What is Qlik?

A Qlik load script block using LOAD INLINE, which embeds the data in the script itself.

Who uses it

QlikView and Qlik Sense developers.

Writing Qlik

Suitable for small reference tables. For anything large, load from a file instead.

What it can hold

Qlik is source code. An inline LOAD block, where the data is written into the load script itself. A machine can read the table back out of it without guessing, which is what makes it safe to convert into and out of.

It keeps

A header that is marked as one, rather than being the first row by convention.

It cannot express

Nesting. Cells are flat, so structured values have to be flattened into extra columns or written into one cell as text.
A line break inside a cell. One would end the row, so it has to be replaced before writing.
Any formatting. Bold, colour, column widths and merged cells have nowhere to go.
A partial read. The document has to be complete to mean anything, so a truncated file yields nothing and a large one has to be held in memory whole.

What it looks like

Example Qlik

staff:
LOAD * INLINE [
id,   name,   role,   started,   hours
  '007', 'Halima Yusuf', 'Analyst, data', '2024-03-15', '38.5'
  '012', 'Jonah "Jo" Pryce', 'Engineer', '2025-11-02', ''
  '104', 'Wei Chen', 'Manager', '2023-06-30', '40'
];

Questions

How do I open Qlik files?

Qlik is written by Tablizer rather than read by it. Open the file in whichever tool the format belongs to.

Is Qlik a good format for sharing data?

It depends who is receiving it. QlikView and Qlik Sense developers. If the recipient is outside that group, a plain CSV travels further than anything else.