Top 5 Little Known QlikView Shortcuts

In this post, I wanted to highlight a few little-known QlikView keyboard shortcuts.  Everybody is familiar with Ctrl-E to edit script or Ctrl-R to reload our application.  But lets take a look at a few shortcuts that you might not know about that provide some quick and cool functionality.  We will do this in reverse order for dramatic effect ;)

5.  Move locked objects: Alt-Drag

If you ever lock down your objects (Properties --> Layout --> Uncheck Allow Move/Size) then you know that you have locked their movement even for you, the developer.  Instead of checking this option again for all your objects, you can simply hold down Alt and drag your object wherever it is needed. 

4.  Comment & Uncomment: Ctrl-K-C / Ctrl-K-U

I am a fan of comments both in the script and in front end expressions.  These comments can help the next developer figure out why you did something, or far more likely, remind YOURSELF of what YOU did 3 weeks ago in this application.  Most people are familiar with highlighting text, right clicking and selecting comment or uncomment.  But the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-K-C will comment highlighted lines and Ctrl-K-U will uncomment the selection. 

3.  Activate previous or next sheet: F6 / F7

If you are progressing sequentially through the sheets of an application, F7 will save you a click as you proceed rightward from one sheet to the next.  F6 will move you backwards or right to left.

2.  Object properties:  Alt-Enter

Probably one of the most frequent operations is right clicking on an object and selecting properties.  There's a shortcut for that.  You still must activate the object with a click, but then Alt-Enter will get you to the properties.  That's a time-saver for sure.  If no object is selected it will invoke the sheet properties similar to if you right click in open space and select properties.

1.  Generate sample data: Ctrl-Q (2x)

Maybe not as usable as the previous, but this one takes the top spot for sheer cool factor.  Go to the script editor, and tap Ctrl-Q twice.  This will generate some scripting that, when reloaded, will create three tables of associated sample data for you to test with.  The script requires no outside files to run and will generate about 2,000 rows of transactions for you with a couple associated dimension tables. 

Please feel free to gloat if you knew these already.  Or I would be happy to hear about any other really cool shortcuts you have uncovered in your trials.