Skip to main content
Woohoo! Qlik Community has won “Best in Class Community” in the 2024 Khoros Kudos awards!
Announcements
Nov. 20th, Qlik Insider - Lakehouses: Driving the Future of Data & AI - PICK A SESSION
Charles_Bannon
Employee
Employee

As QlikView developers, one of our main focuses is on the user experience. There are many instances where objects only need to be shown upon the user’s request. An example of this is list boxes (filters). With the use of conditional expressions, a QlikView developer can make the list boxes available when the user needs them.

I have seen too many applications where list boxes take up most of the design area available to the developer. Invariably you get the same response, “It is what the users want”. And while I am sure they “need” all of the list boxes, they just do not need them on the screen the entire time.  So how do you get around this demand for list boxes? Create a “Filters” button and have the user show and hide the list boxes whenever they want.

For this first example, I will reference the Workforce Management demo. On the dashboard below there are no visible list boxes. The lack of list boxes opens up more space to the developer. Instead of making the list boxes available at all times, we have a Filters button which, when invoked, will display the filters over top of the visualizations. Once the user makes the appropriate selections, he/she can close the filter panel and continue with his/her discovery.  This is done by setting a variable and conditionally showing the objects based on the current value of the variable. The beauty of this approach is that the user gets to have the filters that he/she needs and the developer does not lose any display area.

Here you can see the filter button with a conditional show. When invoked, there is an action to change the variable to 1 which makes the filters button disappear and makes the filter objects appear.

ShowFilters1.png

ShowFiltersScreenshot1.png

All of the filter objects have the same show conditional. When the user selects the close button, the variable is changed back to 0 which makes the filter objects disappear and the Filters button reappear.

ShowFilters2.png

ShowFiltersScreenshot2.png

This approach can also be used if you need to show/hide help/information pop-ups as shown here in the IT Asset Management demo.

InfoScreenshot1.png

InfoScreenshot2.png

If you would like to see how the filter and the help/information buttons were developed, the QVWs can be downloaded from the demo site. As was stated earlier, the filter example referenced the Workforce Management demo and the Help/Info button referenced the IT Asset Management demo. Happy Qliking!

24 Comments
ThornOfCrowns
Specialist II
Specialist II

Great post and interesting comments too. I have also added Rebecca Camper 's blog to my Favourites!

1,874 Views
Not applicable

Thanks Rob! I absolutely agree with you regarding object grouping. It would also be nice to be able to apply conditional layouts at the group level. It would save a little bit of copy/paste work.

1,874 Views
giakoum
Partner - Master II
Partner - Master II

This is usually my approach, the main difference being the search object and grouped filters buttons (see image) :

- have a search object for quick searching

- have the most common filters available (like Year and Region, I would suggest a maximum of 3)

- have the other filters in buttons but grouped together (like Time, Location, Product etc.)

- have a current selections button

- have a help button

- have an as off date text objectprototype.PNG.png

This way I make it easy for the user to filter, see what is filtered and the data stage has almost all screen available.

Cheers, Ioannis.

1,891 Views
sudeepkm
Specialist III
Specialist III

Thanks a lot for the post.

0 Likes
1,891 Views
giakoum
Partner - Master II
Partner - Master II

Rebecca, are you changing anything in your post? I cannot see any change, but it keeps popping up daily...

0 Likes
1,891 Views
Not applicable

No, I haven’t made any changes, but keep getting emails also. It’s definitely a bug.

0 Likes
1,891 Views
giakoum
Partner - Master II
Partner - Master II

this still goes on

1,891 Views
Not applicable

And on...

1,891 Views
Not applicable

Charles,

Thanks for the informative details you have provided. I followed the link you suggested about where I can see how the filters are developed but I was unable to locate the specific video that shows (specifically) how to create the filter. Any ideas?

Thanks,

0 Likes
1,936 Views
Charles_Bannon
Employee
Employee

Hi Mike,

The link that I referenced takes you to the QlikView demo site. In order to download the QVWs you’ll need to log into the demo site using your Qlik Community credentials. Once logged in, you can click on a demo and on the detail page you will see an option to download QVW in the middle of the page. I hope that helps.

Chuck Bannon

Director of Demo Team

Direct: +1 484-654-2179

Email: Chuck.Bannon@qlik.com

Qlik

150 N. Radnor Chester Road

Suite E-120

Radnor Pennsylvania 19087

qlik.com<http://www.qlik.com/>

<http://www.qlik.com/us/explore/products/sense/desktop?SourceID1=Corporate_Email_Signature>

The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.

0 Likes
1,936 Views