QlikSense Cheat Sheet

Updated 2026-04-27

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Qlik Sense is a modern business intelligence and data analytics platform by Qlik that enables self-service visualization, exploration, and discovery through its associative analytics engine. Unlike traditional query-based BI tools, Qlik Sense reveals hidden insights by highlighting relationships across all data—showing not only what matches your selections but also what doesn't. The platform supports both guided analytics (pre-built apps and dashboards) and ad-hoc exploration, including AI-powered Insight Advisor for natural language queries, making it valuable for analysts, business users, and developers alike. Mastering set analysis, data modeling, scripting fundamentals, and the newer Window functions will unlock Qlik Sense's full analytical power across cloud and on-premises deployments.

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This topic spans 21 focused tables and 232 indexed concepts, 143 flashcards. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.

Table 1: Core Aggregation FunctionsTable 2: Set Analysis SyntaxTable 3: Date and Time FunctionsTable 4: String Manipulation FunctionsTable 5: Numeric and Formatting FunctionsTable 6: Load Script StatementsTable 7: Data Modeling TechniquesTable 8: Window Functions (Script)Table 9: Inter-Record FunctionsTable 10: Range FunctionsTable 11: Chart Visualization TypesTable 12: Variables and Dollar-Sign ExpansionTable 13: Conditional and Logical FunctionsTable 14: Ranking and Statistical FunctionsTable 15: Advanced Set Analysis TechniquesTable 16: Data Connection and Load OptimizationTable 17: Security and Data GovernanceTable 18: App Structure and CollaborationTable 19: Performance OptimizationTable 20: Color and Conditional FormattingTable 21: Qlik Sense Ecosystem and Deployment

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Table 1: Core Aggregation Functions

Aggregation is the heart of every Qlik measure—these functions collapse many rows into a single number across whatever the user has selected. Beyond the everyday Sum and Count, the real power sits in Aggr, which builds a virtual table so you can nest one aggregation inside another, and the TOTAL qualifier, which lets a calculation ignore the chart's dimensions to compute shares and percentages.

Function	Example	Description
Sum	`Sum(Sales)`	Calculates the total of all values in the specified field or expression.
Count	`Count(OrderID)`	• Returns the number of values • use `Count(DISTINCT Field)` to count unique values only.
Avg	`Avg(Price)`	Calculates the arithmetic mean of all values in the expression.
Min	`Min(Date)`	Returns the minimum value from the set of values.
Max	`Max(Quantity)`	Returns the maximum value from the set of values.
Only	`Only(Region)`	• Returns the field value if exactly one distinct value exists • otherwise returns NULL—useful for dimensional aggregates.
TOTAL Qualifier	`Sum(TOTAL Sales)`	• Ignores chart dimensions—aggregation covers all rows regardless of dimensional context • `Sum(TOTAL <Region> Sales)` scopes to a specific dimension.
Aggr	`Avg(Aggr(Sum(Sales), Customer))`	Creates a temporary aggregated table, enabling nested aggregations like "average of customer totals."
FirstSortedValue	`FirstSortedValue(Product, -Sales)`	• Returns the value of the first argument sorted by the second argument • negative sort value returns the highest.
Mode	`Mode(Category)`	• Returns the most frequently occurring value in the expression • NULL if no single mode exists.
Concat	`Concat(DISTINCT Product, ', ')`	• Concatenates string values across rows into a single delimited string • supports DISTINCT and sort order.

Table 2: Set Analysis Syntax

Set analysis is what separates casual Qlik users from power developers—it lets a single expression define its own data scope that overrides or ignores what the user has selected. The {} brackets hold an identifier ($ for current selections, 1 for everything), the < > modifiers force specific field values, and operators like +, *, and - combine those scopes, making year-over-year and comparative calculations possible without touching the selections.

Element	Example	Description
Basic Set Expression	`Sum({$} Sales)`	• Set expressions enclosed in `{}` define a data scope • default identifier is `$` (current selections).

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Table 3: Date and Time Functions

Almost every analysis bends around time, and Qlik treats dates as plain numbers under a display format—so these functions both extract parts (Year, Month, Quarter) and snap a date to the start or end of a period. The ...Start/...End family is especially handy for building master calendars and date-range filters, while YearToDate and NetworkDays cover the period-relative logic that fiscal reporting depends on.

Function	Example	Description
Today	`Today()`	Returns the current date as a timestamp value with time portion set to midnight.

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 4: String Manipulation Functions

Raw source data is rarely clean, and these functions are your toolkit for slicing, reshaping, and tidying text during the load. The position-and-extract trio (Left, Right, Mid, plus SubField for delimited values) handles parsing, while Trim, PurgeChar, and KeepChar strip out the noise that breaks joins and key matching.

Function	Example	Description
Left	`Left(ProductCode, 3)`	Returns the specified number of characters from the left (start) of the string.

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 1: Core Aggregation Functions

Function	Example	Description
Sum	`Sum(Sales)`	Calculates the total of all values in the specified field or expression.
Count	`Count(OrderID)`	• Returns the number of values • use `Count(DISTINCT Field)` to count unique values only.
Avg	`Avg(Price)`	Calculates the arithmetic mean of all values in the expression.
Min	`Min(Date)`	Returns the minimum value from the set of values.
Max	`Max(Quantity)`	Returns the maximum value from the set of values.
Only	`Only(Region)`	• Returns the field value if exactly one distinct value exists • otherwise returns NULL—useful for dimensional aggregates.
TOTAL Qualifier	`Sum(TOTAL Sales)`	• Ignores chart dimensions—aggregation covers all rows regardless of dimensional context • `Sum(TOTAL <Region> Sales)` scopes to a specific dimension.
Aggr	`Avg(Aggr(Sum(Sales), Customer))`	Creates a temporary aggregated table, enabling nested aggregations like "average of customer totals."
FirstSortedValue	`FirstSortedValue(Product, -Sales)`	• Returns the value of the first argument sorted by the second argument • negative sort value returns the highest.
Mode	`Mode(Category)`	• Returns the most frequently occurring value in the expression • NULL if no single mode exists.
Concat	`Concat(DISTINCT Product, ', ')`	• Concatenates string values across rows into a single delimited string • supports DISTINCT and sort order.

Table 2: Set Analysis Syntax

Element	Example	Description
Basic Set Expression	`Sum({$} Sales)`	• Set expressions enclosed in `{}` define a data scope • default identifier is `$` (current selections).

Table 3: Date and Time Functions

Function	Example	Description
Today	`Today()`	Returns the current date as a timestamp value with time portion set to midnight.

Table 4: String Manipulation Functions

Function	Example	Description
Left	`Left(ProductCode, 3)`	Returns the specified number of characters from the left (start) of the string.

Qlik Sense Cheat Sheet

Table 1: Core Aggregation Functions

Table 2: Set Analysis Syntax

Table 3: Date and Time Functions

Table 4: String Manipulation Functions

Qlik Sense Cheat Sheet

Table 1: Core Aggregation Functions

Table 2: Set Analysis Syntax

Table 3: Date and Time Functions

Table 4: String Manipulation Functions