Data load editor

Another approach to loading data into Qlik Sense is by using the Data load editor. When you add data tables, fields, or associations in the Data manager, a data load script code is automatically generated, and this script can be edited later using the Data load editor. You can access the Data load editor using the main menu from the upper-left corner and selecting it, as shown in the following screenshot:

This option will enable a text editor, so an experienced Qlik professional can edit a script that will be responsible for loading data, applying transformations, aggregating data, and addressing any needs from a data modeling perspective.

In this section, we will describe how to use this editor to create or edit the script from our application.

The interface of the Data load editor is divided into some sections, as we can see in the following screenshot: 

Let's understand each of these sections: 

• A section: You can split your code into several sections to organize your code. Press the + button to add another section.
• B (Text editor): Here, you can edit the script code. Each line is numbered and color coded by syntax. There is an IntelliSense feature that auto completes the code while you edit. Here is where you can type in your code, thus adding more tables, creating derived fields, and whatever else is needed to clean or modify the data.
• C (Data connections): As discussed in the Data connections section, data connections are the entry points for data, so you can create one data connection using the Create new connection button that fires the wizard to assist you in creating that connection. If you want to load data from a data connection, you can do that by pressing the Select data button, as follows:

• D (Debug and Load data buttons): Use these buttons when you want to debug (verify your code step by step) or reload your data by running your script.
• E (Toolbar): Contains commands for search and replace, Ident/Unindent, Help, and Undo/Redo. The script already contains some predefined regional variable settings, for example, SET ThousandSep=. You should not touch these lines unless you're familiar with how Qlik Sense handles numbers and date formats.

The full understanding of Qlik scripts is beyond the scope of this book; if you want to have a deeper understanding, please refer to the Further reading section to access the links to the documentation about scripting.