About Qlik Reports
Qlik reports are available for users with access from the Reports tab within BLUE.
Qlik Reports are interactive. You can click on any of the components within the report (such as a ‘slice’ of pie on a pie chart) to dynamically filter your view based on your selections.
We’ll use the Task Status Report as an example to take a closer look at some of the more common and powerful features found within the reports.
Report Layout
While each report is slightly different based on the type of information being presented, the Task Status Report shown above is used to describe the general layout and common components within Qlik reports.
| Item number (from screenshot above) | Report option | Description |
| 1 | Smart Search | Enter some text to search your data. |
| 2 | Step back / Step forward | Move to the previous screen, and back. |
| 3 | Applied Selections | The title bar will display the selected filters and values. |
| 4 | Report Name | The name of the report. |
| 5 | Report Date | The date and time the report was generated. Qlik reports display the Report Date at the top left of all core reports in GMT. |
| 6 | Filters | Apply one or more filters to view the data that is important to you. |
| 7 & 8 | Charts | Charts, such as column and pie charts, are used to visually represent key information. |
| 9 | Detail View | Detailed data is displayed in a table view, which is usually at the bottom of the Qlik report. |
| 10 | Horizontal Scrollbar | Use the horizontal scrollbar to view more columns. |
| 11 | Selections Tool |
Choose this tool to search additional fields, including attribute fields. See all of your filter selections on this page. |
| 12 | Bookmarks | Save your selections and filters as bookmarks, or choose one of your saved bookmarks from the list. |
| 13 | Selections | The list of selected filters and values. |
| 14 | Show fields |
All Qlik Reports (except the User Report) can be configured to support allow filtering based on attribute fields. Once enabled, you can then filter report data for attributes using the Selections Tool within the report. Select the Show fields checkbox to to see the attribute field names and values. Note: Attribute selection is off by default and needs to be enabled by your BLUE system administrator. |
| 15 | Search box | Type text to search for a field such as an attribute by field name (i.e. Brand). |
| 16 | Close Selections | Close the Selections Tool and return to report. |
Date and Time Format
The date and time format in Qlik reports is a configurable, global setting that applies to all date and date/time fields in all core Qlik reports. Please ask your BLUE system administrator for more information.
The default date formats are DD-MMM-YYYY for dates, and 12-hour (am/pm) format for time. To change the default format, contact your BLUE administrator.
Working with Filter Selections
Apply filters to narrow the search results and focus on certain data. For example, if you’re only interested in viewing tasks associated with one specific process template, use the Template dropdown to filter the results.
In this example, one template filter and two task status filters are applied.
As you select or clear items in the drop down, the report charts and detail view dynamically update to display information relevant to the selected items.
Filter Selection Options
Click on a filter name (i.e. Template) to open the filter options. You will see the options for adding and removing values.
When applying filters, choose from the following options:
| Icon | Report option | Description |
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Selections menu > Select all | Select all values, whether they exist on items or not. |
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Selections menu > Select possible | Select all possible values. |
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Selections menu > Select alternative | When some values are selected, select the opposite values instead, which are non-selected eligible values. |
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Selections menu > Select excluded | When some values are selected, select the list of values which are not available due to other applied filters. |
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Search | Type some text to search the list of values. |
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Clear selection | Clear all the values. |
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Confirm selection |
Save and apply filters, and close the filter panel. Alternatively, click somewhere else on the report to save your filters and close the filter option panel. |
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Cancel selection | Do not save or apply filters changes, and close the filter option panel. |
Filter selections
Filter selections appear in the title bar of the report so you can see which filters are applied. There is no limit to the number of filters that can be applied at one time.
About Charts
Working with data is easy with interactive clicking and dynamic updates. Almost everything displayed on the screen can become a filter by clicking on it.
For example, hover over a pie chart to see more information about that section of the pie chart.
Click on one or more sections of the pie chart to filter on just that piece of information. The Filter Selection dialog opens, so you can select and clear sections of the chart, cancel or confirm your filter selections.
The following screenshot shows that two pieces of the pie-chart are selected. The list of tasks has updated to just show tasks assigned to the ‘Packaging’ and ‘Legal’ groups.
More Chart Options
Right-click on a chart to see the chart options that are available. Options vary depending on the type of chart.
Choose from the following chart options:
| Icon | Report option | Description |
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Open exploration menu | Change the presentation of the chart:
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View data | For all charts and graphs, view the data in table format, instead of chart format. |
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View chart | While viewing data in table format, view the data in chart format. |
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Share | Not supported with BLUE. |
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Open snapshot library | Not supported with BLUE. |
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Export | Choose the export method and options:
After generating the report, click the link to download it. |
Open exploration menu
Set your data, sorting, presentation and color/legend preferences.
View data / View chart
View your data in table in chart view using the View data / View chart options.
Here is the same data shown in chart and table format.
Export
Qlik reports support the following export methods:
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- Export as an image
- Export to PDF
- Export data
Export as an image
Generate an image of the chart as it is currently displayed on the screen. This export option respects all filters that are currently applied to the report.
Choose the target dimensions and type of file (PNG or JPEG).
Export the image.
Once it is complete, click the link to download the image.
Note: The image generated is exactly as seen on screen. If you are creating an image from a Detail View, only the visible rows will appear on the image.
Export to PDF
This export option allows you to generate a PDF of the chart as it is currently displayed on the screen. This export respects all filters that are currently applied to the report.
Select your PDF preferences:
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- Paper Size
- Resolution (DPI)
- Orientation
- Aspect Ratio
Export the PDF.
Note: The PDF generated is exactly as seen on screen. If you are creating a PDF from a Detail View, only the visible rows will appear on the PDF.
Once it is complete, click the link to download the PDF.
Export data
This option exports the data represented in the chart (or Detail View) to a CSV, which can be opened in Microsoft Excel or similar applications.
The exported data respects the selected filters, but is not limited to what appears on the screen. All data in the result set is exported, including columns or date which is not visible on-screen.
You will not need to select any preferences for this type of export.
When the export is complete, click the link to download the file.
Detail View
The detail view is a simple data table, similar to a spreadsheet. Here is an example detail view.
Detail view offer the following options for sorting, navigation and searching.
| Table option | Description |
| Sorting | Click on column headings to sort the data in ascending and descending order. |
| Filtering | Click on a cell to open the Filter Selection dialog with the default value being the current cell value. From within the dialog, select multiple values, search for values, then apply or cancel the selected filters. |
| Go To Task (or Project) link | Some reports provide a link to the user which will bring them directly to a specific task or project. Clicking these links will open the task or project in a new tab within the browser. |
| Search | Use the Search option at the top of the column to search the list of values and update the selected values. |
| Scroll | Scroll the data vertically and horizontally. |
| View timeliness colors | Tasks and project timeliness is color coded.
|
Search
Qlik reports offer several methods to search your data.
Searching for special characters
When searching for special characters, use the asterisk (*) wildcard immediately before and after the character(s) you are searching for.
The following example illustrates how this is useful for searching for special characters:
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- Searching for smith will return email addresses that contain ‘smith’ anywhere in the string
- Searching for *smith* will return email addresses that contain ‘smith’ anywhere in the string
- Searching for just a dash – will return everything (even values with no dash)
- Searching for *-* will return only email addresses that contain a dash (–)
Column and list searches
Click the search icon option to search the list. As you type, the list of values updates. Select your filter options to update the report.
Smart Searches
Smart Search allows you to type some text to search, then searches all charts and data in the entire report for matches. Results are displayed, and then you can select which data elements and filters you would like to apply.
In this example, searching on the term “spring” gives three results: one for project name, one for brand and one for sub-process name.
After choosing the Project Name filter in the list, the project name filter is applied to the results and the list of tasks updates. There are three tasks that match the updated search filter criteria.
Attribute Searches
All Qlik reports (except the User Report) allow searching on attribute fields.
Note: Attribute selection is off by default and needs to be enabled by your BLUE system administrator.
If you choose to enable attribute field filtering on reports, the report visualization does not change. The fields do not appear in the data table, and filters are not automatically added to the report.
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- Reports that display task information can search on task attribute and project level attributes.
- Reports that display project information can search on project level attributes.
To add the attribute search filters, choose the Selections Tool.
Select the “Show fields” checkbox. 
The attributes and fields will appear.
Select the attribute fields you would like to filter on. If there are lots of fields, type the name of the field in the Search box to find the field. Use the horizontal scrollbar to scroll through the fields.
Select the attribute fields and values you wish to filter on. Your attribute search filters appear in the Selections section of the page.
Choose the Selections tool to return to the report visualization page. The attribute filters will be shown at the top. The following screenshot shows the Task Status Report filtered by Brand and Category attribute fields.
Bookmarks
Filtering a Qlik report to display the exact subset of data you’re interested in often involves the use of several filters. Once you’ve made all your filter selections, use bookmarks to save those filters so they can be quickly applied in future sessions.
Bookmarks are saved to the system, and can only be seen and used by the user who created them. There is no limit to the number of bookmarks you can create.
Click the Bookmarks button to open the bookmarks dialog, where you can apply or delete existing bookmarks, or create a new one.
Creating Bookmarks
To create a new bookmark, apply all of your filters as needed so that the data is filtered as you would like that filters that you would like to save are applied, then click the Bookmarks button.
The bookmark dialog opens.
Enter a bookmark name and description, then click Create.
The new bookmark is displayed in the list.
Applying Bookmarks
Click on the Bookmark button and choose the bookmark row from the list to automatically apply the filters associated with it to the current report.
Deleting Bookmarks
You can delete your unwanted bookmarks from the list by clicking on the Delete action for the the appropriate bookmark row.
For more information on reports-related topics, visit these links…
For information about BLUE’s core Reports, see Reports.