# Load The LOAD statement loads fields from a file, from data defined in the script, from a previously loaded table, from a web page, from the result of a subsequent SELECT statement or by generating data automatically. Syntax: LOAD [ distinct ] fieldlist [( from file [ format-spec ] | from\_field fieldassource [format-spec] inline data [ format-spec ] | *resident* table-label | autogenerate size )] [ where criterion | while criterion ] [ group\_by groupbyfieldlist ] [order\_by orderbyfieldlist ] Arguments: Load arguments | Argument | Description | | --- | --- | | distinct[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) | You can use distinct as a predicate if you only want to load
unique records. If there are duplicate records, the first instance will be loaded.

If you are using preceding loads, you need to place distinct in the first load statement, as distinct only affects the destination table. | | fieldlist | fieldlist ::= ( \* \| field {, field } )

A list of the fields to be loaded. Using \* as a field list indicates
all fields in the table.

field ::= ( fieldref \| expression ) [as aliasname ]

The field definition must always contain
a literal, a reference to an existing field, or an expression.

fieldref ::= ( fieldname \|@fieldnumber
\|@startpos:endpos
[ I \| U \| R \| B \| T] )

fieldname is a text that is
identical to a field name in the table. Note that the field name must
be enclosed by straight double quotation marks or square brackets if it contains e.g. spaces.
Sometimes field names are not explicitly available. Then a different notation
is used:


@fieldnumber represents the
field number in a delimited table file. It must be a positive integer
preceded by "@". The numbering is always made from 1 and up
to the number of fields.


@startpos:endpos
represents the start and end positions of a field in a file with fixed
length records. The positions must both be positive integers. The two
numbers must be preceded by "@" and separated by a colon. The
numbering is always made from 1 and up to the number of positions. In the last field, n is used as end position.



expression can be a numeric
function or a string function based on one or several other fields in
the same table. For further information, see the syntax of expressions.

[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)as is used for assigning a new
name to the field. | | [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)
from | from is used if data should
be loaded from a file.

file ::= [ path ] filename



If the path
is omitted, QlikView searches for the file in the directory specified
by the Directory statement. If there is no Directory statement, QlikView searches in the working directory, which is usually the directory in which the QlikView file is located.

Information noteIn a QlikView server installation, the default working directory is C:\ProgramData\QlikTech\Documents. The default working directory can be modified in the QlikView Management Console.

The filename
may contain the standard DOS wildcard characters ( \* and ? ). This will
cause all the matching files in the specified directory to be loaded.

format-spec ::= ( fspec-item { , fspec-item
} )

The format specification consists of a list
of several format specification items, within brackets.

[Directory](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Directory.htm)

[From](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/From.htm) | | [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)
from\_field | from\_field
is used if data should be loaded from a previously loaded field.

fieldassource::=(tablename, fieldname)

The field is the name of the previously loaded
tablename and fieldname.

format-spec ::= ( fspec-item
{, fspec-item } )

The format specification consists of a list
of several format specification items, within brackets. | | [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)
inline | inline is used if data should
be typed within the script, and not loaded from a file.

data ::= [ text ]

Data entered through an inline
clause must be enclosed by specific characters – square brackets, quotation marks, or back ticks. The text between these is interpreted in the
same way as the content of a file. Hence, where you would insert a new
line in a text file, you should also do it in the text of an inline clause: by pressing the Enter key when typing the script.

In a simple inline load, the number of columns are defined by the first line.

format-spec ::= ( fspec-item
{, fspec-item } )

You can customize the inline load with many of the same format specification items that are available for other loaded tables. These items are listed in brackets. For more information, see [Format specification items](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptSpecifiers/format-specification-items.htm).

For more information about inline loads, see [Loading data from inline tables](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/inline-loads-qv.htm). | | [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)
resident | resident is used if data
should be loaded from a previously loaded table.

table label is a label preceding
the LOAD or SELECT statement(s)
that created the original table. The label should be given with
a colon at the end.

When using a combination of distinct and resident load statements in QlikView 12.00 or later, the data load order is different from QlikView 11.20. To define a desired load order, add a order by clause.

[Loading data from a previously loaded table](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/load-data-from-previously-loaded-table.htm)

[Table labels](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/table-labels.htm) | | [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)
autogenerate | autogenerate is used
if data should be automatically generated by QlikView.

size ::= number

Number
is an integer indicating the number of records to be generated. The field list
must not contain expressions which require data from a database. Only
constants and parameter-free functions (such as rand() or recno()), are allowed in the expressions. | | extension | You can load data from analytic connections. You need to use the extension clause to call a function defined in the server-side extension (SSE) plugin, or evaluate a script.

You can send a single table to the SSE plugin, and a single data table is returned. If the plugin does not specify the names of the fields that are returned, the fields will be named Field1, Field2, and so on.

Extension pluginname.functionname( tabledescription );



Data type handling in the table field definition

Data types are automatically detected in analytic connections. If the data has no numeric values and at least one non-NULL text string, the field is considered as text. In any other case it is considered as numeric.

You can force the data type by wrapping a field name with String() or Mixed().



String() or Mixed() cannot be used outside extension table field definitions, and you cannot use other QlikView functions in a table field definition.

More about analytic connections

For creating an analytic connection in QlikView Server or QlikView Desktop, see: [Analytic connections](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Analytic_connections.htm)

You can read more about analytic connections in the GitHub repository. [qlik-oss/server-side-extension](https://github.com/qlik-oss/server-side-extension) | | [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)
where | where is a clause used for
stating whether a record should be included in the selection or not. The
selection is included if criterion
is True.

criterion is a logical expression. | | [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)
while | while is a clause used for
stating whether a record should be repeatedly read. The same record is
read as long as criterion is
True. In order to be useful, a while clause must
typically include the IterNo( ) function.

criterion is a logical expression. | | [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)
group\_by | group by is a clause used
for defining over which fields the data should be aggregated (grouped).
The aggregation fields should be included in some way in the expressions
loaded. No other fields than the aggregation fields may be used outside
aggregation functions in the loaded expressions.

groupbyfieldlist ::= (fieldname { ,fieldname } ) | | [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)[](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm)
order\_by | order by
is a clause used for sorting the records of a resident table before
they are processed by the load statement. The
resident table can be sorted by one or more fields in ascending or descending
order. The sorting is made primarily by numeric value and secondarily
by national collation order. This clause may only be used when the data source
is a resident table.

The ordering fields specify which field
the resident table is sorted by. The field can be specified by its name
or by its number in the resident table (the first field is number 1).

orderbyfieldlist ::= fieldname [ sortorder ] { , fieldname [ sortorder ] }

sortorder is either asc for ascending or desc for descending. If no
sortorder is specified, asc is assumed.

fieldname, path, filename and aliasname are text strings representing what the respective names imply. Any field in the source table can be used as fieldname. However, fields created through the as clause (aliasname) are out of scope and cannot be used inside the same load statement. | If no source of data is given by means of a from, inline, resident, from\_field or autogenerate clause, data will be loaded from the result of the immediately succeeding SELECT or LOAD statement. The succeeding statement should not have a prefix. [Preceding LOAD](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/preceding-load.htm) Examples: [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Loading different file formats Load a delimited data file with default options: `LOAD * from data1.csv; ` ` ` Load a delimited file, specifying comma as delimiter and with embedded labels: `LOAD * from 'c:\userfiles\data1.csv' (ansi, txt, delimiter is ',', embedded labels); ` ` ` Load a delimited file specifying tab as delimiter and with embedded labels: `LOAD * from 'c:\userfiles\data2.txt' (ansi, txt, delimiter is '\t', embedded labels);` ` ` Load a dif file with embedded headers: `LOAD * from file2.dif (ansi, dif, embedded labels);` ` ` Load three fields from a fixed record file without headers: `LOAD @1:2 as ID, @3:25 as Name, @57:80 as City from data4.fix (ansi, fix, no labels, header is 0, record is 80); ` ` ` Load a QVX file, specifying an absolute path: `LOAD * from C:\qdssamples\xyz.qvx (qvx);` ` ` [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Selecting certain fields, renaming and calculating fields Load only three specific fields from a delimited file: `LOAD FirstName, LastName, Number from data1.csv; ` ` ` Rename first field as A and second field as B when loading a file without labels: `LOAD @1 as A, @2 as B from data3.txt (ansi, txt, delimiter is '\t', no labels); ` ` ` Load Name as a concatenation of FirstName, a space character, and LastName: `LOAD FirstName&' '&LastName as Name from data1.csv; ` ` ` Load Quantity, Price and Value (the product of Quantity and Price): `LOAD Quantity, Price, Quantity*Price as Value from data1.csv;` [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Selecting certain records Load only unique records, duplicate records will be discarded: `LOAD distinct FirstName, LastName, Number from data1.csv; ` ` ` Load only records where the field Litres has a value above zero: `LOAD * from Consumption.csv where Litres>0; ` [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Loading data not on file and auto-generated data Load a table with inline data, two fields named CatID and Category: ` LOAD * Inline ` ` [CatID, Category ` ` 0,Regular ` ` 1,Occasional ` ` 2,Permanent]; ` ` ` Load a table with inline data, three fields named UserID, Password and Access: ` LOAD * Inline [UserID, Password, Access ` ` A, ABC456, User ` ` B, VIP789, Admin]; ` ` ` Load a table with 10 000 rows. Field A will contain the number of the read record (1,2,3,4,5...) and field B will contain a random number between 0 and 1: `LOAD RecNo( ) as A, rand( ) as B autogenerate(10000);` Information noteThe parenthesis after autogenerate is allowed but not required. [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Loading data from a previously loaded table First we load a delimited table file and name it tab1: ` tab1: ` `SELECT A,B,C,D from transtable; ` ` ` Load fields from the already loaded tab1 table as tab2: `tab2:` `LOAD A,B,month(C),A*B+D as E resident tab1;` ` ` Load fields from already loaded table tab1 but only records where A is larger than B: `tab3:` `LOAD A,A+B+C resident tab1 where A>B;` ` ` Load fields from already loaded table tab1 ordered by A: `LOAD A,B*C as E resident tab1 order by A;` ` ` Load fields from already loaded table tab1, ordered by the first field, then the second field: `LOAD A,B*C as E resident tab1 order by 1,2;` ` ` Load fields from already loaded table tab1 ordered by C descending, then B in ascending order, and then the first field in descending order: `LOAD A,B*C as E resident tab1 order by C desc, B asc, 1 des;` [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Loading data from previously loaded fields Load field Types from previously loaded table Characters as A: `LOAD A from_field (Characters, Types);` [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Loading data from a succeeding table (preceding load) Load A, B and calculated fields X and Y from Table1 that is loaded in succeeding SELECT statement: ` LOAD A, B, if(C>0,'positive','negative') as X, weekday(D) as Y; ` `SELECT A,B,C,D from Table1;` ` ` [Preceding LOAD](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/preceding-load.htm) [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Grouping data Load fields grouped (aggregated) by ArtNo: `LOAD ArtNo, round(Sum(TransAmount),0.05) as ArtNoTotal from table.csv group by ArtNo; ` ` ` Load fields grouped (aggregated) by Week and ArtNo: `LOAD Week, ArtNo, round(Avg(TransAmount),0.05) as WeekArtNoAverages from table.csv group by Week, ArtNo;` ` ` [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Reading one record repeatedly In this example we have a input file Grades.csv containing the grades for each student condensed in one field: `Student,Grades` `Mike,5234` `John,3345` `Pete,1234` `Paul,3352` The grades, in a 1-5 scale, represent subjects Math, English, Science and History. We can separate the grades into separate values by reading each record several times with a while clause, using the IterNo( ) function as a counter. In each read, the grade is extracted with the Mid function and stored in Grade, and the subject is selected using the pick function and stored in Subject. The final while clause contains the test to check if all grades have been read (four per student in this case), which means next student record should be read. ` MyTab: ` ` LOAD Student, ` ` mid(Grades,IterNo( ),1) as Grade, ` ` pick(IterNo( ), 'Math', 'English', 'Science', 'History') as Subject from Grades.csv ` `while IsNum(mid(Grades,IterNo(),1));` ` ` The result is a table containing this data: ![A table containing data for Students, Subjects, and Grades.](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/Resources/Images/ex_gen_LoadRepeated.png) [](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptRegularStatements/Load.htm) #### Loading from analytic connections The following sample data is used. ``` Values: Load Rand() as A, Rand() as B, Rand() as C AutoGenerate(50); ``` Loading data using a function In these examples, we assume that we have an analytic connection plugin named P that contains a custom function Calculate(Parameter1, Parameter2). The function returns the table Results that contains the fields Field1 and Field2. ``` Load * Extension P.Calculate( Values{A, C} ); ``` Load all fields that are returned when sending the fields A and C to the function. ``` Load Field1 Extension P.Calculate( Values{A, C} ); ``` Load only the Field1 field when sending the fields A and C to the function. ``` Load * Extension P.Calculate( Values ); ``` Load all fields that are returned when sending the fields A and B to the function. As fields are not specified, A and B are used as they are the first in order in the table. ``` Load * Extension P.Calculate( Values {C, C}); ``` Load all fields that are returned when sending the field C to both parameters of the function. Load \* Extension P.Calculate( Values {String(A), Mixed(B)}); Load all fields that are returned when sending the field A forced as a string and B forced as a numeric to the function. Loading data by evaluating a script Load A as A\_echo, B as B\_echo Extension R.ScriptEval( 'q;', Values{A, B} ); Load the table returned by the script q when sending the values of A and B. Load \* Extension R.ScriptEval( '$(My\_R\_Script)', Values{A, B} ); Load the table returned by the script stored in the My\_R\_Script variable when sending the values of A and B. Load \* Extension R.ScriptEval( '$(My\_R\_Script)', Values{B as D, \*} ); Load the table returned by the script stored in the My\_R\_Script variable when sending the values of B renamed to D, A and C. Using \* sends the remaining unreferenced fields. ## Learn more * [Format specification items](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/qlikview/September2026/Subsystems/Client/Content/QV_QlikView/Scripting/ScriptSpecifiers/format-specification-items.htm)