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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:  

Argument Description
distinct distinct is a predicate used if only the first of duplicate records should be loaded.
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.

  • If @startpos:endpos is immediately followed by the characters I or U, the bytes read will be interpreted as a binary signed (I) or unsigned (U) integer (Intel byte order). The number of positions read must be 1, 2 or 4.
  • If @startpos:endpos is immediately followed by the character R, the bytes read will be interpreted as a binary real number (IEEE 32-bit or 64 bit floating point). The number of positions read must be 4 or 8.
  • If @startpos:endpos is immediately followed by the character B, the bytes read will be interpreted as a BCD (Binary Coded Decimal) numbers according to the COMP-3 standard. Any number of bytes may be specified.

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.

as is used for assigning a new name to the field.

from

from is used if data should be loaded from a file using a folder or a web file data connection.

file ::= [ path ] filename

Example: 'lib://Table Files/'

In legacy scripting mode, the following path formats are also supported:

  • absolute

    Example: c:\data\

  • relative to the Qlik Sense app working directory.

    Example: data\

  • URL address (HTTP or FTP), pointing to a location on the Internet or an intranet.

    Example: http://www.qlik.com

If the path is omitted, Qlik Sense searches for the file in the directory specified by the Directory statement. If there is no Directory statement, Qlik Sense searches in the working directory, C:\Users\{user}\Documents\Qlik\Sense\Apps.

Information noteIn a Qlik Sense server installation, the working directory is specified in Qlik Sense Repository Service, by default it is C:\ProgramData\Qlik\Sense\Apps. See the Qlik Management Console help for more information.

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.

See: Directory

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.

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 double quotation marks or by square brackets. 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, i.e. by pressing the Enter key when typing the script.

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

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

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.

See: Loading data from a previously loaded table

See: Table labels

autogenerate autogenerate is used if data should be automatically generated by Qlik Sense.

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.

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.

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.

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 } )

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 ASCII value. 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.

See: Preceding LOAD

Examples:  

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