Better Variable Input - 8 input types, date range picker (free, open source)

André — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 03:16:02 GMT

If you've ever tried to give end users a clean way to set variables on a Qlik Cloud sheet, you know the options aren't great. The native variable input is limited and hasn't changed much in years. Most community alternatives are either abandoned, stuck on Qlik Sense Desktop, or don't cover the input types you actually need.

I got tired of working around it, so I built one from scratch. It's called Better Variable Input - free, MIT licensed, and built for Qlik Cloud.

Happy to take feedback/improvement requests!

What it does
Drop it on a sheet, point it at a variable, pick an input type. That's it - no scripting, no custom CSS.

8 input types out of the box:

Type	What you get
Single Line Text	Standard text input with placeholder support
Multi-Line Text	Textarea - useful for expressions or longer values
Slider	Numeric range with configurable min/max/step
Toggle	On/off switch (sets 0 or 1) with custom labels
Calendar	Date picker with single date or date range mode
Dropdown	Searchable select from a pipe-separated list
Radio Buttons	Single selection - horizontal or vertical layout
Buttons	Segmented button group with active-state highlighting

Every input type has its own colour presets that apply automatically when you switch - so it looks right immediately, but you can override accent, border, and focus colours per object if you need to.

The bits worth highlighting

Calendar with date range support

This was the feature I couldn't find anywhere else. Select a start and end date, and the extension stores the range as `startDate~endDate` - ready to split in an expression. In-range cells are highlighted, and the format is fully configurable via moment.js strings.

You can also drive a field selection from the picked date, so the calendar acts as both a variable setter and a filter.

Searchable variable selector

The properties panel uses a type-ahead expression dropdown - no more scrolling through a flat list of every variable in the app.

Two height options

Wide (38px) and Narrow (28px) let you tuck inputs into tight layouts or give them breathing room. Combined with per-object colour config, it fits into any dashboard without fighting the design.

Installation

Download better-variable-input.zip from the GitHub releases page
In Qlik Cloud: Management Console → Extensions → Add → upload the zip
Drag it onto a sheet from Custom Objects and configure

Note: Variables must already exist in your app - the extension sets values, it doesn't create them.

Links

GitHub: github.com/andrehamon/better-variable-input
License: MIT

Re: Better Variable Input - 8 input types, date range picker (free, open source)

F_B — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 07:29:53 GMT

Good job, thank you for sharing it.

topic Re: Better Variable Input - 8 input types, date range picker (free, open source) in App Development

Better Variable Input - 8 input types, date range picker (free, open source)

Re: Better Variable Input - 8 input types, date range picker (free, open source)