topic Re: Is referencing columns in formulas as [column name] valid? in App Development

Is referencing columns in formulas as [column name] valid?

elijahabel — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 13:24:42 GMT

I've noticed that in Qlik sense, you can directly reference other columns in your calculation by inserting [column name] into a formula. My issue is that any time you do this, you always get a red outlined formula box indicator, even though the numbers are coming correctly. Is there a case in which this will not work? The red outlining leads me to believe it's unstable, but so far it seems like it works. Should I avoid using it this way?

Example:

Col1	Col2	[Col1]-[Col2]
1	3	-2
5	2	3
7	2	5

The calculations will be correct, but the expression box for [Col1]-[Col2] will have a red outline indicating it is invalid.

Re: Is referencing columns in formulas as [column name] valid?

sunny_talwar — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 13:42:53 GMT

From what I know from QlikView, column reference doesn't work with Aggr() function. Otherwise it should work without issue

Re: Is referencing columns in formulas as [column name] valid?

elijahabel — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:46:29 GMT

Thanks for the input! This clears up why it is highlighted. Do you know of any non-static way to refer to columns in calculations? I know that Column(0)-Column(1) would also work here, but if we have self-service capabilities, this means the users cannot move rearranged columns without messing up calculations.