetaData.qvd (QVD);  // Store incremental meta data to file