QSDA2024 Qlik Sense Data Architect Certification Exam – 2024 Questions and Answers

The requirement is to create a measure that identifies the salesperson with the highest sales. If multiple salespeople have the same highest sales amount, the measure should return all of those salespeople.

Explanation of Option A:

Rank(Sum(Sales), 1):The Rank() function is used to rank salespersons based on the sum of their sales. The rank 1 indicates the top position.

Aggr() Function:This function aggregates the data and returns the results grouped by the SalesPerson field.

IF() Condition:The IF condition checks if the salesperson's rank is 1 (highest sales).

Concat(DISTINCT ...):The Concat() function concatenates all the salespersons who have the highest sales, separated by spaces or another delimiter, ensuring that all top performers are returned.

Example:

If three salespersons have the highest sales, this expression will return all three names separated by a space.

In Qlik Sense, when a data load script is executed and an error occurs, the script execution is halted immediately, and any tables that were being loaded at the time of the error are discarded. However, the existing data model—i.e., the last successfully loaded data model—remains intact and is not affected by the failed script. This ensures that the application retains the last known good state of the data, avoiding any partial or inconsistent data loads that could occur due to an error.

When the script encounters an error:

The tables that were successfully loaded prior to the error are retained in the session, but these tables are not merged with the existing data model.

The existing data model before the script was executed remains unchanged and is maintained.

No partial or incomplete data is loaded into the application; hence, the data model remains consistent and reliable.

Qlik Sense Data Architect ReferencesThis behavior is designed to protect the integrity of the data model. In scenarios where script execution fails, the user can debug and fix the script without risking the data integrity of the existing application. The key references include:

Qlik Help Documentation: Provides detailed information on how Qlik Sense handles script errors, highlighting that the existing data model remains unchanged after an error.

Data Load Editor Practices: Best practices dictate ensuring that the script is fully functional before executing it to avoid data inconsistency. In cases where an error occurs, understanding that the current data model is maintained helps in strategic debugging and script correction.

To meet the requirements of displaying the current year's total sales in a way that responds to user selections, the correct approach involves using both SET and LET statements to define the necessary variables in the data load editor.

Explanation of Option C:

SET vCurrentYear = Year(Today());

The SET statement is used here to assign the current year to the variable vCurrentYear. The SET statement treats the variable as a text string without evaluation. This is appropriate for a variable that will be used as part of an expression, ensuring the correct year is dynamically set based on the current date.

LET vCurrentYTDSales = '=SUM({$<Year={'$(vCurrentYear)'}>} [Sales Amount])';

The LET statement is used here to assign an evaluated expression to the variable vCurrentYTDSales. This expression calculates the Year-to-Date (YTD) sales for the current year by filtering the Year field to match vCurrentYear. The LET statement ensures that the expression inside the variable is evaluated, meaning that when vCurrentYTDSales is called in a chart or KPI, it dynamically calculates the YTD sales based on the current year and any user selections.

Key Points:

Dynamic Year Calculation: Year(Today()) dynamically calculates the current year every time the script runs.

Responsive to Selections: The set analysis syntax {$} ensures that the sales totals respond to user selections while still focusing on the current year's data.

Appropriate Use of SET and LET: The combination of SET for storing the year and LET for storing the evaluated sum expression ensures that the variables are used effectively in the application.

The issue described relates to the incorrect display of month and year values on the x-axis of a chart. The source data has dates in the M/D/YYYY format, and a calculated field named Month-Year was created using this date format.

To correct the issue:

The correct approach is to use the MonthStart() function, which returns the first date of the month for the provided date. This ensures consistency in month-year representation.

The Date() function is then used to format the result of MonthStart() to the desired format of MMM-YYYY (e.g., Feb-2018).

Explanation of the Correct Expression:

MonthStart([Common Date]): This ensures that all dates within a month are treated as the first day of that month, which is critical for accurate monthly aggregation.

Date(..., 'MMM-YYYY'): This formats the result to show just the month and year in the correct format.

Using this expression ensures that the x-axis correctly displays the month-year values.

In the scenario described, the goal is to load all CSV files from a directory into Qlik Sense, while ignoring the log files that are also present in the same directory. The correct approach should allow for dynamic file loading without needing to manually specify each file name, especially since the log files change regularly.

Here’s whyOption Bis the correct choice:

Option A:This method involves manually specifying a list of files (Day1, Day2, Day3) and then iterating through them to load each one. While this method would work, it requires knowing the exact file names in advance, which is not practical given that new files are added regularly. Also, it doesn’t handle dynamic file name changes or new files added to the folder automatically.

Option B:This approach uses a wildcard (*) in the file path, which tells Qlik Sense to load all files matching the pattern (in this case, all CSV files in the directory). Since the csv file extension is explicitly specified, only the CSV files will be loaded, and the log files will be ignored. This method is efficient and handles the dynamic nature of the file names without needing manual updates to the script.

Option C:This option is similar to Option B but targets text files (txt) instead of CSV files. Since the requirement is to load CSV files, this option would not meet the needs.

Option D:This option uses a more complex approach with filelist() and a loop, which could work, but it’s more complex than necessary. Option B achieves the same result more simply and directly.

Therefore,Option Bis the most efficient and straightforward solution, dynamically loading all CSV files from the specified directory while ignoring the log files, as required.

In this scenario, the data architect is using a GENERIC LOAD statement in the script to handle the data structure provided. A GENERIC LOAD is used in Qlik Sense when you have data in a key-value pair structure and you want to transform it into a more traditional table structure, where each attribute becomes a column.

Given the input data table with three columns (Object, Attribute, Value), and the attributes in the Attribute field being either color, diameter, length, or width, the GENERIC LOAD will create separate tables based on the combinations of Object and each Attribute.

Here's how the GENERIC LOAD works:

For each unique object(circle, rectangle, square), the GENERIC LOAD creates separate tables based on the distinct values of the Attribute field.

Each of these tableswill contain two fields: Object and the specific attribute (e.g., color, diameter, length, width).

Breakdown:

Table for circle:

Fields: Object, color, diameter

Table for rectangle:

Fields: Object, color, length, width

Table for square:

Fields: Object, color, length

Each distinct attribute (color, diameter, length, width) and object combination generates a separate table.

Final Count of Tables:

The script will create6 separate tables: one for each unique combination of Object and Attribute.

References:

Qlik Sense Documentation on Generic Load: Generic loads are used to pivot key-value pair data structures into multiple tables, where each key (in this case, the Attribute field values) forms a new column in its own table.

When implementing Section Access in Qlik Sense, it is crucial that all accounts that need to access the data—including the service account that performs the scheduled reload—are included in the Section Access table. If the service account is not included, Qlik Sense will not be able to access any data, leading to a failure in the reload process.

Here’s a breakdown of why the other options are less likely:

A. The ACCESS column in the Section Access table has been added in lowercase:This would generally result in a syntax error, but it would not allow the script to execute successfully without causing an immediate failure, unrelated to Section Access.

C. A user name listed in the Section Access table is spelled incorrectly:While this could lead to some users not having the correct access, it would not cause the entire reload to fail. The issue here is broader, affecting the entire application load process.

D. The data architect does not have rights to reload the app:If the architect did not have rights, the script would not run successfully even without Section Access.

The correct issue in this scenario is thatthe service account running the task is not included in the Section Access table. This is a common cause of load failures after adding Section Access. To resolve this, ensure that the service account is added with sufficient privileges in the Section Access table

The given Excel spreadsheet has a Region field where the region value is only specified for the first record within each region. The data architect needs to fill in the missing region values for subsequent rows.

Previous() Function: The Previous() function in Qlik Sense returns the value of the expression from the previous row. In this case, it can be used to fill down the Region values so that each row contains the correct region information.

Implementation: The script can be designed to check if the current row’s Region value is missing (null). If it is missing, the script can assign the value from the previous row using the Previous() function.

LOAD

If(IsNull(Region), Previous(Region), Region) AS Region,

This logic fills in the missing Region values with the value from the preceding row, which effectively resolves the issue shown in the spreadsheet.

In the given scenario, where the data architect is provided with five tables, the goal is to design the most optimal data model for use in Qlik Sense. The key considerations here are to ensure a proper star schema, minimize redundancy, and ensure clear and efficient relationships among the tables.

Option Dis the most optimal model for the following reasons:

Star Schema Design:

In Option D, the Fact_Gross_Sales table is clearly defined as the central fact table, while the other tables (Dim_SalesOrg, Dim_Item, Dim_Region, Dim_Customer) serve as dimension tables. This layout adheres to the star schema model, which is generally recommended in Qlik Sense for performance and simplicity.

Minimization of Redundancies:

In this model, each dimension table is only connected directly to the fact table, and there are no unnecessary joins between dimension tables. This minimizes the chances of redundant data and ensures that each dimension is only represented once, linked through a unique key to the fact table.

Clear and Efficient Relationships:

Option D ensures that there is no ambiguity in the relationships between tables. Each key field (like Customer ID, SalesID, RegionID, ItemID) is clearly linked between the dimension and fact tables, making it easy for Qlik Sense to optimize queries and for users to perform accurate aggregations and analysis.

Hierarchical Relationships and Data Integrity:

This model effectively represents the hierarchical relationships inherent in the data. For example, each customer belongs to a region, each salesperson is associated with a sales organization, and each sales transaction involves an item. By structuring the data in this way, Option D maintains the integrity of these relationships.

Flexibility for Analysis:

The model allows users to group and filter data efficiently by different attributes (such as salesperson, region, customer, and item). Because the dimensions are not interlinked directly with each other but only through the fact table, this setup allows for more flexibility in creating visualizations and filtering data in Qlik Sense.

References:

Qlik Sense Best Practices: Adhering to star schema designs in Qlik Sense helps in simplifying the data model, which is crucial for performance optimization and ease of use.

Data Modeling Guidelines: The star schema is recommended over snowflake schema for its simplicity and performance benefits in Qlik Sense, particularly in scenarios where clear relationships are essential for the integrity and accuracy of the analysis.

The issue described is that not all orders for a selected date are shown. This issue arises because the original script uses the Date(OrderTime) function, which only extracts the date part of the OrderTime timestamp, potentially resulting in incorrect matching when filtering by date due to the time component still being present in the underlying data.

Explanation of Option D:

Floor(OrderTime): The Floor() function truncates the OrderTime timestamp to remove the time component, leaving only the date part. This ensures that all orders on the same date are treated equally, without any interference from the time component.

Date(Floor(OrderTime), 'YYYY-MM-DD'): The Date() function formats the floored value into a date format (YYYY-MM-DD), which is essential for consistent date comparison.

This approach ensures that when you select a date in the application, all orders for that date are shown, as the time component has been effectively removed.

In this scenario, the data architect needs to replace the SupplierID in the Orders table with the corresponding SupplierName from the Suppliers table, and the desired output should be a single table that includes all the order details along with the SupplierName instead of the SupplierID.

Analyzing the Options:

Option A:

Uses a MAPPING LOAD followed by an APPLYMAP to replace SupplierID with SupplierName in the Orders table. However, the table is dropped afterward, which means it won’t produce the required output.

The MAPPING LOAD approach is generally used to map values but is not necessary in this context as we are combining data from two tables directly.

Option B:

This option attempts to LEFT JOIN the Products table with the Suppliers table, but it does not directly address replacing SupplierID with SupplierName in the Orders table.

Additionally, it does not remove the SupplierID after the join, which is essential for the correct output.

Option C:

This option uses a LEFT JOIN with the DISTINCT keyword on the SupplierID field to avoid duplicates. The SupplierName is correctly joined to the Orders table, replacing the SupplierID.

This approach is the most appropriate because it results in a single table containing all order details with the SupplierName instead of the SupplierID.

Option D:

Similar to Option A, but it also introduces an unnecessary renaming step with MAPPING LOAD. It’s redundant and does not improve the solution over Option C.

Correct Script Choice:

Option Cis the correct script because:

It ensures that SupplierName replaces SupplierID in the Orders table using a LEFT JOIN.

The DISTINCT keyword is applied to the SupplierID field to prevent duplicate rows during the join.

The result is a single table containing the required information with SupplierName in place of SupplierID.

References:

Qlik Sense Join Operations: Using the correct JOIN type and ensuring proper deduplication (with DISTINCT if necessary) is key to merging tables in Qlik Sense.

In this scenario, the Section Access security table controls user access to data within the Qlik Sense app. The user in question, ABC\PPP, has a specific entry in the security table that determines their access rights to the LEVEL field.

Understanding Section Access:

Section Accessis used to enforce security by restricting access to certain data based on the user's credentials.

In the security table provided, the USER role for ABC\PPP is set to have access to all data (* in the LINK field), but the OMIT field is set to LEVEL. The OMIT field in Section Access specifies fields that should be omitted from the user's view.

Outcome:

Since the OMIT field for user ABC\PPP is set to LEVEL, this user will not have access to the LEVEL field in the Qlik Sense application.

Option D: The table is displayed without the LEVEL columnis the correct outcome.

Explanation: When user ABC\PPP opens the app, the LEVEL field is omitted from their view. Any table or visualization that uses the LEVEL field will have that field excluded from display. The rest of the data and columns in the table will be visible, but the LEVEL column will not be shown.

References:

Qlik Sense Security and Section Access Documentation: The OMIT functionality in Section Access is specifically designed to remove fields from the user's access, ensuring that sensitive or unnecessary data is not exposed.