What is QlikView?
QlikView is a program that makes it possible to retrieve and assimilate data from different sources. Once loaded into the program, the data is presented in a way that is easy to understand and work with. Learn more about the Intellipaat career-oriented QlikView training now.
- Flavors of QlikView
- QlikView Enterprise
- QlikView Professional
- QlikView Analyzer
Starting QlikView
You start QlikView by double-clicking the QlikView icon in the QlikView group (created during the installation procedure). You will also find QlikView on the Start menu, under Programs.
Opening an existing File
Use the Open command on the File menu or the Open button on the toolbar to open an existing file.
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Saving a document
There are two save commands on the File menu: Save and Save As. Use the Save As command to save your document under a new file name.
Closing a document
You can close a document at any time by using the Close command in the File menu.
QlikView Help
Choose Help from the Help menu. For specific help on QlikView, choose Contents from the Help menu and browse through the topics.
Making Queries in Qlikview
Opening the document
- Start QlikView by double-clicking the QlikView icon
- Choose Open from the File menu.
- Select the file Tutorial.qvw under Tutorial\WorkingWithQV, then click Open.
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In QlikView, the main way of making queries is through the selection of field values. To make a query, or a search, in the database, you just click on something you want to know more about.
- Click on the tab Geography.
- Place the mouse cursor on the value Belgium in the list box Country and click.
The color of the cell turns green. In QlikView terms, the value is selected. A value that is compatible with the selection is called optional. The cells of optional field values are white. A cell whose contents are incompatible (whose value does not occur in combination with that of the selected item) is called excluded.
3. To undo your selection, simply click on the selected cell again, or click on another cell in the same list box. This selection will replace your previous selection.
4. To select more than one item in the same list box, hold the CTRL key down while selecting additional values.
Combining Selections
When you select an optional value from a list box and then select another optional value from another list box, QlikView will show the combinations belonging to both selections (logical and) as options.
- Clear your selections by clicking the Clear Selections button in the toolbar.
- Click on the tab Sales.
- Suppose you want to know which salesman has sold products to Captain Cook’s Surfing School in Monaco. Go to the list box Customer and search for the value Captain Cook’s Surfing School.
- Select the value by clicking it. 5 Seven values in the list box Country are white, i.e. compatible with the selection. Select Monaco.
Keeping track of your Selections
In order to help you with this QlikView has two good tools, the Current Selections Box and the Current Selections Window. In the lower right corner of the Geography sheet you will find a Current Selections Box. This sheet object lists all fields in which selections have been made and the values selected. If too many values are selected, only the number of selected values is shown.
- Make some additional selections in the list boxes and watch how they are reflected in the Current Selections Object
- Click the Current Selections button in the toolbar. A new window will now appear on top of the QlikView window. This window resembles the Current Selections Box quite a bit, but can be moved around as you please and will stay in place even if you change sheet or start working with another document.
- Make some selections and watch how they are reflected in the Current Selections Window.
- Close the Current Selections Window by once again clicking the Current Selections button in the toolbar.
Moving Selections
- Clear your selections by clicking the Clear Selections button in the toolbar and then go to the Geography sheet.
- Click on the header of the list box Country to make the list box active.
- Select the value Afghanistan. The values related to this value are now shown in the other list boxes.
- Use the key of your keyboard to move the current selection one step downwards in the list box. Note that the other sheet objects are updated to show the result of the new selection.
- To move the selection upwards, choose Pressing an arrow key when no selection is made is equivalent to scrolling the active list box.
Text searches and numeric searches
Text searches
Another way to search in data is to make a text search.
- On the Geography sheet, clear your selections by choosing Clear Selections from the Selections menu.
- Click on the header of the list box Country to make it active (blue).
- Type the letter “s”. Now the list box contains only countries containing the letter “s”. Instead of just start typing you may also choose Search from the Edit menu or click the Search icon in the toolbar.
4. Add the letter “w” to the search string. Now the list box contains only countries containing the combination “sw”.
Numeric searches
If the search is made in a field containing numeric data, you can start your search string with greater than “>” or less than “<” and then enter a number. Suppose you want to select all countries with an area below 100 sq.km.
- Clear your selections by clicking the Clear Selections button in the toolbar.
- Click on the header of the list box Area (km.sq).
- Type < 100. The string appears in a separate window.
- Only numbers below 100 are now optional in the list box. Press ENTER to select them.
Stepping back or forward in the list of selections
QlikView remembers the last 100 selections.
- Click the Step Back button in the toolbar. Note that your previous selection is displayed.
- Click Step Back again to go back another step.
- Click the Step Forward button in the toolbar and study the result.
Note that the Step Back and Step Forward buttons only apply to selections: other changes, like the removal of an object or the change of a setting, are not affected.
Locking and unlocking selections
The logic of QlikView by default replaces a previous selection with the new selection if the previous selection is in conflict with the new selection.
- Select an excluded (gray) value. Note that your old selection disappears. To prevent this, selections may be locked. Locked cells are blue. A selection in conflict with a locked selection will not be performed.
- Choose Lock Selections from the Selections menu or from the toolbar. This will lock all selections, preventing them from being cleared by mistake.
- Try to select an excluded value in another list box and note that it is not possible.
- To unlock all selections, choose Unlock Selections from the Selections menu or from the toolbar. It is also possible to lock fields individually
- Click with the right mouse button on the list box containing the selection, then choose the Lock command from the float menu. This will lock the selected field values of this specific field. If there are no selected items in the list, the Lock command in the float menu is inactive (dimmed).
- To unlock the selection in one field, choose Unlock from the float menu (or the Object menu) of the list the list box containing it.
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Selection bookmarks
It is possible to save a set of selections for later use:
- Select one or several values, then choose Add Bookmark from the Bookmarks menu.
- Type an appropriate bookmark name in the dialog, then click OK.
- Go to the Bookmark menu again and note that your bookmark has appeared in the list of created bookmarks.
To see further bookmarks, to get more details on a specific bookmark or to delete a bookmark, choose more from the Bookmarks menu.
Saving, closing and exiting
You should also save the document, since the following lessons are based on the work you’ve done so far.
- Choose Save As from the File menu to save a copy of the document.
- Type MyTutorial.qvw or something similar in the File name box, then click Save.
QlikView saves the copy. MyTutorial.qvw now contains all the changes you’ve made since you opened the document, whereas the original document (Tutorial.qvw) remains unchanged. You can now close the file:
- Choose Close from the File menu. If you won’t be working with QlikView for a while, you can also exit the program
- Choose Exit from the File menu.