Min() function not working as expected

[CasperQlik]

I am newt QS and the Min() function does return the values that I expect.

I need to find the earliest start date for all employees. Some employees can have multiple start dates for numerous reasons. See data structure below.

What I need is :

but when I create the field Min(start_date) this is what I get:

Can someone explain how I get my desired result?

Thanks!

[Or · Accepted solution]

What you're getting is correct - the minimum value for the matching dimension values, which are emp_id and start_date.

You can use the total qualifier to ignore dimension values, along with specifying with ones not to ignore, such as:

min(total <emp_id> start_date)

[CasperQlik]

Hi

Thank you! It works as intended. Can you explain how the total qualifier works, what gets ignored here and how?

[Or]

https://community.qlik.com/t5/Design/Totals-in-Charts/ba-p/1464797

https://community.qlik.com/t5/Design/What-does-the-TOTAL-qualifier-do/ba-p/1472990

https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/May2022/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/ChartFunctions/de...

https://community.qlik.com/t5/Design/The-Aggregation-Scope/ba-p/1467321

A heavily-covered subjects, albeit not necessarily the easiest to find if you don't know what you're looking for as "total" is kind of a common word. Understanding the aggregation scope in general is very helpful to using Qlik, though.