The associative data model

After reviewing the theory of dimensional data modeling, it is now time to apply those concepts to how QlikView works. By now, we know that a QlikView document is, in general terms, used to visualize data. This data can come from disparate sources: a database, Excel files, a legacy system, or even the Web. But how do we put all this data together? The answer is: through the associative data model.

The associative data model can be said to be equal in structure to a dimensional model. However, a data model of any type in QlikView becomes an associative data model because it not only contains the different source tables from which the charts get the data, but also keeps them associated in a way which allows the QlikView document and its users to consume information and aggregate data cross dimensionally in any possible way. In a QlikView data model, all of the field values from all of the tables in the model are automatically associated among themselves based purely...