Q-Explorator Field Guide

Four formats, one workbench. Every file lands in the same tabbed grid, so a QVD and a CSV behave identically from the moment they load.

Every open file becomes its own tab inside a multi-document workspace — open a QVD next to the CSV it came from, and compare them side by side without leaving the app.

Welcome

The grid is the foundation every other tool operates on: mark rows, reorder and hide columns, and every downstream view — Report View, Export, Totals — respects what you set up here.

• Row markingSelect and mark a subset of rows to segment the dataset — the mark travels with the row through sorts and filters, so you never lose track of what you flagged.
• Reorder columnsDrag headers to set the order you want to read, export or report in. Report View and Export automatically follow this order.
• Column visibilityHide columns you don't need on screen without removing them from the underlying data — Report View only builds its tree from what's currently visible.
• Alternating rows and keyboard navigationBuilt for fast scanning: alternating row shading, click selection, and standard keyboard navigation across large tables.

Data grid

The same green-white-gray associative logic any Qlik developer already knows, applied directly to the file on screen — before it ever reaches an app.

Select a value in one field and the panel recalculates the possible values of every other field in real time: matches turn selected, values still reachable stay possible, and anything excluded by your selection turns excluded. It's the fastest way to verify a QVD's associations before you build a data model on top of it.

The panel opens as a persistent side dock with its own Close button, so it can stay open while you work the grid, or get out of the way when you don't need it.

Any pinned column can also be minimized to a compact card instead of closed — unlike Close, which forgets the selection, Minimize keeps it; reopening the card restores it exactly as you left it.

Associative Filter Panel

Free-text search across your loaded data, with the option to name and keep the searches you'll need again.

• SearchType a term and jump to the matching rows across visible columns — useful for quickly checking a known value without building a full filter condition.
• Manage searchesSave a search under a name and pull it back up later, instead of retyping the same query every session.

Every condition carries its own Aa button to choose case sensitivity, and an Editor button that opens the value in a larger window — useful when the search text is long.

Search

Multi-column sort with priority, the same way you'd define tie-breaking in a Qlik LOAD's ORDER BY.

Add as many columns as you need, each ascending or descending, and reorder the list with the ↑ / ↓ controls to change which column breaks ties first. Removing all rows simply clears the sort.

Sort

A condition builder to narrow the grid down to exactly the rows you're investigating — changes apply once, when you ask for them.

Conditions are built in the Filter dialog and only take effect when you click Apply — nothing filters mid-edit while you're still picking a column or typing a value. Beyond the standard comparison operators, an expr operator accepts a free-form expression for conditions too specific for a simple equals/contains.

Every condition carries its own Aa button for case sensitivity (or ignoring it), regardless of the operator chosen, and an Editor button that opens the value in a larger window — useful for a long expr expression.

Filter

A dedicated window listing every unique value in a column, with its count — the fastest way to catch a stray blank, an inconsistent code, or an outlier before it becomes a script bug.

Distinct values

An expression editor built on Qlik's own syntax and function set, so what you write here works the same once it reaches a LOAD script.

Name the column, write the expression, and Q-Explorator evaluates it against every row of the current file. The expression field expands into a full editor with the available column names as quick reference.

Calculated column

One panel, two behaviors: with no grouping columns it totals the whole table; with one or more columns pinned it becomes a grouped summary — the same operation underneath either way.

Add as many aggregation rows as you need — Sum, Count, Average, Min, Max and the rest of the standard set — each on whichever column you choose.

Totals / Group By

A nested summary tree with expandable detail — closer to a PowerBuilder DataWindow than a flat pivot table — for building a real hierarchical report over your loaded data.

• Multi-level groupingStack as many grouping levels as the data allows; each level nests inside the previous one, expandable on demand.
• Configurable aggregatesAttach one or more aggregates to the report, calculated at every level of the hierarchy.
• Split ViewOpens a second, synced panel — vertical scroll and expand/collapse state stay linked between both, while each panel scrolls horizontally on its own. Useful for pinning the grouping columns in view while you scroll through wide detail in the second panel.
• Grid-awareThe tree only shows the columns visible in the grid, in the same order you dragged them into in the grid — hide a column there, and it disappears from the report too.

Large files stay smooth because the tree builds lazily: a branch only computes its children the moment you actually expand it, not when the report first loads.

Report View — split view

Hands the data back as CSV or QVD, exactly the way you've been looking at it.

Export all columns or just the visible ones, and either way column order follows what you dragged into place in the grid — what you see is what you get in the file.

Export

Saves a session's complete state — open files, tabs, column order and visibility — and picks it back up exactly where you left it.

Save Workspace

Settings live in a single dialog: switch the interface between Spanish and English, and toggle between light and dark theme, without restarting the app.

Settings

A small ? button sits on every major dialog — Distinct Values, Search, Manage Searches, Sort, Filter, the Associative Panel, Totals / Group By, and Calculated Columns — and opens a short, focused explanation of that specific tool, right where you're using it.