30 March 2023 Boolean Operators in Qlik Sense Share this message Every Friday at Bitmetric we’re posting a new Qlik certification practice question to our LinkedIn company page. Last Friday we asked the following Qlik Data Architect certification practice question about booleans operators (AND, OR, NOT, XOR) in Qlik Sense. The answers were more or less evenly distributed between B and C. The correct answer is B Statement 1 evaluates to True, while statement 2 evaluates to False. To see how we arrived at this answer, let’s first learn more about how Boolean operators are evaluated in Qlik (and in general). How does Qlik evaluate Boolean operators? Behind the Boolean operators is Boolean mathematics. The order of the Boolean algebra is the highest to lowest priority. This is: NOT AND OR Expressions inside brackets are always evaluated first. In Boolean algebra False() evaluates to 0, and True() evaluates to 1. We can also interpret AND as multiplication (*) and OR as addition (+). Using this information, we can evaluate the first expression False() OR NOT False() AND True() as: 0 OR NOT 0 AND 1 NOT is evaluated first, so we can rewrite the expression as: 0 OR 1 AND 1 Substituting AND for multiplication and OR for addition, we can finally rewrite the expression as: 0 + 1 * 1 Applying the PEMDAS order of operations, we can calculate the result as 1, true. (Note that in Qlik True() evaluates to -1 instead of 1, but the outcome is the same) The XOR Boolean operator The XOR, or exclusive or, operator is a shorthand for: (A OR B) AND NOT (A AND B) Or, to phrase it differently, XOR evaluates to true is either option is true, but not when both options are true. When we look at the second statement: True() XOR True() We can see that this doesn’t match the requirements of the XOR operator, so it evaluates to false. Using parentheses for readability The Boolean operators can be used at different places in Qlik Sense. They are used in if statements, for example to make flags in tables. They are used in WHERE statements to filter specific data, and many other options. In order to improve the readability of the Boolean operators, it’s a good idea to use parentheses. The expression below has the same result as the first statement from the question, but it is a lot easier to read: False()OR( NOT False() AND True()) Override the order of operations with parentheses We can also override the order of operations with parentheses. For example, if we want the OR operator to be evaluated before the AND operator, we can rewrite the expression as: (False() OR NOT False())ANDTrue() Should you always use parentheses? That depends, but typically it’s a good idea to use parentheses to aid readibility and understanding. You can learn more about this in our Qlik Coding Conventions. That’s it for this week, see you next Friday! More from the Bitmetric team Qlik Cloud Backup Protect your investment in Qlik with daily incremental backups stored in an encrypted environment with redundant storage. Available for as little as 2 Euro per day. Learn more. Masters Summit for Qlik The Masters Summit for Qlik provides the next step in your path to becoming a Qlik specialist. As an extra perk, Bitmetric has secured an over $450 discount just for you! Use code BITMETRIC at checkout. Read more here. Friday Qlik Test Prep Solution How can we help? Barry has over 20 years experience as a Data & Analytics architect, developer, trainer and author. He will gladly help you with any questions you may have. Call us Mail us 13 June 2025 Qlik Extension: Scroll to Object Ever since Qlik introduced extended sheets in June 2018, we at Bitmetric have been fans. The ability to extend a sheet vertically and add visualizations below the fold is a powerful way to present more insights without cluttering the main view. Yet, even after seven years, it still feels like a hidden feature. Many users […] Extension Qlik 2 June 2025 Simplifying Data Integration with TimeXtender At Bitmetric, we believe in making technology work for people, not the other way around. TimeXtender’s approach to data integration fits this philosophy by removing obstacles and giving users practical tools to manage their data. Solution TimeXtender 12 May 2025 Dagelijkse Qlik Ondersteuning: altijd hulp bij data analyse Bij Bitmetric snappen we hoe belangrijk het is dat je Qlik omgeving gewoon goed werkt. Of je nu dagelijks data analyseert of snel wat inzichten nodig hebt, je wilt dat alles soepel verloopt. Daarom staan onze experts elke dag voor je klaar. Van kleine vragen tot ingewikkelde uitdagingen, we helpen je graag verder, zodat jij je kunt focussen op wat echt telt! Qlik
13 June 2025 Qlik Extension: Scroll to Object Ever since Qlik introduced extended sheets in June 2018, we at Bitmetric have been fans. The ability to extend a sheet vertically and add visualizations below the fold is a powerful way to present more insights without cluttering the main view. Yet, even after seven years, it still feels like a hidden feature. Many users […] Extension Qlik
2 June 2025 Simplifying Data Integration with TimeXtender At Bitmetric, we believe in making technology work for people, not the other way around. TimeXtender’s approach to data integration fits this philosophy by removing obstacles and giving users practical tools to manage their data. Solution TimeXtender
12 May 2025 Dagelijkse Qlik Ondersteuning: altijd hulp bij data analyse Bij Bitmetric snappen we hoe belangrijk het is dat je Qlik omgeving gewoon goed werkt. Of je nu dagelijks data analyseert of snel wat inzichten nodig hebt, je wilt dat alles soepel verloopt. Daarom staan onze experts elke dag voor je klaar. Van kleine vragen tot ingewikkelde uitdagingen, we helpen je graag verder, zodat jij je kunt focussen op wat echt telt! Qlik