Calculating trend lines, values and formulas on charts and tables

in Qlik Sense 
  
I spent a little time working through the formulas required to mimic the trend lines that
are available in QlikView and currently not available in Qlik Sense without knowing
how to write reasonably complex expressions.

Here are some examples of exponential and 2nd order polynomial trend lines with
the relationship expressed as a formula in the subtitle.

Exponential Trend Line

2nd order polynomial trend line

To make things as clear as possible I have included the Excel variants of these
formulas so you have something to reference as I have done whilst checking these
formulas calculate correctly. These excel formulas were sourced from Excel Tips
From John Walkenbach: Chart Trendline Formulas

The below table shows the equivalent formulas in Qlik for the excel formulas
provided. I have also attached a QVF file with examples of each one so that you
have something real to reference as you build these into your own applications. In
addition I have included the excel file that I was using for testing to ensure my
calculations were correct.

Excel Formulas Qlik Formulas

Linear
Trendline
Equation y=m*x+b y=m*x+b
m = SLOPE(y,x) = LINEST_M(y,x)
b = INTERCEPT(y,x) = LINEST_B(y,x)
Logarithmic
Trendline
Equation y = (c * LN(x)) + b y = (c * LOG(x)) + b
c = INDEX(LINEST(y,LN(x)),1) = LINEST_M(y,LOG(x))
b = INDEX(LINEST(y,LN(x)),1,2) = LINEST_B(y,LOG(x))
Power
Trendline
Equation y=c*x^b y = c * POW( x , b)
= =
c
EXP(INDEX(LINEST(LN(y),LN(x),,),1,2)) EXP(LINEST_B(LOG(y),LOG(x)))
b = INDEX(LINEST(LN(y),LN(x),,),1) = LINEST_M(LOG(y),LOG(x))
Exponential
Trendline
Equation y = c *e ^(b * x) y = c * POW( e , b * x)
c = EXP(INDEX(LINEST(LN(y),x),1,2)) = EXP(LINEST_B(LOG(y),x))
b = INDEX(LINEST(LN(y),x),1) = LINEST_M(LOG(y),x)
e = EXP(1) = e()
2nd order Polynomial
Trend
Equation y = (c2 * x^2) + (c1 * x ^1) + b y = (c2 * POW(x,2)) + (c1 * x) + b
c2 = INDEX(LINEST(y,x^{1,2}),1) see example - variable c2
c1 = INDEX(LINEST(y,x^{1,2}),1,2) see example - variable c1
b = INDEX(LINEST(y,x^{1,2}),1,3) see example - variable b
Points to note:
1. You will see in the QVF that I have used monthly aggregated values from
more detailed data which is a real life requirement (you would not necessarily
want to create an aggregated table just for this purpose). Therefore the Y
values are shown aggregated by the dimension. i.e. aggr(Sum([Expenses
(USD)]),MonthYear)
2. The 2nd Order Polynomial trend is a little more complex than the others. I
have not found a comparable function to excel LINEST(Y,x^{1,2}) so have
managed to find some old examples and put together a longhand version.
Please see the variables in the example application.
3. The 2nd Order Polynomial dimension has some specific requirements in the
current form of the expressions. It MUST be a field with distinct values in the
dataset, i.e. MonthYear in my example must have the grain of MonthYear
and not be a field in the calendar table. It should also join directly to the fact
where actuals reside, not join through another dimension.

onthYear),(Aggr(Log(Rowno()) * MonthYear, MonthYear)))

* (Aggr(Log(Rowno()) * MonthYear, MonthYear))

+ linest_b(total aggr(sum(Expenses),MonthYear),(Aggr(Log(Rowno()) * MonthYear,

MonthYear)))
Richbyard 
 New Contributor III
07-11-2018  07:40 AM

Hi Andy,

Great to share different options so we can find the best fit for our needs but I'd be
cautious with your use of the term 'accurate'. To me the yellow line is more
representative of the trend than the red one but that is subjective...

If you solve the 3rd an 4th order polynomial lines please let me know as this was a
step too far for me ;-)

Cheers

Richard

Avkeep01 
 Valued Contributor
10-23-2018  10:00 AM
Hi Richard,

Thanks for your solution on the 2nd order polynomial. In your comments you wrote
that  there is no equivalent INDEX(y,x^{1\2},1). I'm not sure if you already know that
{1\2} is an extra x -column. For example:

LINEST_M equals the LINEST function in Excel.

for the following table:

 
Y value X value
0,6931 1
0,7581 2
0,7553 3
the LINEST(Y:Y, X:X) = 0.0311. Same goes for LINEST_M in Qlik.

Adding the ^{1\2] leads to the following table in Excel (first x^1 and second x^2)

 
X-2
Y value X value
value
0,6931 1 1
 0,7581 2 4
0,7553 3 9
With LINEST(Y:Y ; X:X-2) you'll get -0.0399 which is your C2 value.

So the LINEST_M in Qlik comes close to the LINEST function in Excel only I don't
exactly know how to get two X-columns into the LINEST_M function. Maybe you are
able to figure it out.

If you already knew about the two X-columns than you can ignore my post of course.

Anyway thank you very much for the calculations.