Skip to main content Skip to complementary content

Pivot table properties

You can change the appearance and sorting of a pivot table using the properties panel.

You open the properties panel for a visualization by clicking Edit Edit in the toolbar and clicking the visualization that you want to edit.

If the properties panel is hidden, click open right panel Show properties in the lower right-hand corner.

Information noteIf the visualization has Linked Object in the upper right-hand corner, the visualization is linked to a master item. You cannot edit a linked visualization, but you can edit the master item. You can also unlink the visualization to make it editable.
Information noteSome of the settings in the properties panel are only available under certain circumstances, for example, when you use more than one dimension or measure, or when you select an option that makes other options available.

Data

Dimensions

  • <Dimension name>: Click the dimension name to open the dimension settings.

    If you want to delete the dimension, right-click the dimension and select Delete in the dialog. Alternatively, click the dimension and click Delete.

    • Dimension: Only displayed for master items. To be able to edit a dimension that is linked to a master item, you must first unlink the dimension.
    • Field: If you have added a field from Fields in the assets panel, the field name is automatically displayed. Click Expression to open the expression editor.
    • Label: Enter a label for the dimension. If you have added a field from Fields in the assets panel, the field name is automatically displayed.
    • Include null values: When selected, the measure values of all null dimensions are summarized and presented as one dimension item in a visualization. All null values are displayed as gaps or dashes (-).
    • Limitation: Limits the number of displayed values. When you set a limitation, the only dimensions displayed are those where the measure value meets the limitation criterion:
      • No limitation: The default value.

      • Fixed number: Select to display the top or bottom values. Set the number of values. You can also use an expression to set the number. Click Expression to open the expression editor.

      • Exact value: Use the operators and set the exact limit value. You can also use an expression to set the number. Click Expression to open the expression editor.

      • Relative value: Use the operators and set the relative limit value in percent. You can also use an expression to set the number. Click Expression to open the expression editor.

      • Calculated on measure: <measure>: Shown when you make a limitation to the number of displayed dimension values. The dimensions whose measure value meet the criterion are displayed.

    • Show column if: You can show or hide a column depending on if a condition is true or false. The column is shown only if the expression in this field is evaluated as true. If this field is empty, the column is always shown. You can use this to require a field selection before calculating and showing large amounts of data.
    • Background color expression: Enter an expression for the background color. The text color automatically changes to white when a dark background color is used.
    • Text color expression: Enter an expression for the text color. If you use the same expression as in the background color, the text will not be visible.

      For more information, see Coloring a visualization.

    • Show others: When selected, the last value in the visualization (colored gray), summarizes all the remaining values. When some kind of limitation is set (Fixed number, Exact value, or Relative number), the value counts as 1 in that setting. If, for example, Exact value is used and set to 10, the tenth value is Others.
    • Other label: Enter a label for the summarized values (when Show others is selected). You can also use an expression as a label. Click Expression to open the expression editor.
      • Add: Click Add to open a list of available Dimensions and Fields. Select the dimension or field that you want to use.

        You can also click Expression to create a dimension in the expression editor. To be able to edit a dimension that is linked to a master item, you must first unlink the dimension.

    • Global grouping: If a limitation is set, you can use global grouping.

    • Show totals: Adds a top row in the pivot table showing the total value of the underlying rows. Show totals is not available for dimensions (except the first one) when Indent rows is selected in the Appearance property.

    • Totals label: Enter a label for the totals row.

    • Text alignment: When set to Custom, you can select how to display the content: Left, Center, or Right. If Text alignment is set to Auto, the alignment is automatically aligned, depending on the content.

    • Master item: You can create a master dimension based on the dimension expression by clicking Create new.

      For more information, see Reusing dimensions with master dimensions

You can drag a field from Measures to Dimensions to change how it is used. Moving a measure to Dimensions removes its aggregation. You cannot drag a master measure to Dimensions. You can only drag a measure to Dimensions if its expression is simple. For more information on expressions, see Using expressions in visualizations.

Measure

  • <Measure name>: Click the measure to open the measure settings.

    If you want to delete the measure, right-click the measure and select Delete in the dialog. Alternatively, click the measure and click Delete.

    • Expression: Click Expression to open the expression editor.The existing expression is displayed by default.

    • Label: Enter a label for the measure. Measures not saved in Master items are by default displayed with the expression as label.
    • Measure: Only displayed for master items. To be able to edit a measure that is linked to a master item, you must first unlink the measure.
    • Number formatting: Different options for formatting the measure values. If you want to change the number format at app level, and not just for a single measure, it is better to do that in the regional settings, that is, in the SET statements at the beginning of the script in the data load editor.
    • The following number formats are available:

      • Auto: Qlik Sense automatically sets a number formatting based on the source data.

        To represent numeric abbreviations, the international SI units are used, such as k (thousand), M (million), and G (billion).

      • Number: By default, the formatting is set to Simple, and you can select the formatting from the options in the drop-down list. Click the button to change to Custom formatting, and use the Format pattern box to change the format pattern.

        Examples:  

        • # ##0 describes the number as an integer with a thousands separator. In this example " " is used as a thousands separator.
        • ###0 describes the number as an integer without a thousands separator.
        • 0000 describes the number as an integer with at least four digits. For example, the number 123 will be shown as 0123.
        • 0.000 describes the number with three decimals. In this example "." is used as a decimal separator.

        If you add the percent sign (%) to the format pattern, the measure values are automatically multiplied by 100.

      • Money: By default, the format pattern used for money is the same as set up in the operating system. Use the Format pattern box to change the format pattern.
      • Date: By default, the formatting is set to Simple, and you can select the formatting from the options in the drop-down list. Click the button to change to Custom formatting, and use the Format pattern box to change the format pattern.
      • Duration: By default, the format pattern used for duration is the same as set up in the operating system. Duration can be formatted as days, or as a combination of days, hours, minutes, seconds and fractions of seconds. Use the Format pattern box to change the format pattern.
      • Custom: By default, the format pattern used for custom is the same as set up in the operating system. Use the Format pattern boxes to change the format pattern.
        • Decimal separator: Set the decimal separator.
        • Thousands separator: Set the thousands separator.
        • Format pattern: Set the number format pattern.
        • Reset pattern: Click to reset to default pattern.
      • Measure expression: The format pattern is determined by the measure expression. Use this option to display custom number formatting for a measure in a visualization.

        Limitations:

        • Only works with visualizations that accept measures.
        • Cannot be used with a box plot.
        • Does not affect the number formatting of the axis.
    • Show column if: You can show or hide a column depending on if a condition is true or false. The column is shown only if the expression in this field is evaluated as true. If this field is empty, the column is always shown.
    • Background color expression: Enter an expression for the background color. The text color automatically changes to white when a dark background color is used.
    • Text color expression: Enter an expression for the text color. If you use the same expression as in the background color, the text will not be visible.
    • Text alignment: When set to Custom, you can select how to display the content: Align left or Align right. If Text alignment is set to Auto, the alignment is automatically aligned left or right, depending on the content.
    • Master item: You can create a master measure based on the measure expression by clicking Create new.

      For more information, see Reusing measures with master measures

You can drag a field from Dimensions to Measures to change how it is used. Moving a dimension to Measures assigns it an aggregation. You cannot drag a master dimension to Measures.

Sorting

The Sort by first measure toggle will sort dimension values by the numeric value of the first measure. This sort order will affect all dimensions, and take precedence before any other sort order defined under the dimensions. See: Pivot table.

Drag the dimensions and measures to set the sorting priority order. The numbers show the order.

Dimensions and measures can also be sorted internally:

Click the dimension or measure to expand sorting options. Toggle Sorting to switch to Custom sorting. The following list shows the internal sorting priority order and sorting options. The sorting is either Ascending or Descending.

  • Sort by expression: Enter an expression to sort by. Only available for dimensions.
  • Sort numerically
  • Sort alphabetically

Additionally, you can sort by load order by switching to Custom and leaving all sorting options unselected.

If you have set a custom order for a field, that custom order will override any selected internal sort order in Sorting. For more information, see Customizing the order of dimension values.

Add-ons

Data handling:

  • Include zero values: When unselected, measures that have the value ‘0’ are not included in the presentation. If there is more than one measure value, all the measure values must have the value ‘0’ to be excluded from the presentation.

  • Calculation condition: Specify an expression in this text field to set a condition that needs to be fulfilled (true) for the object to be displayed. The value may be entered as a calculated formula. For example: count(distinct Team)<3. If the condition is not fulfilled, the message or expression entered in Displayed message is displayed.

    A calculation condition is useful when a chart or table is very big and makes the visualization slow to respond. A calculation condition can then help so that for example an object does not show until the user has filtered the data to a more manageable level by applying selections.

Appearance

General

  • Show titles: Select to enable or disable titles, subtitles, and footnotes in the chart.

    Enter Title, Subtitle, and Footnote. By default, the string is interpreted as a text string. However, you can also use the text field for an expression, or a combination of text and expression. An equals sign (=), at the beginning of a string shows that it contains an expression.

    Click Expression if you want to create an expression with the expression editor.

    Information noteTitles are displayed on a single line. If you inject line breaks they will be ignored.

    Example:  

    Assume that the following string is used, including quotation marks: 'Sales: ' & Sum(Sales).

    By default, the string is interpreted as a text string and is displayed as presented in the example. But if you begin the string with an equals sign: (='Sales: ' & Sum(Sales)), the string is interpreted as an expression instead. The output is then Sales: <value of expression>, where <value of expression> is the calculated value.

  • Show details: Set to Show if you want to allow users to be able to choose to view details, such as descriptions, measures, and dimensions.

Alternate states

State: Set the state to apply to the visualization. You can select:

  • Any alternate state defined in Master items.
  • <inherited>, in which case the state defined for the sheet is used.
  • <default state>, which represents the state where no alternate state is applied.

For more information about alternate states, see Using alternate states for comparative analysis.

Presentation

  • Styling: Customize the styling of the pivot

    table, overriding the app theme. You can add custom header and content font sizes and colors. You can set rows to be highlighted when hovered over and set colors for the row and font. You can also set the size of the scrollbar.

  • Fully expanded: When selected, all values in the pivot table are displayed.
  • Indent rows: When selected, an indentation is added to the beginning of each row.

Did this page help you?

If you find any issues with this page or its content – a typo, a missing step, or a technical error – let us know how we can improve!