Creating the Speedometer Gauge in QlikView

QlikView, one of the big BI (business intelligence) programs you can get today, has a number of graphical ways to display data, which it calls charts. Among these, one of the coolest (sorry, but it is) would have to be the Gauge chart. And of …

QlikView–Moving the “Unmovable” Object

QlikView is without a doubt one of my most favorite programs to teach. The capabilities for modeling and visualizing data are just amazing. But for all of QlikView’s shine and wonder, it’s not without its shortcomings. I really shouldn’t say “shortcomings”, but there are a few areas that could use a bit of improvement. Take, for instance, moving objects around the report space.

Normally, an object possesses a title bar (or “caption”, as QlikView likes to call it) and you can simply click and hold the caption bar and move the object. The problem arises when a designer hides the caption bar (and to a lesser extent the border), leaving the report viewer with what appears to be no way to grab and move the object.

Instead of temporarily turning the caption and borders back on just to make a simple adjustment and then turning them back off again, you can place the mouse pointer over the object and hold down the ALT key on the keyboard. This will activate the MOVE feature where you can now relocate the object quickly and effectively.

Gauge

QlikView – Suppress Splash Screen

We spend so much time trying to make things run as quickly and efficiently as possible, but sometimes we just can’t help ourselves when it comes to self-promotion.

QlikView loves making things go fast; starting QlikView is another story. As if we were unaware that we had elected to launch QlikView, a several second “commercial” in the form of a splash screen has to tell us that we are one of the lucky ones.

As much as I enjoy using QlikView, I find the startup splash screen to be a bit of a nuisance.

The good news is, there is a VERY easy way to prevent the splash screen from being displayed during program launch.

QlikView – Formatting Expressions in List Boxes

When adding an expression to a list box, one of the common complaints is that the numbers displayed are devoid of any number formatting. This is especially frustrating when displaying large numbers without commas to ease readability.

QVExpress1

What most beginning report developers try is to format the values with the Number tools in the list box’s properties.

QlikView – Limiting Record Loads with the FIRST Prefix

While developing a report, you may be loading thousands if not millions of records during the execution of your script. If you are making edits to your script, and require a reload of the data to test your script changes, you may find yourself spending …

QlikView – Export All Tables as QVD Files

Because QVD files load SO MUCH FASTER than the original data sources (i.e. Excel, Access, TXT, etc…), you may wish to save all of your tables to QVD files. There are a couple compelling reasons to do this: You wish to develop your report in …

QlikView – Dynamic Chart Titles

It’s every chart maker’s dream to have dynamically changing titles (well, that and a coffee table that looks like a giant floppy disk. Seriously; Google that one if you haven’t seen it. It’s pretty cool.) Any-hoo… To have a chart’s title change based on data you are, or are not, filtering by is a real boon to understanding the story that the chart is trying to tell. Take the following example: QVDCT1

The reader of the chart can look at survey data for four categories all at once as a combined assessment, or they can filter by a specific category and evaluate the ratings individually. If the chart were to be printed, the reader would not have much of an indication as to whether the chart was displaying all categories or focusing in on a single category.

Enter the DYNAMIC CHART TITLE!!!!!

QlikView – Scheduled Update of QlikView Reports

Suppose you want your QlikView report to automatically reload its data based on a schedule. The manual process would be for you to open the report, click the RELOAD button, and then close the file. If you team up the QlikView report with the Windows Scheduler, you can have this reload take place without human intervention.

Step 1 – Create a Batch File

Open Notepad and enter the following text:

— For users running the 64bit edition of QlikView —

“C:\Program Files\QlikView\QV.EXE” /R “C:\MyQVData\MyQVFile.qvw”

— For users running the 32bit edition of QlikView —

“C:\Program Files (x86)\QlikView\QV.EXE” /R “C:\MyQVData\MyQVFile.qvw”

(Change “C:\MyQVData\MyQVFile.qvw” to the location and name of your QlikView document)

For an explanation of the QlikView command line switches, see the end of this tutorial

Script Editor

<F5> or <Ctrl> + R
- Runs load script
<CTRL> + <Shift> + R
- Partial reload
<Ctrl> + T
- Shows model diagram
<Ctrl> + E
- Opens table editor for LOAD INLINE statements (cursor should be placed inside statement)
<Ctrl> + Q + Q
- Inserts script that generates several dummy tables
<Ctrl> + K + C
- Comments blocks of script
<Ctrl> + K + U
- Uncomments blocks of script
<Ctrl> + F
- Allows search within the script in the debugger window

QlikView – Mandatory Include Statement to Prevent Data Inconsistencies

The goal of every QlikView developer is to do as little work as possible. When you notice that you are writing the same instructions in multiple app scripts, the notion of re-use is a red flag that flies with great fervor. QlikView’s Include statement provide just such an ability.

The advantages of re-using scripts between multiple apps has several advantages:

Complex scripts can be used by multiple people with superficial knowledge of the script’s logic.
Include files ensure business process consistency when performing similar actions across multiple apps.
Include files expedite script maintenance because the script need only be updated once (in the Include file) and all scripts pointing to the file will automatically incorporate the updates the next time a Reload is executed.

As with anything in life, every “pro” must be accompanied by a commensurate “con”. In this case, the risk of using Include files to re-use script code lies in the fact that the file containing the script must remain in the same location and the file’s name must remain unchanged. If either of these two events occurs, the portion of the script pointed to by the Include statement will not execute.