topic Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug? in App Development

Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

William_Wistam — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 00:08:07 GMT

Hello Qlik Community,

I've encountered a very peculiar behavior with an expression in Qlik Sense SaaS that seems to defy standard parsing rules and might indicate a bug. I'm hoping to get some insight, confirmation, or a potential explanation for this.

The Goal:

I'm trying to calculate the sum of Revenue for a specific Period defined by a variable vMaxPeriod, using the TOTAL qualifier to get a grand total (disregarding chart dimensions).

The Working Expression (Surprisingly):

My expression only works when structured exactly like this, including the // (comment) characters and specific line breaks:

Code snippet

Sum({$<Period={$(vMaxPeriod)}>} //
    TOTAL [GL_Hub]
    Revenue)

Key Observations for the Working Expression:

The // (comment characters) are present on the line immediately after the closing curly brace of the set analysis (}).
TOTAL [GL_Hub] and Revenue) are on separate lines, following the line with the // comment.

The Problem: Expressions That Don't Work (and why they should according to documentation):

If I remove the // comment, or if I consolidate TOTAL [GL_Hub] Revenue onto a single line after the set analysis, the expression breaks and returns an error.

Removing // (should work if // were just a comment):
Code snippet
```
Sum({$<Period={$(vMaxPeriod)}>}
    TOTAL [GL_Hub]
    Revenue)
```
- Result: Does not work. This suggests the // is serving a functional purpose beyond just being a comment.
Consolidating TOTAL and Field on one line (standard recommended syntax):
Code snippet
```
Sum({$<Period={$(vMaxPeriod)}>} TOTAL [GL_Hub] Revenue)
```
- Result: Does not work. This is particularly confusing, as this syntax (Sum({SetAnalysis} TOTAL Field)) is generally the recommended way to get a grand total with set analysis in Qlik Sense.

My Environment:

Qlik Sense SaaS (Cloud)

My Question to the Community:

Has anyone else experienced this kind of behavior where a // comment seems to be functionally required for an expression to parse correctly?
Is there a documented reason for // to act as a "soft line break" or continuation marker in this specific scenario?
Is this a known bug in Qlik Sense SaaS, or am I missing a fundamental parsing rule specific to my environment?

I've verified that $(vMaxPeriod) resolves correctly to a valid period value and that [GL_Hub] Revenue is the correct field reference. The issue consistently lies with the presence/absence of // and the specific line breaks.

Any insights or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Will

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

rubenmarin — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 06:54:24 GMT

Hi, maybe it has something to do with he syntax after TOTAL, I'm not really sure what [GL_hub]. Is that a master item?

Usually after total there is only the field that has the measure, but in this case is GL_Hub and Revenue.

If Gl_Hub is a field to break the TOTAL, it should be between < and >, like: Sum({$<Period={$(vMaxPeriod)}>} TOTAL <GL_Hub> Revenue)

I don't have any clue about the //

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

vkramBI4Qlik — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 18:18:34 GMT

Hi @William_Wistam ,

Did you try using the dimension '<' and '>' like follows and also using the TOTAL dimension before the Set Analysis ?

Sum( TOTAL <[GL_Hub]> {$<Period={$(vMaxPeriod)}>} Revenue)

Thanks

Vikram

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

marcus_sommer — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 08:44:55 GMT

Beside the already mentioned total-syntax it's not recommended to include any comments within the expressions because they are a potential source of error - especially if they are nested in any way.

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

William_Wistam — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 21:20:54 GMT

Hi Rubenmarin, apologies for the late reply due to some personal circumstances. Thank you for your reply and help.

I've attached a QlikSense file with simplified data to help prove the issue—please see the screenshot.

Example 1 shows the original expression with "//" and line breaks, which you can verify in the file.

Example 2 follows your suggestion with "<>" around GL_Hub, but it’s not working.

Example 3 uses Vikram's suggestion of moving TOTAL to the front, which also doesn’t work.

I’ve tried various combinations, but only Example 1 works, though it seems unusual. I’m using TOTAL because I need to show the user-defined revenue period regardless of the period, with the goal of calculating the delta for each period compared to the user-defined revenue period.

Will

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

William_Wistam — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 21:24:20 GMT

Hi Vikram, apologies for the late reply after 3 weeks due to some personal circumstances. Thank you for your help. Please refer to the message, examples, and attached QlikSense file I sent to Ruben for details on the issue and my attempts, including your suggested expression which didn’t work. I’m using TOTAL to show the user-defined revenue period regardless of the selected period, aiming to calculate the delta for each period compared to the user-defined revenue period.

Best,

Will

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

William_Wistam — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 21:28:15 GMT

Hi Marcus, apologies for the late reply. Thank you for your help. Please refer to the message and file I sent to Ruben. I understand not to use comments "//", but removing them breaks the expression—it stops working.

Best,

Will

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

marcus_sommer — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 05:35:09 GMT

I don't want to exclude any parsing-bug but it seems quite unlikely to me because if nearly all common expressions wouldn't be working ...

... and if we look on the "not working" expression we see a result which seems to be quite correct. Therefore I assume that you are expecting a different result - probably by mistaken the functionality between an adjustment to the selection state per set analysis and adjusting the consideration of the object-dimensionalities by specifying a TOTAL statement.

A TOTAL ignores all relations to the dimensions of the current object - by extending it with something like <Field1, Field2> it ignores further all object-dimensions unless the extra listed ones. It's always performed against the available data-set which is specified by the set selections and/or the set adjustments within a set analysis - respectively the evaluation of the data-set comes always first.

In conclusion: the first expression is wrong and showed wrong results - IMO it should return always a syntax-error and not ignoring the set analysis by applying an empty comment. Maybe the direct line-break after the // "confused" the parser ... (you may play a bit with real comments like: // comment XYZ or /* abc */ to see if anything is changing - whereby like above mentioned it's not recommended to use comments within expressions - especially in regard to the efficiency of development-efforts and performance that if you would need ones that the data-model isn't suitable enough to support simple expressions).

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

rubenmarin — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 06:27:38 GMT

Hi, your 'GOOD' expression returns the same value with these expressions:

Sum({$<Period={$(vMaxPeriod)}>} // TOTAL SomethingThatIsAnError Revenue)

Sum({$<Period={$(vMaxPeriod)}>} TOTAL Revenue)

Also I don't understand your GOOD expression, it only shows the data for 202506 (1,165,164) in all the periods, It's really that what you want to show? What' are you trying to calcute by GL_Hub?

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

William_Wistam — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:30:42 GMT

@rubenmarin Thanks for the solution! Appreciate your help. This works for me!

Re: Unusual Expression Parsing with // (Comment) and Line Breaks in Qlik Sense SaaS - Possible Bug?

William_Wistam — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 16:03:16 GMT

@marcus_sommer

Thanks for the detailed explanation! I appreciate the clarification on how TOTAL works. That was my goal using TOTAL with GL_Hub, where GL_Hub is our branch/business location—I should have renamed it to avoid confusion in the first place. The goal of TOTAL <GL_Hub> was to make the expression still responsive when a user selected a branch/location, it seems like Ruben's solution by removing <GL_Hub> from TOTAL still allow the user to select the location and the number update properly which the behaviour I want, not showing the total of all locations, but a single location or multiple locations that the user selected across any period of time. For example, when the user typed 202506 in the input box, it will compare the revenue of 202506 with all other periods/months to show the increase/decrease of revenue compared to 202506 across all available periods in the dataset. Maybe I just overcomplicate what I tried to achieve, but essentially my boss wants to see how this period/month (e.g., 202506) compares to any other months. Of course, the application of this is not only limited to Period/Month, but any other comparison; the user-defined input box will allow users to set the benchmark, like setting up a goal/target, but instead of a static goal, it's a dynamic goal based on the value of the dimension that the user selected. I agree that using the // (comment) is not right; I just didn't know how to fix it or remove it until I saw Ruben's last response.

Thank you!

Will