Tableau Desktop 10 Qualified Associate

Lesson 03—Organizing and Simplifying Data

 What’s In It For Me

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

List the ways to filter data

Understand how to sort data

Explain how to build groups

Explain how to build hierarchies

Explain how to build sets

Organizing & Simplifying Data
Topic 1: Filtering Data
 Filtering Data
FILTER TYPES

Data filters can be used to limit the data to include specific fields and/or records that meet certain criteria.
Data can be filtered using the following filter types:

Data source filters Extract filters Worksheet filters

Filters at the data source level Filters on extracts that perform Filters that are applied
that are an efficient way to the same function as data within the Tableau
limit scope of data for source filters but are applied to workbook itself
performance/security the extract connection
purposes
 Filtering Data
FIELD TYPES

Filters on the data source, extract, or worksheet can be applied to the following field types:

Dimensions - such as Region or Product Name

Measures - such as Sales or Profit

Dates - such as Year = 2017 or Month = May

 Filtering Data
ON DIMENSION

• General - user selects one or multiple members from the domain

Filtering on
dimensions can be
done using one of • Wildcard - matched values based on presence of a string (“contains”), or based
the following on same starting characters, same ending characters, or same full set of
approaches:
characters (filter to identify sales reps where job title contains “sales”)

• Condition - matched based on field or formula (filter to list sales reps with sales
volume greater than a certain dollar amount)

• Top - top values by field or formula (filter to do a top 10 rank of sales reps by
sales volume)
 Filtering Data
ON MEASURES

Filter on measures • Range of values - filter to identify sales reps within a range of sales totals
can be done using • At Least - filter to identify sales reps with sales above a certain level
one of the following
approaches: • At Most - filter to identify sales reps with sales below a certain level
• Special - all values, null values, non-null values
 Filtering Data
ON DATES

Filter on measures • Relative dates: The user can specify a range of dates that is updated based on
can be done using
the date and time you open the view (such as year-to-date sales or profits).
one of the following
approaches: • Range of dates: The user can specify a range of dates to define a fixed range of
dates to filter.
• Discrete dates: The user can specify a discrete date value in the dialog box if you
want to include entire date levels.
• Individual dates: The user can select Individual dates to filter specific dates from
your view.
• Additional date filter options: The user can specify a Starting date or Ending
date, or select to include null dates, non-null dates, or all dates.
Organizing & Simplifying Data
Topic 2: Sorting Data
 Sorting Data
Sorting is arranging the data in a specific order.
Sorts are an effective way to highlight the extremes in data.

Sorting can be done in

ascending or descending
order
Sorting on a measure
can be applied through a
Sorting on a dimension can dimensional sort (sort by
be based on data source sales reps in descending
order, field (typically a
measure), alphabetical order in terms of sales)
order, or manual
Organizing & Simplifying Data
Topic 3: Building Groups
 Building Groups

You can combine dimension members into Groups to aggregate the members’ data.

In the following example, a group of the top 5 sales reps by total compensation is grouped into one row.

This group can now be

used within filters like any
other member of a
dimension
Organizing & Simplifying Data
Topic 4: Building Hierarchies
 Building Hierarchies
WHAT IS HIERARCHY

Hierarchies are groups of related dimensions that are organized into levels at different granularities.

Example: A business may have an organizational hierarchy that includes levels such as company, division,
region, etc.

Company

Division

Region
 Building Hierarchies
USING HIERARCHY AS DIMENSION
Using hierarchies along with Tableau’s drill-down or drill-up functionality is an efficient way to
present data at various levels of detail.

Create and add Add Dimensions to Hierarchy can now be used

hierarchy: Hierarchy: as a dimension:
Organizing & Simplifying Data
Topic 5: Building Sets
 Sets

Sets are custom fields that define a subset of data based on some conditions, such as a computed condition.

Example: A set may contain customers with sales over a certain threshold.

Threshold

Computed sets change with the change in data.

 Building Sets

Sets can be created through manual selection, by condition, or by ranking.

The following image is an example of a set of products called “Product Bundle,” defined in a manual or custom
approach:
Demo—Data, sorting Data, building groups, hierarchies,
and sets
QUIZ A filter that limits query results to fields that contain a specific string of text is called ____.
1

a. Top filter

b. General filter

c. Wildcard filter

d. Condition filter
 QUIZ A filter that limits query results to fields that contain a specific string of text is called ____.
1

a. Top filter

b. General filter

c. Wildcard filter

d. Condition filter

The correct answer is c.

A Wildcard filter matches values based on presence of a string (“contains”), or based on same starting
characters, same ending characters, or same full set of characters.

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QUIZ ___ are custom fields that define a subset of data based on some conditions.
2

a. Hierarchies

b. Sets

c. Groups

d. Measure Values
 QUIZ ___ are custom fields that define a subset of data based on some conditions.
2

a. Hierarchies

b. Sets

c. Groups

d. Measure Values

The correct answer is b.

Sets are custom fields that define a subset of data based on some conditions and are created through
manual selection, by condition, or by ranking.

©Simplilearn. All rights reserved

 Using _____ in tandem with Tableau’s drill-down and drill-up functionality is an efficient way to
QUIZ present data at various levels of detail.
3

a. Extracts

b. Filters

c. Measure Values

d. Hierarchies
 Using _____ in tandem with Tableau’s drill-down and drill-up functionality is an efficient way to
QUIZ present data at various levels of detail.
3

a. Extracts

b. Filters

c. Measure Values

d. Hierarchies

The correct answer is d.

Using hierarchies with Tableau’s drill-up/drill-down functionality allows the user to easily pivot between
different levels of aggregation.

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 DESKTOP 10
Tableau
Guided Exercise

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 Problem Statement

Mary is analyzing sales volumes for her company. She wants to highlight the top
performing products and sales representatives in her analysis. How could Mary use
some of the tools covered in this lesson to perform her analysis?
 Solution

Mary is analyzing sales volumes for her company. She wants to highlight the top
performing products and sales representatives in her analysis. How could Mary use
some of the tools covered in this lesson to perform her analysis?

Here are some ways that Mary could use these tools in her analysis:

• She could sort her data to show the top sales representatives or top selling products at the
top of the view
• She could use filters to present the top 10 sales representatives in terms of sales volume
• She could create an organizational or product hierarchy so the user could easily pivot to
different levels of aggregation
• She could create a group of products with the highest profit margins
• She could create a dynamic set of sales representatives or products that meet a specific
criteria
 Key Takeaways

Tableau offers functionality to help you organize and simplify your

data to create efficient, concise, meaningful analyses
The user can Filter the data using dimensions and/or measures
Similar records can be combined into Groups to simplify the
analysis
Similar records can be added to a set of records
Related dimensions can be added to custom hierarchies
This concludes “Organizing & Simplifying Data.”