Life's Mysteries

"Why do hot dogs come in packages of ten, but hot dog buns only come in packages of just eight?"

This, one of life's most foundational mysteries, is only eclipsed by "How the heck do I get started on this dashboard?"

Like the Monk With No Name, I'm here for you. And I sense somehow that you have potential, even though those around you think you are full of, well, you know. Just remember, rich manure can fertilize fields which will feed millions.

When we start a new project, it's often difficult to know what the developers built into the script. We tend to float between the table viewer, a bunch of list boxes that we constantly create and delete and change, and maybe the SQL. Then we build a chart or two trying to see what the heck is in the data model. Here's an easy temporary tool you can build that will give you a view into your data while you're building your masterpiece.

Step One - Build a list box

Patience, grasshopper, it's not what you think.

First, make sure that you can see System Fields in your list of Available Fields:

You may need to go to either your Sheet Properties > Fields or Settings > User Preferences > General to make sure that they show up. Choose $Field for the List Box. You'll end up with a List Box that contain all of the fields in your model.

That, in and of itself, is pretty useful. But it would really help to see the values of those fields.

Step Two - Build another List Box

Instead of choosing a field, let's build an expression.

     =$(='[' & Only([$Field])& ']')

As a review:

• $-sign expansion replaces what's inside the parentheses with a string
• Only($Field) looks at what's selected in the $Field field

What you end up with is a tool that let's you select a field and easily see what its values are:

Bonus Tip!

Did you know that you can run two instances of QlikView at the same time? Even the same documents? Open the document twice, have one where all you have is trick above. That way, as you're building your masterpiece, you can see and use both.

Finally...

Have you figured out why hot dogs come in packages of ten and hot dog buns come in packages of eight?

See, the thing is, life doesn't always work out according to plan so be happy with what you've got, because you can always get a hot dog.