Tag Archives: howto

Search by copy and pasting from an external list

In operationally focused QlikView projects, Search for multiple values by copy-and-pasting from an external list/ I’m often asked is if it’s possible to search for a list of values in a list box by copy-and-pasting from an external source. For example, searching for customer ID’s by pasting values from an Excel spreadsheet.

Unfortunately, out of the box, QlikView does not support this method of searching for multiple values. However, by combining an input box, a variable and a trigger, we can approximate this functionality quite nicely.

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QlikView Extension tutorials, documentation and examples

Online QlikView Extensions TrainingWe now offer monthly live online training on QlikView 11 extensions:
Check the course page for upcoming dates

QlikView extensions documentation, tutorials and examples.QlikView Extensions offer nearly unlimited possibility to extend the look, feel, behavior and functionality of QlikView. Unfortunately, most QlikView developers seem to avoid them. While many may simply not need extensions, I often get the impression that a second, more important reason is that most QlikView developers currently miss the required web development skills.

For QlikView developers wanting to bridge the gap between QlikView and extension development, the lack of documentation and scattered examples can make it seem like a daunting task. In reality though, once you find the right resources it is a relatively small step.

The goal of this post is two-fold. First it aims to provide a few key resources that will help you quickly start developing extensions. Secondly, it is meant as a continually updated repository of QlikView extension examples, tutorials, documentation and relevant forum discussions.

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Prevent fuzzy images when exporting QlikView graphs

A short post today on an ‘annoyance’ that invariably pops up at my clients; when copy and pasting images of QlikView objects into their PowerPoint presentation or Word document, the images look blurry and slightly out of focus.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to solve this. Instead of using the regular paste option, use paste special to paste the image as a bitmap.

Difference between regular and special pasting of QlikView objects

In both Office 2007 and 2010, the paste special option can be accessed via the paste drop-down menu on the left of the Home tab/ribbon, or via the Ctrl + Alt + V keyboard shortcut.

That’s it!

Not all variables are created equal

Beware of the equals signIt has been a while since my last post. To get back in the habit of regular updates, I am starting today with a short tip on a caveat of the use of the equals sign (=).

Starting an expression with or without an equals sign may almost seem like an arbitrary decision. Most developers quickly figure out that this is not true for text objects. However, there is another, less obvious area where the use of the equals sign can greatly impact how (and more importantly, when) your expression is calculated.

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Merging tables: the JOIN prefix

Merging tables: the JOIN prefixThis is the second post in a series on merging tables in QlikView. In the previous post I wrote about appending rows to tables by using the CONCATENATE prefix, this time I will show you how to add  columns to a previously loaded table by using the JOIN prefix. read more »

How to get started with QlikView

Getting started with QlikViewLately I have been getting a lot of inquiries by people asking me how to get started with the Personal Edition of QlikView. It seems to be a very popular new year’s resolution this year, and one that is definitely a lot easier to keep than losing weight, getting fit or quitting smoking (hang in there everyone!).

Rather than answering everyone individually, I am trying to take a more lazy efficient approach by writing this post in which I lay out what I believe is a good path to get started with QlikView, without having to immediately draw your wallet to buy training.

Update 2012/11/23: Mike García and I have just released our book QlikView 11 for Developers, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Packt and many other places. While it is not free, it does offer a cost-friendly, guided way to start learning QlikView.

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Creating a custom sort order: load order & dual

Dual or Duel? Couldn't find a fitting picture to visualize the concept of sorting, so I decided to make a lame joke instead ;) Excellent movie though, really had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.In a previous post I described how to create a custom sort order in QlikView by assigning a sort order value in the load script or by using the match function. This post describes two other clever methods that I recently became aware of:

Read on to see how these methods work.

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Consistent Dimension Colors

Consistent colorsA short tip today on how to ensure that dimensions in different charts get assigned the same color, regardless of how the data is sorted or if dimensions are missing.

The image on the right shows an example in which revenue per beverage is visualized in a number of different charts and tables. Each beverage is assigned its trademark color (Coca-Cola Red, Heineken Green, Pepsi Blue etc.)  and this color is used consistently in each of the charts. Read on to see how you can accomplish this effect.

(Please note that using lots of very bright/saturated colors in your dashboard or report is generally not a good idea, I am only using these colors because they are recognizable to many. Do not try this at work!)

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Custom formatting table cells

Custom format cellA short tip today about something that actually took me quite some time to figure out: how to easily format table cells. Where in Excel you can just right-click on a cell and choose “Format Cells”, that option seems to be missing in QlikView … or is it? read more »