Formulas in listboxes - what can I do with those?

[datanibbler]

Hi,

a question by someone here just brought this to my mind:

Is there some blog or document around (i haven't found it in the actual manual, nor can I remember reading a bout this in "QlikView 11 for Developers") that explains

>>>   what I can do on the >formulas< tab of the dialog of a listbox_object?   <<<

I don't mean the logical AND mode. I don't really understand the use of this, either, but I can read up on this. I mean the use of formulas in listboxes - what can I do on that tab that I cannot do on the >General< tab?

Thanks a lot!

Best regards,

DataNibbler

[robert_mika · Accepted solution]

To which tab are you referring to?

Did you mean "Expression" tab?

[datanibbler]

Yes, that's the one. I just always mix up the words.

[swuehl]

I mean the use of formulas in listboxes - what can I do on that tab that I cannot do on the >General< tab?

Well, you can add expressions

That will render the listbox to a kind of straight table, adding more information (e.g. sum(Sales) ) to the list box field / dimension (e.g. Customer).

[robert_mika]

Here is an example:

How to: Add Country Flags (201 Flags Included)

As Stefan explained you can add more details to your Field

[datanibbler]

Hello Robert,

I see. That is indeed a pretty little thing that would effectively make an app more appealing to users.

Thanks!

[datanibbler]

One more question, though:

One use I can think of right now would be to compare key_fields across two tables - I need to duplicate and rename the key in each one for that so they remain linked, but I can still count the field in each individual table.

=> So kan I use the common_keyfield as the "real" field (on the >General< tab) and the two others as formulas and position one to the left and one to the right of the "real" field?

P.S.: I guess that would turn the listbox into a tablebox of sorts - so maybe I should consider using a tablebox to begin with 😉

        Well, I guess that is a general thing - for almost any requirement there is more than one way in QlikView to achieve it.

[swuehl]

I think you won't get it formatted like you want in a list box, but you can use a straight table.

IMO, the expressions in a list box are useful to add some more information that allow the user to select the appropriate values. I would be careful adding too many expressions to the listbox or adding expressions to every listbox, this could decrease instead of increase the usability.

The layout is a bit more compact than a straight table, but features are also limited, so if you want to add these information, you can do almost the same in both objects (but selecting values is still easier in a list box).