Handling "No data to display" error message

[evan_kurowski]

I have asked around our team and not found any satisfactory answers for this yet, my apologies if this has been already addressed or is something simple that I just needed to be pointed in the right direction to handle.

When I have a chart object in a QlikView application that has no data to display I get the error message "No data to display" with a white background.

In my case, if the control has no data I'd like to suppress it completely. I was thinking perhaps there was some Conditional show formula that could look for zero rows or something like the value is null but haven't figured this out.

I know in the past using other tools I did a lot of checks using me (i.e. If IsNull(me.value) Then 'Do this' or If (rowcount(me.dataset)) = 0 Then 'Do This')

I've looked in the error messages and the Null data set doesn't seemed to be included with the other default error messages. Perhaps there's just a simple "Conditional Show" formula that could help me out? But I'd like to prevent those little white message boxes showing up on my applications when a selection criteria is made that returns no rows. The message box tells me what's going on with my application which I understand, but sometimes I'm afraid a client or potential client may think the application is broken and I'd like the option to suppress this.

Thanks for any assistance or advice. ~E [:)]

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hello Qlik Community Members- this discussion has was posted previously but accidentally deleted we are recreating the thread. If you have any helpful answers please feel free to respond.

Gordon Savage Feb 4, 2011 1:59 PM (in response to EvanKurowski)

I dont think you can work with the chart contents at the object level to show it conditionally -the chart inter record functions e.g. column() can only be used in expressions.

However, how about using one of the chart expressions for the condition, such as sum(fieldname) > 0?

Regards,

Gordon

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Michael Solomovich Feb 4, 2011 5:48 PM (in response to EvanKurowski)

Well, I wouldn't call it an "error" message because it describes the situation. The onlt problem is with the user perception. The easiest way to deal with it is not even technical - use custom message which would make sense for the users.

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EvanKurowski Feb 4, 2011 6:45 PM (in response to Michael Solomovich)

Thank you for your responses gentlemen,

I think Gordon's methods will be the most straightforward way of producing what I'm seeking. Because there were island tables driving selection I had to insert set-analysis checks into the "Conditional" formulas that match my calculating expression. Otherwise a straight aggregate function was still returning a value even when the island table selections meant it shouldn't have. I didn't mention that earlier, but the point was still wrapping an aggregate summation around all the conditions made this work.

Regarding customizing the error message, the first location I searched was the "Error Messages" button on the 'General' tab and didn't find "No data to display" handled there.

Even if I was able to change the message to a blank or null string, if the background of the application were something other than white would the user still see a tiny little "empty" white rectangle where the blank message was inserted? (On a white background this would be invisible, but basically I was trying to avoid any interrupt in the visual continuity)